Almost everywhere we visited in Rome we would see men in small groups wearing green felt hats with a long feather, remiscent of early Robin Hood movies or a Swiss mountaineer from central casting. Some wore insignia which suggested that they were members of a veterans’ organization, but we were never sure. It was fitting that as we made our way through the Rome train station, a group of them had formed a brass band and were playing as they waited for their train. 
It was a short ride to Florence on the Eurostar, and we arrived in enough time to visit the church of Santa Maria Novella. 
We were drawn there to see the painting “Trinity” (1426 by Masaccio) 
known for its seminal effect on the appearance of three dimensions. As a bonus we learned that the architect incorporated a number of astronomical features in the façade, including sundials, a quadrant, and equinoctial alignments. 
That evening we had dinner at a small restaurant near San Lorenzo. It caught our attention because it offered pizza made in their “wood burnin owen.” We made our choice when one of the waiters told us that the food was good but the service was terrible. We enjoyed banter with him throughout the dinner, which was indeed good, as was the service.
One of the Florence museums we wanted to see was the History of Science, but as we collected information to plan our week, we realized that many, if not most, of the more interesting artifacts from early astronomy to Galileo were likely to be in a special exhibit at the Palazzo Strozzi with pretty much that name.
We guessed correctly. We spent most of our energy that day in the exhibit. It contained gems such as: a working reconstruction of the metal clock-like astronomical calendar, the “Antikythem Mechanism,’ 
the original of which we saw in Athens as recovered in its corroded state from a shipwreck in 70 BC; a 16th century book which included paper mechanisms for astrolabes; Galileo’s astrolabe, his original telescopes, and his finger. Yes, in a glass display case was one of Galileo’s fingers, which had been removed when his body was moved to the Santa Croce church in Florence about a hundred years after his death. It probably didn’t matter at the time, but considering Galileo’s struggle with conventional thinking vs. his telescopic observations, the fact that it is a middle finger seems somewhat appropriate. 
After securing tickets for entry later in the week to the most popular museums, for May 13 we decided to see a few of the museums on the next tier. Our first stop was the museum of San Marco, which is housed in a former Dominican monastery.
The monks’ former cells (rooms) had frescoes, some by the well-known Dominican artists Fra’ Angelico and Fra’ Bartolomeo. Patti’s favorite Fra’ Angelico fresco is that of the Annunciation. She was thrilled to see it! 
A short walk south brought us to the Basilica of San Lorenzo. The associated library had a special exhibit on the development of book-length written works leading to the codex style, which is the shape and structure of what we call a book. In the basilica itself the “treasury room” held the largest collection of reliquaries with the material remains visible that we had yet seen. There were more in the separate Medici Chapel. Our primary purpose for visiting the Medici Chapel was to see the tombs sculpted for the Medici by Michelangelo. 
We discovered there an art form that is almost exclusive to Florence: a form of mosaic called pietre dure, in which colored stones selected for color and texture are cut to shape and set almost seamlessly into the space cut to fit in a stone frame. 
We spent a long time at L’Opera Pietra Dure Museum marveling at these marble mosaics and the antique mechanisms used to make them. Along the wall were huge cabinets filled with every type of marble known to man.
We finished our excursions for the day with a visit to the Piazza della Signoria in front of the city hall, with its copy of Michelangelo’s David and sculpture loggia (porch). 
We crossed the Arno River on the Ponte Vecchio, 
then back into the Florence city center on the Ponte Santa Trinita and visited the church of the same name.
It was a short ride to Florence on the Eurostar, and we arrived in enough time to visit the church of Santa Maria Novella. We were drawn there to see the painting “Trinity” (1426 by Masaccio) known for its seminal effect on the appearance of three dimensions. As a bonus we learned that the architect incorporated a number of astronomical features in the façade, including sundials, a quadrant, and equinoctial alignments. That evening we had dinner at a small restaurant near San Lorenzo. It caught our attention because it offered pizza made in their “wood burnin owen.” We made our choice when one of the waiters told us that the food was good but the service was terrible. We enjoyed banter with him throughout the dinner, which was indeed good, as was the service.One of the Florence museums we wanted to see was the History of Science, but as we collected information to plan our week, we realized that many, if not most, of the more interesting artifacts from early astronomy to Galileo were likely to be in a special exhibit at the Palazzo Strozzi with pretty much that name.
We guessed correctly. We spent most of our energy that day in the exhibit. It contained gems such as: a working reconstruction of the metal clock-like astronomical calendar, the “Antikythem Mechanism,’ the original of which we saw in Athens as recovered in its corroded state from a shipwreck in 70 BC; a 16th century book which included paper mechanisms for astrolabes; Galileo’s astrolabe, his original telescopes, and his finger. Yes, in a glass display case was one of Galileo’s fingers, which had been removed when his body was moved to the Santa Croce church in Florence about a hundred years after his death. It probably didn’t matter at the time, but considering Galileo’s struggle with conventional thinking vs. his telescopic observations, the fact that it is a middle finger seems somewhat appropriate. After securing tickets for entry later in the week to the most popular museums, for May 13 we decided to see a few of the museums on the next tier. Our first stop was the museum of San Marco, which is housed in a former Dominican monastery.
The monks’ former cells (rooms) had frescoes, some by the well-known Dominican artists Fra’ Angelico and Fra’ Bartolomeo. Patti’s favorite Fra’ Angelico fresco is that of the Annunciation. She was thrilled to see it! A short walk south brought us to the Basilica of San Lorenzo. The associated library had a special exhibit on the development of book-length written works leading to the codex style, which is the shape and structure of what we call a book. In the basilica itself the “treasury room” held the largest collection of reliquaries with the material remains visible that we had yet seen. There were more in the separate Medici Chapel. Our primary purpose for visiting the Medici Chapel was to see the tombs sculpted for the Medici by Michelangelo. We discovered there an art form that is almost exclusive to Florence: a form of mosaic called pietre dure, in which colored stones selected for color and texture are cut to shape and set almost seamlessly into the space cut to fit in a stone frame. We spent a long time at L’Opera Pietra Dure Museum marveling at these marble mosaics and the antique mechanisms used to make them. Along the wall were huge cabinets filled with every type of marble known to man.We finished our excursions for the day with a visit to the Piazza della Signoria in front of the city hall, with its copy of Michelangelo’s David and sculpture loggia (porch). We crossed the Arno River on the Ponte Vecchio, then back into the Florence city center on the Ponte Santa Trinita and visited the church of the same name.
hello... hapi blogging... have a nice day! just visiting here....
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