Santa Croce

Today was spent at the Santa Croce chapel, it is so huge that you just have to spend a lot of time here to really appreciate the beauty. Like many things we have seen so far, it was a short walk to get to the chapel. Even if it took a while, the walk was worth it.

The first thing that was pointed out to us was a small marker on the wall, Bob had us try to figure out what it said (a lot of Italian is similar to English). We figured that it was talking about water in September of 1967 (I hope I got the date right). Turns out it was a marker letting you know that in 1967 the Arno river flooded and that was how high the water got. Now this is somewhat hard to image since the river is so far below the bridge that we crossed to get to the chapel. I had heard about this flood from a friend of my grandpa's, so this wasn't too surprising to me.

So once we were in the chapel, the same reaction hit me as in the other places, pure awe! I didn't really pay attention to it at the time, but I was standing in the same chapel that Michelangelo and Dante had once stood in. I could have been standing in the very same spot when I was close to the various alters! MIND BLOWN! Anyways, this place was massive and just beautiful. Pictures really wouldn't do this place justice, you just have to save your money and come here yourself.

There is also a leather school at the end of one of the halls. Yes, I said leather school. What makes this particular leather spot different is that I could stand next to the table with a worker and watch them make a purse/ wallet/ embossed medallion. It was amazing to watch them work. I felt a little awkward just standing there watching the man doing his embossing work, mostly because he kept looking up and smiling at me, but it was hard to look away. I got a few pictures.

At one point a few of us had to get out of the shop or we would probably buy something we didn't need. So we went out to one of the courtyards. It was odd to see things still blooming there, like the roses and orange trees. Just so you know it's been a lovely 50+ degrees here.

After we got back inside the group headed to a museum that was housed at the chapel as well. If you didn't look you would miss it, the door isn't very obvious. In there were a lot of fresco portions that were just unbelievable, like all of the ones I have seen. It's amazing to me (and some others in the group) to see a chapel that has existed for hundreds of years look so well preserved, no graffiti, no gum stuck to the walls... there is such respect for the history of this city, something that is lacking in the states.

Here comes a good ending to the sight seeing part of the day. Lunch! It was decided that we would

break for lunch before we went to go see the Boboli gardens. I broke off with Pam (ADP director) and Jean (a professor at JMU, and my gym buddy) to go hunt for a place to sit and enjoy our meal. There are a lot of quick sandwich /snack places and we didn't want that. We happen to come to a place with their menu outside for us to peruse (like all the other restaurants here) and decided it was worth a shot. The place was Francesco Vini and it was located just down the block from the chapel. We all decided to have the daily special, only I was the one who decided on the whole thing. The other ladies just went for one course. I was hungry so I decided to indulge. The lasagna was brought out and I realized that my eyes were probably bigger than my stomach... but that didn't matter after the first bite. This was the BEST LASAGNA EVERRRRRRRRR! Like 'lets have a moment of silence please' fantastic. America has butchered the lasagna! I am not the only one to think this, both ladies agreed. So we get through that and I was starting to feel full, but I had my main course to come out, grilled chicken breast. I was thinking it was going to be kind of small.... wrong. I made Pam really laugh when I reacted to the size of my portion. I ate most of it, I told the waiter (who was very good looking by the way) that if I wanted dessert I had to stop. He laughed and took my food away then quickly brought out dessert. I don't know what it was, but it had a strong coffee flavor and was a cross between cake and pudding. We all shared this.... for three people and some wine thrown in, it was only 47 euros. Well worth it!

We kind of had to hustle back to the hotel to meet Bob by three to get us in to see the gardens (JMU paid for the sights). Turns out the garden was going to close only an hour after we got there, so we decided to go another day. So I went back to my hotel room and rested and wrote in my journal. I was to meet back up with Pam and Jean and the other ADP ladies for dinner, on Pam, at 7. By 6:30 I left with my roomie to find a drug store, I got a cold (probably from the plane ride) and got over it quickly enough, but the nasty cough is still with me. I was in serious need of some cough medicine and found some. I'm supposed to take 1 tablespoon three times a day. That won't happen, I'll aim for a tablespoon and a half two times a day.

Now for the finale! Pam treated us to dinner at a restaurant that was highly recommended to her by

Before the attack!

No momma, I didn't share

someone who had been here a few years before. It's called Osteria del Porcellino, it's located near that ugly boar statue. We thought we were going to be the only ones in there since the people here don't have dinner at the same hour that we are used to. There was a small gathering in there when we arrived. I decided to order kind of light since I wasn't exactly hungry. I went for another pasta dish (shocker, I know) that was a ravioli with a mashed potato mixture inside covered with a meat sauce that was really thick. I opted not to take a picture of it since the lighting was bad enough that it was not going to look appetizing. Instead of ordering a second dish like everyone else, I ordered my dessert. Dark Chocolate Mousse.... need I say more?! I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. In Italy, the waiters don't hound you every ten minutes asking if you need anything, they don't rush you out if you have sat for a while... they kind of "forget" about you until you grab their attention. This is actually kind of nice, we felt like we could really enjoy our meal and conversations. We wound up being there for three hours, that last hour or so was just talking. We left a small tip for the waiter since we took up a large table for so long, didn't matter too much since the restaurant wasn't full the whole time we were there.

Picture time!

 My momma loves a beautiful nativity.

Dante is in the tomb.... DANTE!  

 Does this look familiar? She was the inspiration for something we have....

 A flower for my momma!

You don't realize you miss the sight of grass until you see it....

Thought of my friend Lynne Pike when I see the stained glass....