Nov 1 Day 28 All Saints' Day in Florence

A quiet day in rainy Florence with it being a National holiday, and I suppose that many people tended to their ancestors’ graves before today.  Although many businesses and sites were closed here in Florence, it was a good opportunity for me to get a sense of the city and I walked for what seemed to be many miles. 

The Ponte Vecchio was crawling with tourists, so I peeked at it and ran away.  

The Uffizi had a long line, and the plan is to go tomorrow and become an official Friend of the Uffizi in order to skip the line and scoot in to see art whenever I feel like it. 

It was wonderful to see the statues of the 23 famous Florentine scientists, artists, and statesmen in the courtyard, including Galileo (next door there is a nice museum dedicated to him – see the sun dial that follows astrology -

Machiavelli (who got a raw deal), Dante, DaVinci, Lorenzo the Magnificent (that will be the name of my next pet), Petrarch, and our country’s namesake Amerigo Vespucci.  

http://e-urope.physics.lsa.umich.edu/tours/florence/uffizi/gaileo.html

Other statues in the Piazza della Signoria are also very beautiful, even though many are copies and the originals have been moved inside for safe-keeping (including David).

In the Loggia dei Lanzi are many magnificent statues, including Rape of the Sabine and Hercules.  The Horses of Neptune fountain is also grand. 

It was awesome (the true use of that word) to see the outside of the famous Duomo. 

The only building that I actually went into was the recently opened Alinari National Museum of Photography, which has collected photographs of the greatest photographers around the world from the 19^th and 20^th centuries, including photogravure and albumen (my favorite) by Kasebier, Steichen, and Stieglitz.  It was definitely worth seeing:  http://www.museumsinflorence.com/musei/alinari.html

The convent where I am staying is truly a lovely building, even if the rooms are rather plain.  In the front garden, next to the religious sculptures, is a collection of the 7 dwarves… odd, I think, but I have seen them in several places.  Maybe they are just for the bambinos.

Here is the stained glass window in the staircase that leads down from my room to the chapel and dining room.  

Yes, it is odd that a single woman on a wild holiday in the land of the hotties is staying at a convent – what WAS I thinking??