We made it into Florence with no glitches at all - pros on that route now! Upon leaving the underground parking garage, we discovered a flea market type table that had miscellaneous 'junk' and books. Anyone need an Arabic/German dictionary?! Phoebe found a pretty espresso cup & saucer while I found a teensy, flowered plate that is just too cute:
I just love a good find! Oh, it was €1!!
We once again walked through the market admiring the variety & quality of fruits and vegetables.
With Sarah reading the map, we meandered through narrow streets to Santa Croce Basilica. We ended up arriving at the 'back' side where the Croce School of Leather is located. Unbelievable workmanship and such unique surroundings:
An office
We were able to buy tickets for the church at the leather school shop & there was an entrance to the Sacristy so off we went!
In the Sacristy
Corridor between Sacristy and Nave
The alter
Rear of the nave
There are several well known men buried in this church:
Dante just has a memorial
Machiavelli
Michelangelo
Galileo
Cloister
Warrior by Henry Moore
Finally the front of the church!
Close up of front
Florence Nightingale memorial (in the courtyard by exit)
Out on the plaza, Phoebe and Sarah see some shops to visit while I sit on a bench & people watch! Yes, again - one of my favorite activities!! There were quite a few tour groups of all nationalities.
It is now lunch time so we go to a restaurant kitty-cornered from the church and a statue of Dante:
Restaurant's name was a nice reminder of my Camino walk last year!
Our table was next to two ladies from St Louis! They are on a week's Norwegian Cruise with today's excursion being Pisa & Florence!
We had a very good lunch:
Phoebe had lasagna - I had cod with pasta - we all shared chicken liver pate on bread
Sarah had a calzone
She had leftovers (we carry Ziplocs in our purses!) Plus one of the St Louis ladies gave us 1/4 of her pizza. So dinner was decided!
The SL ladies told us about a recommended olive oil shop just around the corner which happened to be on our route back to the car! So a visit there with another stop at corner grocery store to save stopping by car on way home, we found our way back to the car!! Yes, we did use the map! By this time (3:30) we are ready to head home so goal #2 wasn't reached today but perhaps will be on Wednesday. We had no trouble getting back to our road 222 which made us feel good plus we caught a second wind so opted to stop in Grassina for gelato and also pastry for later. Oh, and we remembered that we needed cereal so stopped at a different, smaller Coop. Then to center of town - pastry shop still closed but gelato was refreshing & delicious!! Just before our turn off, it was mentioned by someone in the car that the pastry shop in Impruneta might be open...so we continue on to there! Also decided to go to terra cotta factory/store which we thought we knew right where it was - nope!! Thanks to nice Italian man we did find it! And it was a successful shopping experience for Sarah and Phoebe. Have you figured out I'm not much of a shopper except for edible products??!! On to pastry shop - Leonardo's is mentioned in several guidebooks - alas, not open on Monday. Oh, this was discovered after several trips around the parking lot as school pick up time! Well, there was an alternate choice but late afternoon is not the best time to shop for fresh pastry. Three different flavored tag-like creations were chosen and now homeward bound again.
Wait, there is that sign for a church; let's go see it so Sarah turns onto a narrow lane which immediately gets narrower but aha, the church was worth seeing!!
S. Cristina
Finally, we make it home & collapsed! Wait, Sarah took a quick walk before it got completely dark. We washed a load of clothes. We each just ate what we felt like.
And now I'm caught up and ready for bed!! Another day-long outing tomorrow to Lucca...
I did see that stature of Dante but never made it inside that church. I didn't realize they were all buried there. I was only there for a weekend. Kate carries Ziploc bags in her purse, too. I guess wise women do that!
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