- Florence
We woke up much too early and ran ragged all day.
After breakfast, we walked by a painted facade and decided to shop at the open market near Piazza Republica. It was really cold (it only got into the 50sF and was really windy) so Aviva bought some purple globes and I bought some half gloves.
We went to the Museo Duomo, which we last visited in 2007.
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The Museo Duomo ticket |
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A bust of Mary Magdelena
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A painting of the Virgin Mary |
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Two statues |
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Two more paintings from the Duomo collection |
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Odd shaped painting |
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An architectural detail |
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A tryptich |
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We stopped at Caffe Duomo for a snack and then headed towards Santa Croce. We wanted to stop at the Florence Municipal Museum but they aren't open on Fridays (one things we've learned, if you really want to visit someplace call before you leave on vacation so you can plan for when places are open). We stopped at a few painted facades.
We finally reached Santa Croce and had lunch at Boccadama which is right on the square - we thought it would be lousy because it looked touristy, but it was quite good. We both had minestrone (tasted freshly made) and chicken caccatorie.
Then we visited Santa Croce, which we visited before in 2000 and in 2007. Santa Croce is one of the largest church complexes in Florence. I watched a fellow repairing a floor tile for a while.
I also caught a little bit of an Italian school lecture on the church.
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The tickets for Santa Croce |
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The main facade of Santa Croce |
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View to front and to back of the church |
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A statue |
Pipe organ pipes |
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Galileo's tomb |
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Flags by Gallileo's tomb |
A view towards the left transcept |
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A decorated chapel celiing |
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Main ceiling |
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Frescoes in the leather scuola |
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Details of the scuola fresco |
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The main altar |
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Various altars inside Santa Croce |
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We then shopped a little and then visited the Badia Fiorentina which has a painting by Lippi (no pictures allowed); to kill the 10 minutes before the church opened, we shopped in their little store which was run by the nuns - we talked with three of them and they are all quite happy to meet us.
We ate dinner at Coquinarius again and it was again superb.