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| 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.
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| 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.
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| The tomb of Michelangelo |
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| 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.
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| 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.
