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| Last view of Florence |
Wake-up was slightly later – 06:30 – with our bags to be out
in the hallway for 07:30, the same time as breakfast.
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| Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, Church of Santa Maria Novella |
At 08:30, we walked from the hotel to the
nearby church of Santa Maria Novella, where Fr. Chris said Mass in the Chapel
of the Blessed Sacrament.
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| The Uffizi Gallery |
Isabella met up with us again afterward, and we walked to the
Uffizi Gallery just off the Piazza della Signoria [LINK]. What was built in the 16th century
to be offices (Uffizi) for Florentine
city officials very early became a show-house for artistic treasures
accumulated by the Medici family who dominated those offices and which were
ultimately bequeathed to the city by the last Medici heiress in the 17th
century. Our group of 46 then split up
into two smaller groups to tour the repository of some of the most famous paintings
and statues in the world [Virtual tour: LINK]. We followed Isabella. Once again, a couple of hours was not nearly
enough time. It was downright
frustrating, in fact, the one constant albeit inevitable aspect of this
journey. Anne and I took far too many pictures
to incorporate even a fraction here; I will post a number at the bottom of this entry.
