Day 14! 

Florence gave us a big day today! Started with a walk in near Santa Maria Novella where we immediately ran into a pretty nice Stile Liberty building, followed by a church and an unexpected cloister with a very old fresco by Ghirlandaio that had been damaged by the floods of 1966. What was cool about it was that in the process of restoring it from the flood, they were able to separate the top layer and preserve it where it had been originally, while they removed and displayed the underdrawing (called the "sinopia") on the adjacent wall. So you could compare the drawing with the finished mural and see what the artist had changed in the process. Very interesting!

"Do these pantaloons make my butt look big?"

We then threaded through the chaotic street markets down to the Medici chapel, which was actually a mausoleum, though in reality it's a gigantic jewel box. It is finished entirely in exotic marbles, with a side chapel that was designed by Michelangelo which has several of his sculptures in it. I love marble, so it was very hard not to photograph there, but I held back. Now I wish I hadn't. At least a few.

"Are you talking to me?"

After that we went to the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, where they allow you to photo (thank God!) After that to the Central Market, where you can pick up just about any cut (or species) of meat you might like, but in our case, we just bought some killer mushrooms, bread, and bits for a picnic lunch, which we ate in the Botanical Garden nearby.

Who knew Nick Nolte was Italian? From the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi.

We then stopped by the incredible Four Seasons Hotel, which is built around the  restored Palazzo Gherardesca, where you can sit and sip tea (free!) on green velvet sofas in the courtyard, surrounded by 16th-century frescos by Flemish mannerist Jan van der Straet, also known as Giovanni Stradano. Really cool spot, and it had no attitude problem at all.

Walked back over to the center of town and looked at the Duomo interior (yawn!) and the Baptistery interior (OMG!) and then ran into a parade for the town's patron John the Baptist, complete with Renaissance costumes, marching bands and flag twirlers, all men. I'll post some video in a bit. 

After that we went into one of the newer museums in town, the Palazzo Strozzi, which had a very cool show placing classical art (ie- Roman era and earlier) next to the Renaissance art it had inspired. Lots of Donatello, Brunelleschi, and other superstars of the Renaissance art world with the pieces they might have seen at the time. While we were there, a thunderstorm started outside and by the time we emerged, it was coming down! Fortunately, there was someone selling cheap umbrellas in the courtyard, so we ran back up to our spot and cooked up a yummy dinner with the big yellow mushrooms we bought at the market earlier. 

Our market selections today. Those orange mushrooms were soooo good!

Thinking we were done for the day, we settled in to internetting and sorting photos, only to discover that fireworks were on the way to celebrate the patron's day. So we went out and grabbed a gelato to wait on the bridge with a whole bunch of locals and tourists and watched a pretty great show of fireworks. Now back home again catching up before starting out again tomorrow. 

Fireworks over the Arno

How's that for an itinerary? Oh yeah, we also booked our rooms for Orvieto and Rome after we came back.