Day 6: Florence (6/3/18)


You can imagine that after many packed days, we were not ashamed to take a later start to this day. And lucky for us! We emerged from the B&B to the clopping sound of hooves on stone. It was a horse parade! We actually saw this parade three times this morning: once from our window, once on the street, and by the time we had finished breakfast the parade has circled back around to a nearby intersecting street. 



The horse parade seen from our room

The horse parade, third sighting
Today was reserved for shopping and laid-back sight-seeing. We spent the early part of the day looking in windows, guessing the prices of the mannequins' clothes, and even trying some on ourselves. We revisited a few familiar plazas and churches while adding a few new stops. One was the Medici Chapel. It have us a much better idea of their wealth, patronage, and indulgences of the church. In these photos you can see relics built to house Egyptian remains, intended to display fine Florentine craftsmanship, that were then gifted to the church. These relics were on display near the Medici crypts. 

 Egyptian skull remains in a relic

Look closely in the upper portion to see a bone segment

Upstairs was the actual chapel, one of the most amazing sights yet. 

I took this photo in 3d, so if you are able to open it then you'll be able to interact with it

The Medici Chapel dome features scenes from Genesis and the New Testament

We continued shopping through the afternoon and returned to the Piazza Della Signoria to see a band concert. Their repertoire consisted mainly of marches. One number was a medley of old American patriotic tunes (mostly seen as racist today, causing us to be cautious before singing along) and another number that caused all the Italian people to sing aloud.

The band concert

Dinner was one of the best yet, if not the best. This was another Rick Steve's guide recommendation, which noted that the atmosphere was like being in a room at home and the food was slow. The food wasn't slow; the service was. But we didn't care because the Tuscan salumi and cheese board was a game of exploration and the pasta entrees were Dionysian. We even received a gift of a small plate of cheese and pear filled pasta with the entrees and then limoncello at the end! The meal was so good that we needed a long walk home. Luckily, this is Italy, and many many people were out eating, drinking, playing music, walking, and talking at eleven pm. What a beautiful cap to our time in Florence!


Comments

  1. UnknownJune 4, 2018 at 9:42 AM

    Florence looks beautiful! The Medici Chapel dome scenes are breathtaking!

    ReplyDelete

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