Today started with a bit of a late start after a visit to the tourist stop at the train station to talk about our trip to Pisa and Rome on Wednesday. Then we got to the activities for the day. We walked to one corner of the city to see San Marco Cathedral. This, like many of the other churches, wouldn’t allow us to take photos. We decided it was way over priced, but it had a beautiful bibliotheca with books with gold pounded pictures in them. We got to see a variety of frescoes and statues, the monk quarters, and some of the garments from hundreds of years ago. Nashon is still stuck on the idea of having a house big enough to have a courtyard (they really are pretty). Then we walked to another corner of the city to see Cappella Brancacci Cathedral. However, they require reservations, the earliest of which was at 4:15pm. So instead of trying to make it to the other church and back, we wasted 90 minutes walking around this end of town. Nashon discovered that cappuccino was much cheaper when out of the center of the city (and now he isn’t going to buy them at the caf? for lunch anymore). This church (when we finally got in), was simply breath taking. They DID allow photos without flashes, so we took a few. The chapel was simply beautiful, but we weren’t allowed into most of it (unless we waited till 5pm to go in when the church opened for services). So we trekked across the city to climb another mountain (not nearly as big or hard as the ones in Germany) to see San Miniato al Monte. This cathedral is on the hill outside of Florence, and was built as a tribute to an early christian martyr, built on the place where he fell after being executed. We got to listen to some monks singing during a service, and saw more beautiful paintings on the walls. The marble inlays on the floor were simply wonderful. We walked a short distance to Piazzale Michelangelo to see more breath taking views of the city from above. We sat and watched the sun fall in the sky and clouds roll in, and decided to walk back to town to find dinner. It was a beautiful sunny day, full of walking and beautiful art and history. It was simply wonderful.
Mon
7
Apr '08
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