Years of Poems and Spirits

We visited Santa Maria Novella (Church/Basillica) briefly. It is located right across from the main train station (Termini). Its well known art work is 3D Jesus (Masaccio’s Trinity).

We reserved the visit to Accademia 2pm. Statue of David is really impressive. It is 14 feet high. It is definitely the center piece of the Museum. We are able to appreciate the details, up close and in person.

We then strolled thru the Duomo. Its external scale is awsome. Its interior decoration is relatively simple. The famous dome fresco is splendid. The dome was constructed after the church was built. It was modelled after the Pantheon dome in Rome. It also inspired the dome of St Peters in Rome. I like to view the Duomo and church from the exterior most. Its gigatic scale must be experienced in person. No picture can really convey the feeling.

We also rode the “top of bus” scenic tour, went across the river to visit Michelanglo’s sequare.

We were able to get a panaromic view of the entire city from Michelanglo’s sequare. Also passed thru lots of luxurious private home compounds along the way, all hidden in beautiful tree woods with great view.

After getting off the tour bus, we pass thru Uffizi plaza to head for dinner.

The food places (they all looked like restaurants but they are actually just sandwich bars) around Palazzo Vecchio were just so so. We had dinner there last night. So we decided to pick a real restaurant from Rick Steves’ book. It was called something cei cei. The food was OK. But we met two couples, all from Seattle area, all came in by following Steves’ guide book. It is as if we turned to the same page at the same time! Deb and Al were from Gig Harbor and Hellen and ZiHeng were from Bellevue. In the end, we all held up our dear own guide books, had a group picture taken by another couple, who, not surprisingly, had *their* own.