Sunday morning we went to service at Santa Croce Basilica. The service was at a civilized hour, 11:00 am, and entirely in Italian. I was able to keep up with a lot of what was going on but did not get it all. I had to guess what the sermon was about.
We decided to take a stroll up to the Michelangelo Piazza that over looks the city. Below is a shot of the central city from the Duomo to the Signoria.
This is a photo rotated a bit to the right showing the distance between the Duomo to our home of Santa Croce Basilica.
Rotating to the left you get a view of the last version of the city wall around Florence.
Another view of the city.
And yet another view of the city.
From the Piazza we climbed on up the hill to the San Miniato al Monte. This is a Cathedral celebrating 1,000 years on this site this year.
I live in a city that cannot build a city hall that will last 50 years as I stand in a Church celebrating 1,000 years of service to its community.
I went there didn’t I.
Another one for you Patti.
The interior.
The front of the church.
On the way back down to the Piazza we decided an aperitivo was appropriate.
The view was great for a barber.
When we got back to the valley floor and into the city streets I came across this doorway. Maybe the next reason I need to come back to Florence.
Just a reminder that street justice is always effective.
Saw this on top of a building on the Ponte Vecchio. I think this is some ancient version of a satellite dish.
The doors of Santa Croce Cathedral
The interior of Santa Croce Cathedral
One more view of the city from my friend the professional photographer
Scott and Kim on the steps of the Piazza de Michelangelo.
For dinner we again went to a local trattoria. For starters we had a platter of raw artichoke slivered with arugula and shavings of pecorino with olive oil and salt. We also had a caprese with burata cheese.
For the secondi Carl and I had a roast beef stew and Kim had an Osso buco alla Milanese. This family has been serving meals here since 1844
The owners of the trattoria after coming to the table to have Lemoncello with us.
And finally to end the day Carl got a shot of my new, hand made Italian shoes.
We are off to dinner now. I will report more tomorrow.