Day 24: Wandering Firenze and Santa Croce Church

Today was a very relaxing day in Firenze. There is a lot of street art.  Here are a couple of examples close to our hotel.

A few steps from our hotel is Palazzo Vecchio. This statue, the Fountain of Neptune, was commissioned by Cosimo de' Medici.  Apparently it's been vandalized regularly from when it was 1st installed. Fairly recently Salvatore Ferragamo had it restored.

A guide we had in Siena said the Church of Santa Croce was wonderful.  She was correct.  There were hardly any people there which made it pleasant without its treasures.

We were able to see the tombs of Michelangelo:

Machiavelli:

And Galileo Galilei:

They gave us a map when we arrived and it was like a treasure hunt.  This is from the Medici Chapel.

The place is covered in frescos.  Here are a couple.

We were also able to watch an employee cleaning the artwork.

In the evening we wandered back through Palazzo Vecchio and there was a large crowd and a stage.  Apparently in 1993 there was a bombing by the Mafia next door at the Uffuzi Gallery and 5 people were killed.  They were having a 30 year memorial.  We stayed to listen to the speeches even though I couldn't pick up much with my Duoling Italian.  Eventually they had a wonderful pianist come on stage to play.  His name was Danilo Rea and the 1st song in his medley was Dylan's Blowing in the Wind. 

A remarkable day.