Elsien's Traveblogue

I haven't written anything for a few days a) because J was here and we had better things to do and b) because after he left I subscribed to a week's WiFi at the Internet café next-door so that I could get into the research I am supposed to be doing on Caravaggio. I found rather a lot of articles, which I am slowly downloading and reading in the evening. Study had to take precedence over tourism for a day or two, but I've sorted myself again now and I'm studying for an hour or two in the morning, then going off wandering about Florence before sticking myself into the Internet café for a few hours again early evening. Hope this will work …
The weather has got beautiful again, sunny and not even that cold, 8°C or thereabouts. Unfortunately it's half term or pre-Carnival time for a lot of countries, so there are crowds of tourists about. Hate to think what it's like here in the summer...
Went to San Marco, the Florentine church, monastery and museum, built under Medici patronage and home to Fra Angelico and his beautiful frescoes and panels. It also, for a while, housed the infamous monk Savonarola, the scourge of Florence at the end of 15th century, who first helped cause the exile of the Medici but was finally burnt on the Piazza de Signoria himself. The Medici had a palazzo next to the church, a newer version is still there, but this is now the Court of Assises. Michelangelo got his start in life by being given a spot in the garden with the Medici sculptor Bertoldo, pupil of Donatello. The garden is still there, but you cannot get or even see into it. Loved the Fra Angelico panels – all gold and holy faces.
Lunch-break over, going out in the sun for a bit now!
Only another week here ...