The Road Goes Ever On

Monday, May 2, 2022

Ognissanti, 2022

Our apartment was just a few blocks from one of our favorite churches, the Ognissanti (all saints), so we went there first, looking to see the Botticelli, Botticelli's burial, the Giotto crucifix, and most of all, Ghirlandaio's magnificent Last Supper, the one all the Renaissance biggies came to study. Of course, we'd been there before:

https://roadeveron.blogspot.com/2013/10/ognissanti_16.html
https://roadeveron.blogspot.com/2017/11/ognissanti-2017.html
https://roadeveron.blogspot.com/2019/04/ognissanti.html

and you'll have to look at these to see the Last Supper, because, alas, the refectory where it is housed was closed, apparently for some time now, due to COVID staffing shortages. Major disappointment! But we did get to see a few of the other items of note.

Botticelli's St. Augustine

Ghirlandaio's St. Jerome

Botticelli burial (construction in the chapel)

Giotto Crucifix

Oh no!

Sunday, May 1, 2022

Florence Apartment And Neighborhood

We arrived in Florence the afternoon of April 25th, made our way the couple blocks from the SM Novella station to our apartment on Via della Scala, and spent the balance of the day moving in and exploring the immediate neighborhood. Everything of interest to us on this visit is within a mile, so we'll be entirely on foot our eight days here.

Entrance to our building, which is in an inner part
of the complex

There are three external doors and locks to pass
through, the third of which warrants a movie, to
be posted someday

In the courtyard/parking lot; our entrance is the
wooden door on the far right

In the apartment, quite recently renovated and updated...the
sitting area

Dining, entertainment, etc.

Kitchen...all so far in a great room

View of the courtyard

Bedroom

Bath...all of it small but quite nice and very centrally located;
super quiet, air-conditioned, $100/night...not bad for central Florence

Via della Scala

The main nearby sight (and my favorite Florentine church), SM Novella

The entrance to its 13th century apothecary/perfumery two
blocks down on Via della Scala

Down the street and around a corner, an old
palazzo, the Pantheon of the Neoplatonic Academy;
the Italian Renaissance types, particularly the
Medicis, were into Neo-Platonism, a philosophy
I never could quite get a handle on; Machiavelli
lectured here too

Despite some "new" buildings, it's a very
old neighborhood

A bit further down the street, the Orti Oricellari palazzo and
gardens...similarly quite old, but open only by appointment,
so we'll probably not see

Roman Out-Takes, 2022

Tired though you may be, do not sit on this window sill

Not your usual all-black Italian get-up

As close to Art Nouveau as we got on this visit

Spell-check? Or use Google Translate maybe

Definitely use Google Translate; or maybe it's an oats appetizer?

Maybe that's why she's having a cappuccino or an Americano?

Fashion coming to a mall near you

So you get a plenary indulgence just for visiting?

The elevators in our apartment building apparently
used to be coin-operated

"You have reached the confession hotline. We value your call,
which will be answered in the order received. Your confession
will be recorded for training and quality assurance purposes,
and of course we will never share you personal information
with anyone but God"