My Italy Diary: Florence, Part 4

Yesterday, Mr. Man and I met Donna and Mary at our usual spot for coffee and then headed for Mercato Nuovo, the local straw market. Donna was looking for a leather jacket, and we are looking for one for Manda, so we wanted to find a market a friend told them about near Stazione Centrale, but after walking around a bit “hunting” for it we gave up. Luckily we passed a leather store on our way back and decided to stop in. The salesperson, Liz, is from the U.S., and she made it such a pleasant experience, as did her boss Tommy. We actually wound up buying five coats; one for each of us, plus one for Manda.

We are back on our own today—Mr. Man and I managed to go to Santa Croce this morning; both Galieo’s and Michelangelo’s tombs are here. The altar was being restored so we were unable to view the crucifix, but we did go into the museum where there are many wonderfully restored pieces. We managed to spend about two hours in all at this wonderful Church (c. 1294).

Next we headed for the Bargello, which we had missed earlier in the week, but unfortunately it closes at 1:00pm. So we headed for San Lorenzo with its unfinished facade—it was designed for the Medici family by Brunelleschi in 1425-26. We were unable to take photographs inside and for some reason they close the cloister with Michelangelo’s staircase at 1:00pm, but we were able to see Donatello’s beautiful bronze pulpits. There is also a beautiful modern painting by Pietro Annigoni, St. Joseph and the Christ Child. This is one of the few mordern works seen in Florence. We had to pay separately to access the Cappella dei Principi, The Medici Mausoleum. It is massive with extravagant marble walls in burgundy and green. The funerary figures, again under restoration, are by Michelangelo and are considered among his greatest works.

We had reservations for the Galleria dell’ Accademia at 4:00pm, and were both feeling fatigued, so we skipped Palazzo Medici Riccardi (a must for tomorrow) and San Marco and opted to go straight to the museum, settling down close by for a glass of wine for an hour until our appointed entry time. Other than Michelangelo’s David, which is, of course, magnifisant, the Accademia didn’t hold much interest for us. It is small and only has paintings of religious motifs from the Byzantine era. There are several unfinished sculptures, the subjects of which seem to be struggling to free themselves from the marble.