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Published: March 7th 2014
Since I am new at blogging I just wanted to share two facts 1) the newest blog is at the top of the page but you can read previous blogs by scrolling down and 2) photos go to the very bottom of the page below advertising. Probably everyone but me knew this but it was a discovery for me. Now on to the week!
On Saturday we went on our first sightseeing trip outside Florence. The weather was cloudy with light rain. So I thought not a problem, it will probably clear-up in the afternoon. Not so! It rained all day and the high was 36 degrees F. Ann in her blog said it was rainy, but I'd call it a "raw" day because I was wet and cold. As you can see by the coffee bar Ann and I were able to keep warm with coffee and pastries. In spite of the weather I did like San Gimignano (San G for me). The church there provided audio tour guides and a map with numbers to show you where you were. It is one of the few churches I've visited in Europe where I could follow the bible story in
the paintings. And the sculptures were impressive as well. Considering when the frescos were painted (1400 - 1700) and that they made it through the war I was very impressed with the condition of the paintings and sculptures.
The following Thursday Ann and I went to Florence to visit Santa Croce and other sights in Florence. Florence is one of those cities you need a week or so to see everything you want to see. Kinda like Washington DC. The pictures in both our blogs will show you a lot about Florence.
When we go into Florence we cross the Arno River, one of the two main rivers in Italy. The river is spanned by the Ponte Vecchio bridge which looks to me like it's right out of medieval times. There is a picture below. I can just picture knights in armor riding across the bridge as they enter Florence. And the streets and architecture of Florence just adds to that picture. Apartment houses are built right on the edge of the river to complete the scene. We continued walking to the Santa Croce church. It was beautiful inside and very interesting. Several people whose name I recognized
Meat Shop
Notice 2 wild boarsare buried there. To exit the church we went through a garden area and I felt as if we were in a monastery like the ones I've seen in the tv movie Brother Cadfeld. After visiting Santa Croce and the church in San G. Florence's cathedral, the Duomo, felt like a big empty area to me. The inside was not what I was expecting; however, the outside is gorgeous.
Transportation in Florence takes all shapes: walking, bicycles, scooters, motorcycles, cars, buses, trolley and even horse drawn carrigages. A couple of pictures below will show you what I mean. And, for the scooters and bikes these are small parking areas.
It is expensive here in Italy. A couple of coffees and pastries runs us about $11 or 8 Euros. Lunch can cost 20 - 30 euros and about the same for dinner. Meal times are different here also. Lunch is around 1pm and many shops, outside the center of Florence, will close until 3 or 4 pm. They reopen then and close around 7pm. Dinner is sometime between 7 - 10 pm.
Weather for the next two weeks is forecast to be sunny with temperatures in the mid
60's. I'm looking forward to that. As for my students, the reason I'm here, a few more showed up last week. The students I study with I really enjoy and
Surprise!! the students I studies with last week at church returned last night to study again. We are in the 2nd Chapter of Luke. One of my students at school wants to study the origin and authority for sacraments in the church. Guess you know who will be researching on the internet this week.
I'll close for now. Since this is longer than I intended I'll try to write shorter blogs more often...... Mike
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