October 17… loose in the city of art…

Kind of a lazy morning. That drive yesterday may have been a little more taxing than we were willing to admit yesterday. Everyone is up and at the table by about 9:30… we have good coffee and a French press … but it sure ain’t Jeanette’s espresso dopio. The rest have Muslix as well. Bleah. Twigs and mulch…

After “breakfast” Jack and Lynn head off to purchase a Firenze Card… basically a 72 hour pass to all the sights. D and I are thinking on a rather more low key approach. We gather our wits and head off to the Basillica di Santa Croce. I think we spent at least two hours there.

Santa Croce hosts the tombs of  Michaelangelo (and some 6o of his family), Dante Alighieri, Niccolo Machiavelli, Galileo, Rossini, Julie Clary, Charlotte Bonaparte, Giovanni Gentile and about 100 others… it raises goose bumps standing in one spot with the tombs of so many historical figures in a single line of sight.

There was a flood in 1966 and the marker’s on the wall show where the past great floods of the Arno river reached… the little white plaque about 3 times as high as D’s head is the flood of 66. There was a lot of damage to the artwork but most of it has been restored over the last 50 years… amazing.

Santa Croce is now probably one of my favorite spots in Italy. The church itself is beautiful, the art it houses is astounding… but the cloisters take it to another realm. There is a chapel with a small dome by Brunelleschi as well as a cloister designed by him. It is a place where no matter what your philosophy or state of mind at the moment is, you will breathe a little slower and your mind will be a little calmer and if you are a little like me you’ll stay longer than you thought you were going to.

After Santa Croce, we take a little lunch at one of the bazillion cafe bar places in the city center. I think the waiter was distracted by the voices from his home planet whispering in his head but the food was pretty good. Nothing to write about but nothing to complain about.

Off to the Duomo after lunch. Of course we went to the Duomo. Can you visit Florence without going to the Duomo? I’m not sure that’s even legal. Much to our surprise there was no charge to go in. You need a ticket to go up in the dome but they were sold out until sometime tomorrow. Darn… I was so looking forward to those 463 steps… and the view of course. Maybe tomorrow.

The Duomo itself is always surprising in it’s plain-ness… supposedly influenced by Girolamo Savonarola and meant to reflect the austerity of a proper religious life. Hmmm… I think it could use another painting or two myself.

Time for a gelato!! Yay! So far we have come across really good gelato and great gelato… and gelato as big as your head…

Planning on Cafe Vivoli tomorrow. We’ve been told it’s ‘mind blowing’ gelato… the best in the world. We’ll see… stay tuned.

The Chiesa Orsamichele is the last stop before heading back to the apartment for a rest.

A small church that was originally a granary. The layout is obviously odd. There is a bizarre super ornate alter on one side and a statue of two female figures and a child on the other that I can’t find any information about. Puzzling.

A light dinner again… the usual bread and cheese and grapes and apples and WINE.

If I’m not careful, I’m going to go home healthier than when I got here.

A short walk after dinner to scope out the Piazza della Signoria and the Piazza della Republica after dark. Lots going on! Street vendors, hordes of people wandering aimlessly, musicians and a chef opera singer? Very cool.

Oh… and random Italian cat number 5… suspicious cat…