We got a late start this morning after doing a bit of daily laundry we headed out about 11:30 am; north across the Ponte Alla Grazie. There we stopped for some more...groan...groan....photos of the Ponte Vecchio; hard to resist when the sun is shining so brightly. Then on across the bridge to locate the Casa Buonarroti; the family home of Michelangelo. It was part of our ticket that we paid for yesterday when we toured the Santa Croce Church. Actually built after his death by his grand-nephew who turned it into a little museum honoring his famous relative. One interesting piece is a very early sculpture by Michelangelo of the Madonna and child. As a tour guide remarked as we passed; had he not become famous this one would never have passed the test; too many artistic errors. Contrary to Rick Steve's book I found that they had most information translated into English that made it easy to understand what the art was about that you were seeing. We seem to have had a guard assigned to us; she followed us from room to room and always had a frown on her face. Maybe it was because I was taking so many photos. I do think the national policy has recently changed about photographs as long as you don't use flash. The signs are still there but I've never been refused permission.
Once out the door we headed towards the Duomo to located the two Tourist Information Offices. One is located on the corner across from the Duomo. She was excellent and gave us all kinds of information on activities plus several maps. The second one that is further north on Via Cavour was even more helpful when we asked about the second address that Laura was considering for a rental when they come to Florence in the fall. She gave us a larger, more detailed, map and marked the area. Off we went in search of the address. We walked and walked and walked. Seemed like forever but it wasn't as far as we thought. Found the location, took some photos and checked the mileage and time before starting our return trip.
It actually only took us a bit over half an hour to return to the Duomo (Cathedral) and it was 1.13 miles. And there were lots of buses that they can take if they don't want to walk. We really put the steps on the pedometer today! By the time we stopped for some groceries we had 6.67 miles on our pedometer on the cell phone; and it was just four o'clock when we arrived at the apartment.
Trash is always a major problem for any city in the world. There are large dumpsters on every street for the many apartment residents to use. In the more touristy areas we've notice some very new and classy trash deposits that didn't look like they held very much. Today we saw the trash truck empty one; it was a huge container under the street...amazing. Another whimsical item in the slideshow is a dinosaur and babies that I thought the children would enjoy. It was at the entrance to a University and I slipped in and snapped a photo for you.
We're resting before dinner and I hope to get a game of cards in today as we didn't play last night. Jim relented and I turned on the heater a bit last night; felt good as it's cool in the evenings. One fun thing was that we found a 99 Cent Store....found several things that we wanted. Also a larger grocery store that had Jim's Yogurt Drink that he enjoys. Stopped on the way home to pick them up along with some cheap wine! Nearly time to start dinner. Weather has been fantastic! But, prediction is for rain on Easter Sunday. We're hoping to see the Easter Cart that is blessed in the church and then has fireworks exploded in the street on Easter Sunday that are started by a fire sent from the inside of the Cathedral. It's a huge cart two to three stories high that is pulled through the streets to the Duomo by a pair of oxen that are decorated with garlands ... the tradition goes back to the year of 1622. Lots of costumes and excitement. If all the fireworks go off it insures a good harvest and good luck for all of Florence.
Have a good day...we're ready to fix dinner here in Florence and you're just waking up about now in the USA.
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