My gosh, it’s October! It seems like we’ve been on this trip for quite awhile, but I said to Christine that it’s hard to believe that we’ll still be on this trip for another whole month.
So far, the weather has been good to us, albeit a little too hot some days. There has been only one day where the weather dashed our plans and that was our wished-for day of sea and sun our last day in Catania. Our last full day in Florence was dampened due to showers and several thunderstorms throughout the day but we did manage to get out for about 2 hours in the late morning, so still the weather has been on our side. We’ve been able to do all the touring things we planned on doing.
This morning’s little jaunt was off across the Trinitas Bridge. We’ve been looking at a dome and tower from our window the whole time we’ve been here and I wanted to know the names. I thought the bell tower was probably the Anglican church that I knew was somewhere at the end of the bridge. That bell tower looks very similar, though smaller, to St. Paul’s in Valletta and that’s why I thought it might be the Anglican church. Additionally, there is a square, Santo Spirito, that apparently is “the” spot for locals so I wanted to check that out.
It was cooler this morning and definitely cloudy with a threat of rain, but at one point the sun came out and blue skies were evident for a while. We did find St. Mark’s English Church. It’s not really an Anglican-affiliated church, but it invites all English-speakers to worship there. Clearly this church is having difficulty keeping up its appearance. I saw a sign posted that it takes 568 Euros per day to keep the church open and the chaplain paid. What was interesting to me is the manner in which the church has decided to garner funds. It runs a program Opera at St. Mark’s. They stage full operas, including costumes and sets, in the chancel and they have various series throughout the year, the current series being love duets. The program for the year was quite extensive. But this church does not have a bell tower, so I still didn’t know to what that bell tower was connected.
As I’ve said, just walking down streets here in Florence is an experience. You have to be sure to look in doors and windows because if you don’t you will miss something wonderful.
We arrived at Piazza Santo Spirito. On one end of the square is the large church, Santa Maria d’Ognissanti e allo Santo Spirito. The church was built in the 1200s and its façade was never finished, but the inside of the church is breath-taking. We weren’t able to take photos inside the church, unfortunately, and it’s hard to describe. The interior is huge but somewhat austere. The floor is plain, not marbled like so many other churches. There are large columns down each side of the main aisle, but they are plain. The ceiling is very high and not ornate. The altar screen is beautiful, but not in that gaudy way seen in so many Catholic churches. What is remarkable along each side of this vast space are vestibules, small carve outs called chapels, that have wonderful artwork, either paintings or statues over small decorated altars. There was also a side octagonal chapel where a wooden sculpture of the crucifixion was suspended in the center of the chapel. This beautiful, plane sculpture had been carved by Michelangelo. There was also a lovely interior courtyard garden around which were crypts.
The mystery of the bell tower was solved! Both the dome and bell tower belong to Santa Maria d’Ognissanti e allo Santo Spirito. Now I know what we’re looking at from our window.
Things were just starting to happen in the piazza. This side of the river is referred to as “oltrarno” by the locals and on this side, some Florentine families have lived for centuries. This is the more gritty side of the river where most residents live. The square is a real gathering place for the locals. During the day, it has market stalls, but apparently, starting in the evening, this is the place the locals come to sit, eat, drink, listen to music and have a good time. Some stalls were just setting up as we walked through the piazza.
For those of you who followed our Malta trip in 2016, you know I love doors and door knockers. There have been some great doors and door knockers here, but one of the things I have noticed and have been curious about as I walk along the street are these metal rings embedded in the walls. Some are just rings, but many have long extensions from the top of the ring often with a face or head carved in the metal. I thought they probably had something to do with latches for the very large doors and windows where a hook would be held. But thanks to Google yet again, I learned that these rings are horse hitches. They are called “ferri” in Italian, meanings irons. They were just rings once, but of course palazzo owners during the Renaissance wanted to one-up their neighbors so they began to decorate the ferri. Another mystery solved. These fascinated me and I might just have to start a collection of ferri photos.
We walked back towards the Ponte Vecchio and stopped at a hotel that has a nice terrace over the river. We snapped a couple of pictures and then popped into our market, and returned to the flat. The rest of the day was spent resting, blogging, relaxing and watching the Florence weather, lots of lightening, and listening to the rumbling thunder. After dinner, we then started packing and getting organized for our next adventure, Venice.
