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San Marco and the Academia

On the way to San Marco, we saw a toy store that sells military miniatures, which are plastic or metal kits that can be assembled and painted to look like the uniforms and people that fought in wars a long time ago; I used to paint miniatures for a hobby when I was young, so I bought a couple of Airfix plastic kits of Henry VIII and Ann Bollyn. Perhaps I’ll start painting again (I’m psyched!). We then continued on to San Marco.

There we a bunch of groups of French schoolchildren, the girls looking like picture postcards from Paris, so we had to wait to get into San Marco for about 20 minutes. The facade is similar to the facade of Santa Croce. Beato (Fra) Angelico lived and painted at San Marco for most of his life, and the frescos are stunning. Here is one image that appears inside the living quarters (he painted the cycle of the life of Jesus inside the living quarters, with every cell getting at least one image from the life).

The Mocking of Christ by Beato Angelico.

The Mocking of Christ by Beato Angelico.

Fra Angelico’s grave is located inside the church.

Fra Angelico's grave

Fra Angelico's grave

The Academia is a must to visit if only to see Michelangelo’s David. Its huge and amazing and a must-see.

We went to a bookshop that specializes in books in English because I was almost done with the books I’d brought; we traded in the two I’d finished, and got a copy of Hemmingway’s Green Hills of Africa and Joyce’s Dubliners (Signet Classics) (I really like both of these authors); first though I’m going to read a book Aviva just finished, Girl With a Pearl Earring which is a novel about a maid to Vermeer that sat for the famous painting.

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