The Rest of Florence

Alright, so I feel that perhaps I’ve procrastinated long enough with this blog post. And especially with it already being my fourth day of my internship today, I must forewarn you that this entry will not do the rest of my Italian voyage justice.

Before I continue, I would like you to know that I finally do have pictures slowly being uploaded to the Internet, and will soon provide links.

In the meantime, I believe I was still in Florence when I last left you. Indeed, last Wednesday was the day I would be leaving to meet up with Trevor and company in Rome. However, as I was not scheduled to leave until mid-afternoon, I ended up deciding to do a pre-Vatican City pilgrimage, by visiting different Florentine churches. My first stop was at Parrocchia Nostra Signora del Sacro Cuore, the church that was but a few minutes’ walk from the hostel. I followed that up with a brief stop at the Basilica Santuario della SS. Annunziata, where I participated in the second half of an all-Italian Mass service. In the basilica, I started to get the sense that my art history days at Albion were slowly coming back, particularly when I saw the relics preserved of Saint Giuliana Falconneri. After passing the Centro Linguistico di Ateneo, I ended up at the Parocchia del S. Ambrogio. After that stop, I finally made it to my way to the Church of Santa Croche (as per Alex’s suggestion). There, among the many memorials and various tombstones, I saw the tombstones or memorials of such ‘famous people’ as Michelangelo, da Vinci, Niccolini, Bartolini, Rossini, Marconi, Degli Albertin, Dante (in actuality, his remains really don’t exist there), and Enrico Fermi (yes, I’m the product of Science-O). On the same complex, I made a quick stop at the Scuoto del Cuoio (Leather School of Florence), before moving onto the Studio Teologico per Laici di Santa Croce, a printing exposition of original (1/15) prints by Pietro Parici. I then continued my voyage with stops at the Cappella de’ Pazzi and the Museo dell’Opera, before finally heading out. On my way to my last big tourist stop, I got some gelato at Antica Galateria del Corso (flavours: Signola? And Caco (Amsterdam)). I then had the choice of going to a horror museum that would be closing in a week and an exhibit focused on da Vinci’s work. I chose the latter and got to see replicas of da Vinci’s inventions, etc., based on his original journals and codices. It was a wonderfully interactive exhibit and for 7 €, I was able to get my ticket and end with a pizza and pop snack at Caffé Michelangiolo. It’s interesting that the two are associated with one another as, historically, the two were intense rivals. Finally, after my walk through Mercato Centrale, I boarded my train to Rome.