- Florence

We both took sleeping pills; this is one of our tricks to switch timezones, stay up as late as you can and then take a sleeping pill to help you sleep through the night.

We got up and had breakfast; the hotel has a great buffet breakfast including fresh eggs and bacon. That little girl was there last night, and sandals still confuse her!

There are stores around the hotel - I was amazed by these lace footies.

We began by walking across the piazza with the Duomo and the Bapistry towards the Galleria Ferroni e Cenacolo di Fuligno; on the way we found a nice painted facade at Piazza di Madonna degli Aldobrandini (there are a number left in Florence) and a cool public water trough that was designed by della Robia.

A cool clock near the Duomo

A painted facade

A water trough

A detail of the trough showing the cherubs

We walked further along and found our favorite mask shop in Florence, Alice's Masks at Via Faenza 72r; we had bought a mask here before, and today bought two more (I'll insert pictures of the masks later; we're keeping them wrapped in bubble wrap until we move into a house).

Alices Masks business card

Aviva entering the mask shop

I thought this scarf shop was gorgeous!

We finally made it to Galleria Ferroni e Cenacolo di Fuligno; no photos inside, so I'll post scans of the printed materials later. The major artwork inside is a last supper by Perugino, which was originally attributed to Raphaelo; he thought it was the best last supper he'd ever seen and so he signed it! There was a great partial bust of St. Sebastian too.

We walked over to Santa Maria Novella, which we've visited before; first we visited the cloister, Chiostro Verdi (the green cloister) which were painted by Paolo Uccello in 1446.

The tickets to the Cloisters and Museum
An external niche - doesn't it look like Moses is offering God a Big Mac?
A ceiling detail
An arch
A detail of Adam and Eve with the Snake (as a woman of course!)
Another arch
And yet another arch
Each arch is painted

We walked to the Spanish Chapel, which is painted, by Andrea da Firenza in 1365, on all walls and the ceiling.

The main wall

Left wall

Right wall

Ceiing detail

We then visited the museum; this was Aviva's first time in the museum. They have four wooden busts of women, apparently part of an original group of 1000 virgins displayed in the church.

A fresco on the wall of the museum
Four busts of virgins from the church

We had lunch at a restaurant Aviva had wanted to try for a few trips, il Latini at via dei Palchetti 6r. Its a family style place, perfect for a lunch in Florence. They have bread and wine sitting on all the tables; if you want wine, you pour a glass. This was my first bowl of ribolita this trip - riboleta is a hearty peasant soup made from bread and beans and it is classic Tuscan (I added a drizzle of olive oil). Following that was a grilled veal that was wonderful. For desert they brought us a plate of biscotti and a small glass of amoretto.

We walked all the way over to the Piazza Medici Ricardi, which houses Benozzo Gozzolli's greatest work, the Gift of the Magi, which we've seen before but is worth a second viewing. We walked down part of the San Lorenzo market.

The ticket to the Medici Ricardi

A view of the San Lorenzo market

While walking back towards the Orgnisanti, we saw some things on the streets - you want to watch where you're walking but also keep your eyes open as there are decorated niches everywhere.

A crucifix in a case on some street corner

A pigeon hanging out in a niche

On the way to the Orgnisanti we stopped at our favorite ceramics shop in Florence, Lorenzaccio; we bought things on our last trip (here and here). They've relocated to a larger, nicer store at Via dei Fossi, 29r. We of course bought two items which they're shipping to us; both had small non-thru cracks formed during the firing process on the inside; they gave us a great discount on the pieces.

We walked to the Orgnissanti (which we've visited before) and walked through the church - this is the final resting place of Sandro Botticelli; here is his marker.

On the way out, it started to rain, so we found a covered store front and waited the rain out.

We walked over to The Blue Shop at Via della Vigna Nuova 75r, which is a great print shop. We bought two more prints of grotesques.

We had dinner at Ristorante Paoli, which we've eaten at before. The building is a former church and still has some of its frescoes intact. And best of all the food is tasty and not expensive. Aviva said she had the best linguine and clams she'd ever had, and I loved the fresh pasta and the wild pork with polenta.

A couple of gelatos later and we were ready for bed.