Wednesday 3rd in Florence

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We had a 10AM appointment at the Accademia to view the David and his friends so we decided to visit San Marco and the work of Bartolomeo and Fra Angelico before we went to see David. Perhaps not the best decision as the frescoes in San Marco are overwhelmingly beautiful and make a deep impression on your eyes, mind and heart. Over the hour or so that we were in the abbey we came to a new understanding of Fra Angelico’s view of human choice about perception of purgatory and heaven, something that may not be achieved in an afterlife but rather something experienced in this life. Lots to unpack and little time to do it in front of the art, so we left and went to the Accademia where we joined the mass of humanity – otherwise known as tourists – and enjoyed the viewing of the Michaelangelo’s “slaves” and his David. It was very enjoyable despite the tours and tourists crowded around the statues. John took pictures and both of us checked out every angle of the piece.

Then back to San Marco to finish our viewing of one of Fra Angelico’s pieces, the Last Judgment, which unlike most depictions, points to choices that we make and hell or heaven we create during our earthly lives. Having gotten the hit we wanted, we made our way through the Piazza de Santissima Annunziata with its statue of King Ferdinand and the exquisite building with Della Robbia images of babies on the façade. We walked to La Giostra, one of our favorite restaurants for many years since we discovered it and its working class patrons back in the 1990s. Now it is a tourist restaurants and has lost much of the quality and flavor we loved so much. Still it was a good luncheon and we walked back to our hotel for a rest, filled with enthusiasm for our day.

After a rest we went out to meet Lara’s friend, Elisa, at Gilli’s, with plans for a dinner in the area. It was a very enjoyable evening, as Elisa is a smart, quick, thoughtful and knowledgeable Italian. She took us to a new restaurants, one focused on meat, and we all decided to have vegetable-based dishes. The evening was over too soon and we parted company with promises of hooking up again in Italy of San Francisco.

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