Tuesday 29 March

Today we left Florence after a wonderful visit. We enjoyed our last breakfast at the Florence Chic B and B which has been a good find. I had new muesli with yogurt, then a boiled egg, bread and jam, plus orange juice and coffee. Richard also had some cheese. We paid our tourist tax and handed in our door keys.

We walked along past the church of Santa Maria Novella, which we didn't have time to visit. Our train to Milan left the station at 10 am. We had reserved seats but not in the same row, but the train wasn't very crowded so we were able to sit together.

In Milan we had time to find a snack and drink to take on the next train. In Italian cafes they often have an annoying system whereby you pay first and collect your food or drink later. So we bought a sandwich each from a kiosk and also some water. Eventually the platform was announced for the Zurich train and we had seats opposite each other. But the train was full of very noisy people talking non-stop. I finished my Prima magazine and then read A Time of Mourning by Christobel Kent, a mystery set in Florence, on my Kindle. I think the author has lived in Florence for a long time.

We arrived in Zug a little late and just had time to rush to the nearby platform for the Thalwil train. The weather when we arrived was warmer than forecast. We went to Migros to buy food for the next few days, and chose fish. As always it was nice to be home, but catching up takes quite a while.

I imported all the photos from my camera and will sort them out and update this blog tomorrow. Have now done so. These pictures below are Richard's favourite from his phone:

Monday 28 March, Easter Monday

Santa Croce - the facade was added later

We got up for our usual nice breakfast, which we share with a Swiss couple who speak Italian and an Italian family with a young daughter. The Italian child refused to take her medicine and her father was pretty hopeless when she hid under the table! I had a message from Matthew and we spoke to him about his recent trip to China.

Inside the huge church with its many chapels

We went out with umbrellas to Santa Croce, and spent quite a while looking at the different chapels with frescoes by Giotto, and saw the tombs of Michelangelo and Galileo. There was an Asian school choir singing songs. We also saw the Refectory with Taddeo Gaddi's Tree of Life and Last Supper. We took lots of photos, but some came out dark.

The tomb of Michelangelo

Gaddi's Tree of Life in the Refectory

We found a good place nearby for lunch, Francesco Vini, and both had salads and a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. Then we went to visit Orsanmichele with its 'Madonna' by Daddi on the ground floor and the sculptures of the guild patrons, restored and now on the first floor. Richard went up to the second floor to take photos. The rectangular building was first a grain store and later converted into a church. Now it's a museum.

The elaborate Madonna by Daddi has been restored

After a rest we visited an art exhibition in Palazzo Strozzi entitled  Kandinsky to Pollock. Interesting but not all works of great art. Then we walked around and then had dinner at Antiche Carrozze. Nice Tuscan dishes and local Chianti.


On our last night at Florence Chic we again used the earplugs provided to reduce the noise outside.

Sunday 27 March, Easter Sunday

The procession with flowers 

Today is a big day in Florence as it's Easter Sunday. And the clocks went forward one hour. We need an early breakfast to be at the Duomo by 10 am for the Scoppio del Carro. Expecting crowds. I brought two Cadbury's Creme Eggs to celebrate.

Four oxen pulled the tall cart

We had a special breakfast with boiled eggs and a cake baked by the waitress. From our window we could see the procession of guilds with bands and costumes. When we went out, we watched the huge cart being pulled by four oxen through the Piazza della Repubblica to the Duomo. We were very close to the procession and almost had a TV interview, but our Italian wasn't up to it.

The cart in P. della Repubblica on its way to the Duomo

At the Duomo, we took our place in the crowd and waited patiently with everyone else and watched the explosion being set up on the cart. Promptly at 11am, the 'dove' shot down a wire from the altar through the nave to the cart outside. On impact, fireworks on the cart went off in several stages. Many people took photos and videos of this unique occasion. We were very lucky to have experienced it.















We had to push our way out afterwards through the crowds. Then we visited the Bargello Museum to see the sculptures and ceramics by Donatello, Michelangelo and della Robbia. At 2pm we found a good place for lunch, Il Boccale, where we had a very nice meal - I had crostini with fresh tomato and rabbit with a nice sauce and artichokes, which are in season here now. Plus more Chianti.

Fireworks going off on the cart

Then we strolled to Piazza S. Trinita where a violinist and guitarist were playing, and we sat listening in the sun for a while. We came back for a rest. I wrote some postcards.


We went out later and walked to San Lorenzo but didn't find the bar Richard had in mind. Back at Piazza della Repubblica we went for a drink at Pazkowski but the service was very slow. It was also raining hard.

In the Bargello former palace and museum

We managed to find O Vesuvio (recommended by the Guardian) but there was a long queue so instead we went into Cimetori 30 opposite. I ordered deep fried courgette flowers to share and scalloppino and Richard went for pappardelle with cinghale. The service was very slow and chaotic and the house Chianti was rather rough. We didn't leave a tip.

Saturday 26 March

The cloisters of Santa Maria del Carmine

After a disturbed night we got up around 8 and had another nice breakfast of coffee, cereal, yogurt and croissant. Then we set out on a sunny day to visit the Brancacci Chapel at Santa Maria del Carmine.

The altarpiece and frescoes by Massolino and Masaccio

We crossed the Arno by Ponte San Trinita and walked for about ten minutes. We had to wait for half an hour to enter the chapel. Meanwhile we read about the series of frescoes about the life of St. Peter by Massolino and Masaccio, which was completed by Filippino Lippi.

Masaccio's wonderful frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel

Inside the small chapel we had to compete with an Italian tour guide who never stopped talking. We saw the fresco cycle on opposite walls and the rear wall of a small side chapel, in particular the figures of Adam and Eve expelled from the Garden and Peter healing the Sick with his Shadow. Masaccio was a genius of colour and emotion, who died aged 27.


