I went to bed around 6:30, and got up at 8:30 this morning, but there was so much noise, I don’t know how much sleep I actually got. Between that and jet lag, not much.
My schedule today was to hit the northern section of the city. My first stop was Mercato Centrale, an open-air food market. I’ve decided to eat lunch in my room to save on time. I bought some bread and cheese and bananas.
I then looked around the open market at San Lorenzo. It was a HUGE marketplace, catering to tourists. I didn’t buy anything, just looked, and then went home to put the food away.
My next stop was Santissima Annunziata, an old church where hangs a painting reputed to have been started by a monk in the 1200's and then finished by an angel. It’s traditional for newlyweds to go to that shrine and be blessed after their wedding ceremony. The church itself was beautiful, one of the most beautiful I’ve seen. I couldn’t take any pictures, however.
My next stop was the Giardino dei Semplici, a garden with adjoining mineralogical and geological museums. Unfortunately, it was closed on Wednesdays, something my guide book didn’t mention.
I then went on to the Museo Archeologico. I love archaeology, but I wasn’t all that impressed with the museum. A lot of the exhibits were closed off, and what they did have wasn’t that impressive. I will say this, however: several of their larger Egyptian exhibits were out in the open, and since there was hardly anyone in the museum, I was able to touch pillars and tombs from thousands of years ago. Rebel, I know.
I then went to the Galleria dell’Accademia, the home of Michaelangelo’s David. THAT was impressive. It’s not right up front where you can see it. You have to go through this room of paintings, and then when you turn the corner into another, long room lined with more paintings, it is at the end of the corridor in a rotunda. It’s 17 feet tall, and on what was probably a 10-foot pedestal. It was breathtaking. Of course pictures were not allowed, and there were security cameras on the ceiling pointing down on the sculpture from every angle, as well as numerous security personnel. The rest of the museum was nice, with other sculptures and paintings.
I then went back to my room for lunch, and then went back out to take pictures of the Bargello and the Piazza della Signoria. I also found the restaurant that one of my Italian classmates recommended. I then went shopping in an old herbal pharmacy. Once that was done, I brought my bags back to my room and then headed to the Ponte Vecchio to do a little more shopping (I didn’t get anything) and then to Santo Spirito, a church, which I had down on my schedule to see the day before, but didn’t get to it in time. It was closed on Wednesday afternoons, so I still didn’t get to see it.
I took a leisurely way back to my room, stopping in at a children’s store to look around. I then called Jane, and then got ready for dinner, and after dinner (which was late!), I got some gelato (ice cream) at the place my guide book said was the best in all of Italy. I got chocolate, and it was so strong, I didn’t like it.
I got back to my room and stayed up reading Dracula until midnight.
I walked 7 miles today.
Santa Maria del Fiore--the Duomo (or, cathedral) of Florence.
The Campanile of the Duomo.
Mercato Centrale, the city's open-air food market. I bought fruit, cheese, and bread there to keep for lunch back in my room. I did not, however, sample the dead (and completely intact) chickens that were for sale.
Entrance to the Duomo, with the Campanile to the right.
Plaque outside the Capponi Palace. While in Florence, I took myself on a personal "Dr. Lecter" tour, and he had secured himself a position working at the Capponi library in the movie, Hannibal. I found the Capponi Palace by sheer accident. Admittance, however, was private, and I could not go inside to see the library, where filming for the movie took place.
Street sign.
Throughout Florence, there are several plaques bearing quotations from Dante's works. I don't know what this one says.
The Bargello, once the city's town hall (1255) and then prison (16th c.), now a museum. It was from a window in the Bargello that Baroncelli was hanged for his role in the Pazzi conspiracy to assassinate Lorenzo di Medici.
The Bargello.
The Bargello.
Sculpture of Neptune's Fountain in the Piazza della Signoria.
The Palazzo Vecchio and its Campanile, in the Piazza della Signoria.
Replicas of Michaelangelo's David (left) and Bandinelli's Hercules and Cacus (right), outside of the Palazzo Vecchio.
David. The original is in the Galleria dell'Accademia, north of the Duomo. Taking pictures of the original are prohibited, but it is even more impressive than the copy. It used to stand in the Piazza, but was moved to the safer environment of the Accademia in 1873.
Hercules and Cacus.
Street scene, with quarter moon.
Piazza della Signoria. If you've seen the movie Hannibal, you will recognize this from both the opening Florentine scenes, as well as the scene where Commander Pazzi is hanged (outside of the Palazzo Vecchio, not the Bargello, as was historical)
Marker in Piazza della Signoria to indicate where religious leader Girolamo Savonarola was burned at the stake. I studied about him in my church history class at seminary.
Pigeons in the Piazza della Signoria.
Ditto.
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