David's Diary: Saturday, June 15, 2002
Florence Part II
St. Croce
We get up in the morning and have Italian breakfast. It pretty much looks like a French breakfast, bread, butter, jam, coffee for the adults and hot chocolate for the children. We check out of the hotel and walk to St. Croce, the Franciscan church of Florence. Started in 1294 it was completed in the 14C, but the facade was added in the 19C and looks like it. If you stand to the side of St. Croce, you can see the brick construction of the original church with the marble facade looking like a child's Lego model perched on the front of the church.
Carved Statue, St. Croce (notice the tassels)
We enter the church and are confronted with far larger crowds than we saw yesterday at the Duomo. We have to wait our turn to see Michelangelo's Tomb, even though the whole area is roped off so that we cannot get a close view. We walk up to the altar and then visit the side chapels. On the left-hand side of the nave, we are impressed with the carving above one tomb. We don't know the significance of the person, but the marble carving showing the blanket draped over her and the tassels carved into the pillow impresses us with the skill of the artist.
Ponte Vecchio
We leave St. Croce and follow the path we walked last night that takes us to the River Arno. We follow the river once again, taking in the bright sunlight and the people sun tanning on the river's edge, as we approach Ponte Vecchio. This is the oldest bridge in Florence which crosses the river Arno. If we followed the river all the way downstream would lead us to Dragonsinger. For centuries the bridge has been a focal point of Florentine life, covered with buildings that house shops for jewellery and leather goods.
Views of the Arno River from Ponte Vecchio
We cross the bridge, but avoid most of the shops. With the number of tourists that visit Florence, the shops seem somewhat jaded, looking for the next tourist with lots of money to stop and buy something. We stop in the middle of the bridge and look up and down the River Arno. Kevin and Allen exclaim at the large fish that swim by in the shallow water and I take in the buildings that line the river. Who knows how many thousands of people have looked at this view of the last few hundred years?