After managing to take a few photos, we walked further on to S. Spirito church with its elaborate central altar and many side chapels. And in the Cenacola or Refectory next door we saw the remains of a painting of the Last Supper by Andrea Orcagna.

Richard in the Boboli Gardens

Then we found a wine bar for lunch near the Pitti Palace and I had melanzane parmigiana, plus a glass of red wine. We then queued for tickets to the Boboli Gardens behind the Pitti Palace. It was pleasant there in the warm sun. We strolled up to the top and admired the view over Florence.

We returned to our room for a rest. Then we went out for dinner at Antinori, which has branches also in Zurich and Vienna. Good job we booked. We had artichoke and parmesan salad and osso buco with mash and spinach. Plus some very nice Marchesi Antinori Chianti Classico 2011. It wasn't corked.

In the Boboli Gardens with a view of the city

Then at the Duomo we saw the preparations for tomorrow's ceremony of the Explosion of the Cart.

Friday 25 March, Good Friday

Giotto's Madonna showed early perspective

I didn't sleep too well and it was noisy in the street outside. We had a nice breakfast and are setting off to the Uffizi now. We have ticket reservations for 10.15.


We queued for our tickets at door 3 and then queued again at door 1 to enter through security. Then up four flights of stairs to see the early Renaissance works by Cimabue, Duccio and Giotto's Ognissanti Altarpiece. We saw the Tribune Room with the Medici sculptures, then paintings by Piero, Michelangelo, Fra Angelico, Uccello and Botticelli. It was busy but not too crowded in the main corridor. Several people were taking selfies with the Botticelli Primavera.

Piero's portraits of Duke and Duchess of Urbino

Then it was time for a welcome prosecco in the sunny roof cafe, before seeing more sculptures and works by Raphael and Tician. I got stamps from the gift shop and we went out to a nearby cafe to have a tuna and tomato bruschetta sandwich and a beer for lunch. Then back to Florence Chic for a rest.

Michelangelo's Holy Family

After quite a long rest, we set off to look at S. Trinita church. There was a service on so we didn't stay long. We crossed the Arno over the Santa Trinita bridge which was very busy, and looked inside San Jacopo, rather a weird church where self-flagellation once took place. We stopped at Ringo's Bar for a glass of Brunello di Montalcino.

Prosecco on the roof terrace of the Uffizi - a welcome break

Then we crossed back over the Ponte Vecchio and saw the expensive jewellery for sale. No white earrings for me yet. We went back to the Piazza del Duomo and had another glass of wine in Enoteca Montecristo - I had Pinot Grigio, which seems to be the only white choice.


We ended up in Pa'station next door where we had already booked. I had tonno e fagioli and rigatoni carbonara, plus a glass of Antinore red. It was quite filling.


At the hotel it was difficult to sleep again due to shouting outside until 5am.

Thursday 24 March, Maundy Thursday

Beside the River Arno with Ponte Vecchio in the background

We arrived in Florence after a six hour train journey via Milano. Firenze is sunny, cool in the shade and very busy. We are staying in a B and B in the city centre not far from the Duomo and the Uffizi. Going out soon to explore and find a wine bar.

We strolled round the city to Piazza della Senoria; we saw the Loggia with the sculptures of Perseus holding the head of Medusa and others, saw the impressive facade of Palazzo Vecchio, and walked past the Uffizi to the River Arno and Ponte Vecchio.

The Campanile and Duomo floodlit at night

Then we had a white wine in Caffe Strozzi before finding a great place for dinner, La Bussola. I had aubergine parmigiano and we shared roast lamb with potatoes and chard, finished off with chocolate torte. Plus a bottle of Chianti Reserva 2012. Delicious.

Then we strolled to the Duomo and went inside, where there was a silent procession of people dressed in black. It was part of the commemoration of Holy Week. Outside, we marvelled at Giotto's facade for the Campanile and the pink, green and white marble on the Duomo walls and the Baptistery.

Now quite tired. I am reading Death of an Englishman by Magdalen Nabb, set in Florence, probably in the 1970s.

Wednesday 23 March 2016 Getting ready to go

I've cleared my backlog of ZIWA projects and housework, and am now ready to think about our latest visit to Florence. We are travelling by train from Thalwil via Zug and Milan. We have booked the seats and reserved for five nights at a Bed and Breakfast, called Florence Chic. I have made a list of essential sights, and hope we might achieve some of them.

This is not our first visit. In 2002-3 I completed an Open University degree course in Humanities with Art History by writing a paper on Last Suppers in Florentine Refectories. I still have the text (posted as a page on this blog, but needs more work on the layout) but many of the photos were stuck in on paper; this was before the days of easy electronic copies of photos. In 2003, we made several visits in order to see the Last Suppers in various convents and churches in the city. I also did a Study Tour to Padua, Siena and Florence, and Richard joined us during the trip. I don't think my tutor realised that I had taken many of the photos myself. However I got 70 percent for the paper, which was a Good Pass or something - typical modest UK marking.

The facade of Santa Maria Novella

We visited Florence also in 2003 with the Newtons to celebrate Joan's 70th birthday, and I remember we bought her a print of the city. The first visit for Richard and me was in the summer of 1982, before we got married, when Richard and I drove from Pisa to Florence, Rome and Sorrento. Italy won the World Cup in the summer of 1982, and Richard broke his glasses during that visit, so his parking after that was on a par with the Italian drivers. We also revisited with Matthew and Laura in April 1996, according to a photo taken at the top of the Campanile.