Frescos, Friends, Florence

18 March 2011

Went to the San Marco church and museum today and loved sitting in the interior courtyard and seeing all of the frescos by Fra Angelico and the upstairs monk living quarters. Sat and read a book on the steps of the Duomo and met up with a friend for gelato and shopping. I splurged and bought a hand made Italian leather jacket and enjoyed dinner with new friends back at the hostel. Had some version of italian tripe as a second course tonight with pasta dinner. Great day!

19 March 2011

Walked to Accadamia for my 8:30 reservation and loved seeing the David. So tall and handsome! The other sculptures were really elegant and many of the reference points hadn't been filled in, so you could really see the art in process. Killed some time at a cafe having lunch before my 1:30 reservation at the Ufizzi museum. Raphael, Leonardo, etc, etc! I met up with my friend again and we had fun touring the galleries and having dinner in a piazza with live jazz string musicians. I had arabiatta with red wine and lemoncello for dessert. We saw a parade of old-type Florentines marching around the downtown piazzas. Don't see that everyday. Took some pictures and walked back to the hostel.

Tomorrow Plans:

Take the train to Siena and stay the night. Possibly "Villa Hospitality"

Monday-Visit Volterra?

Tuesday-Off to Rome!