Day 7. Santa Maria de Fiore, Tales from the crypt, the San Marco Museum and a grand finale at the Accademia museum!

Saturday June 15th, 2013. Day 7 in Florence started with a visit to the Cathedral Santa Maria de Fiore and the Duomo. Inside, we were greeted by wonderful frescoes on the walls and the ceiling inside of the Duomo. Many sculptures which have inspired the Christian faith were abundant inside of the cathedral. Next, we walked down to the underground crypt. The floors show original mosaics and the slabs which covered each tomb were beautiful examples of relief sculpture. After visiting the cathedral, we moved on to the San Marco museum. The San Marco is a very old building that used to be a convent/monastery. Most of the little rooms where the monks used to live have frescoes on the walls by the beloved painter " Fra Angelico" who was a monk himself. As you walk up the stairs, you are welcomed to the second floor by one of the world's most famous frescoes, Fra Angelico's "the Annunciation". Mrs. Orendorff almost fainted at first sight of this marvelous fresco. Moving through the second floor of the museum, we encountered a large room where the monks used to hand write and illustrate the first bibles. After this wonderful treat, we went on to the Accademia museum. Yes, that is where Michealngelo's famous sculpture of David is housed! There were also hundreds of plaster and marble sculptures. The Accademia is full of very important works of art which include sculptures, paintings, antique music instruments, icons, and frescoes. Our day ended with dinner in the Piazza Della Signoria and a procession of medieval characters. Before retiring for the night, we paid a visit to Florence's famous "Il Porcellino" (boar sculpture). The tradition since 1766 is that one must rub its nose with a coin and drop it into the grate below for good luck and to ensure a return visit to Florence!

 

Day 6 in Florence!

Today was our last day at the Accademia del Gilglio with Ombretta. We packed our creations and are ready to go. We had lunch at a little cafe with the best bread so far. In the evening we explored Palazzo Vecchio and ate dinner at the foot of the Duomo. Ciao from Firenze!

 

Day 5! The Baptistery, the Museo Dell'Opera del Duomo, dinner & finally "Gelato"

Day 4... Sculpture class, Piazza del Duomo, & Pinochio gets a kiss!

 

Day 3...a "busto" in sculpture class, lunch, the Uffizi & Ponte Vecchio, dinner and finished the day with a concert at St. Stefano. Mamma Mia!

Sculpture class

Piazza Della Signoria our first night in Florence!

On our way to la Bella Italia

Accademia del Giglio, Florence, Italy.

Hello again, we have received our very first picture of the Accademia where we will be studying a sculpture course for one week. Florence we will see you on Sunday!