Today, Nicole and I decided to be "real tourists" in Florence, and see some of the sights that we just haven't had the time to visit yet. We started at Santa Croce, and after our visit, it became one of my favorite churches in Florence. It is very ornate, layered, decorated - perhaps due to the fact that it is the resting place for many historical Italians such as Dante, Machiavelli and (my man) Alberti - and, of course, Santa Croce is old beyond any American conception.
Hmm, another Medici coat-of-arms (left, with the 6 pears) - Once you start looking for them, they appear everywhere (floors, ceilings, paintings, statues, corners, crannies, sarcophagi....)
I think I caught some of Nicole's "light of God"
The Franciscan Order cloisters of Santa Croce
A magnificent Della Robbia domed ceiling
Then we wandered over to the Baptistery, Santa Maria del Fiore (the Cathedral of Il Duomo), and Capelle Medici attached to San Lorenzo.
This is the dizzying, glittering, golden mosaic ceiling of The Baptistery. My neck hurt after staring up at this one, but I could have stayed there for hours.
Check out the ipod headphones on this guy - he was way before his time.It was a lot to take on in Florence for one day, but we did it (and had a great time) in about 5 hours (also insert lunch at the amazing sandwich shop where we saw a fight last time, the best chocolate gelato ever, and perusing the shopping district). In other news, fall is definitely upon us in Tuscany - the evenings are chilly, the leaves are burning, and cool breezes drift through the Villa. It's time for fewer tourists, warm sweaters, cute boots, slippers for cold Villa floors, and cozy blankets. I love it.
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