A Day in Firenze. November 20, 2010

Today Br. Mark, Pam from DENA and I trekked to Florence for the day. We too the Eurostar, so the trip only took about 90 minutes. When we got there it was raining, so we found a nice covered outdoor cafe on the piazza Duomo with a lovely view of the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore and had a cappuccino to relax and plan our day.

Br Mark from Memphis.

Pam from St. Gabe's Hall

It was a truly lovely day. There's something so nice about having your morning coffee while gazing at one of the most beautiful architectural wonders.

Here are a few photos of the doors of the baptistery. These are the famous "Doors to Paradise" made by

Ghiberti. The legend has it that they are called the Doors to Paradise because when Michaelangelo saw them he refereed to them by that name and it stuck.The doors took 21 years to complete and are absolutely spectacular. Each panel represents a scene from the Old Testament. The doors are gilded bronze.

This is David killing Goliath. The detail is simply amazing.

Doors of the Basilica.

Some stone work in the front of the Basilica.

The Pentecost.

This is a fairly bad photo of the inside of the Basilica. But it's the best one I have. I was trying to get a picutre of the dome and the walls to show the contrast of opulent and simple.

They had several trees of candles through out the church. 

After the tour of the Basilica, we went to the Galleria dell Accademica to see Michael. I've never been there. Usually when I've been to Florence the line was long to get in the door.There was no line at all to get in and the Gallery was not busy at all. They had an exhibit of icons that was beautiful.

You are not allowed to take pictures in the Gallery, so our time with David was undocumented. I was not expecting to be wowed. I'd seen a jillion pictures of the statue on calendars, post cards and refridgerator magnets and have an apron hanging in my kitchen with his likeness on it. But nothing really prepared me for being in the same room with the piece. It is amazing.

After a couple of hours in the museum, we slowly strolled through the shopping area and had lunch.

For the folks in Memphis: Br. Mark at the train station.

Br. Mark on the train after a long day of shopping with the ladies. He's a real trooper!

We were back home in time for dinner at Casa Lasalle. It was a nice leisurely day. While we only saw a sliver of Florence, it was nice to just relax and take things slow. I'm ready to go back already!!!