With another decent length drive ahead of us today, no time for breakfast at the hotel. Instead we are initially driving from Pont de Claix to Alpe d'Huez, scene of many famous Tour De France stages. It takes us an hour or so to get to the bottom and then the slow ascent to the top with the many hairpins - all named for T de F stage winners. It is hard to visualize cycling up it but I'm pretty sure that our friend Jerome said he managed it in 1hr 15? At the top we treat ourselves to apple pastries at a cafe
Linda at the finish line of the Alpe d'Huez climb
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Scrummy pastries at the cafe to the lower right
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Back down at the foot of the climb we stop off at a supermarket at Bourg d'Oisen for wine, cheese, bread, etc. We always enjoy supermarkets overseas and were now stocked up if we didn't want to go out tonight. The next stage of our drive is the scenic route to Turin via Briancon. This involves several high passes - indeed we passed very close to another famous T de F climb, the Col de Galibier. While driving, L sleeps on and off - catching up no doubt
Once on the motorway we make pretty good time, passing Turin, Alessandria, Piacenza, Parma, Modena, Bologna, and finally to today's destination, Firenze.
We are booked in for three nights at the oddly-named "The 5 star villa", found off Expedia. We have the "Red suite". This is not a hotal as such but a sort of shared villa, where we do get breakfast. The hotel is south-east of the city centre in the hills and only about 10 minutes drive from the Piazza Michelangelo. We are most impressed
We are booked in for three nights at the oddly-named "The 5 star villa", found off Expedia. We have the "Red suite". This is not a hotal as such but a sort of shared villa, where we do get breakfast. The hotel is south-east of the city centre in the hills and only about 10 minutes drive from the Piazza Michelangelo. We are most impressed
The tiny terrace - scene of three meals
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View from the terrace as the sun goes down behind us
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Why our room is called the Red Suite?
Early morning - the view from our window
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Florence city centre is just to the left of this view from the terrace
For the first night, we have a meal outside on the terrace. The view east is lovely
Tuesday
An email has arrived from Emma saying that she has arrived safely in Thailand. Not much other news, but that it enough for us
Breakfast is a buffett in a rather nice dining room - this must be a lovely villa when not bits of it are being rented out. A short drive down to the Piazza Michelangelo with its "iconic" views of the city, then a short walk down towards Santa Croce via the Jennings Riccioli hotel where we stayed on our honeynoon. Linda appeared to get really hot as we walked down and looked like she way melting when we were in the church.
The traditional Florence photo from the Piazza Michelangelo - the Jennings Riccioli hotel is the left of the two yellow buildings in the foreground
Now apartments - the Jennings Riccioli Hotel, where we stayed on our honeymoon in 1988
We have been to Santa Croce many times, my most recent visit being two years ago on the way back from Perugia. It never fails to impress me. This visit, a large area was scaffolded off as restoration work is taking place on some of the frescos.
More traditional Florence photos - the Duomo
We have been to Santa Croce many times, my most recent visit being two years ago on the way back from Perugia. It never fails to impress me. This visit, a large area was scaffolded off as restoration work is taking place on some of the frescos.
I always love illuminated manuscripts - especially musical ones
I was really excited to see the sequence of tombs again. Dante, Machiavelli, Michelangelo and Galileo - quite a sequence
Machiavelli's tomb
Dante's
Michaelangelo's
and Galileo's
The restoration work on the frescos is mainly taking place near the main alter
and Galileo's
The restoration work on the frescos is mainly taking place near the main alter
A girl working on a fresco - now that must be tense work - imagine if you made a bad mistake
Having failed to visit it last time I was here, the Museum of Science was my main goal for today. And it didn't disappoint. It was a real highlight for me - very exciting
Photos of the great flood of 1966
Various works in the museum
Having failed to visit it last time I was here, the Museum of Science was my main goal for today. And it didn't disappoint. It was a real highlight for me - very exciting
The Museum of the History of Science, next to the Uffuzi art gallery
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An Orrary
A much-bigger orrary!
The entrance to the Galileo section of the museum
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Galileo's finger - removed for some reason when his body was transferred to the main tomb above
A first edition of Sidereus Nuncius
A first edition of Dialogue on the Two World Systems
Loads of Galilean-style telescopes
A beautiful quadrant
Linda in front of the biggest telescope in the museum - try finding Jupiter through this one!
Outside, I saw a few posters for a Carravagio show in Florence, but it wasn't clear where this was. We will look again tomorrow and try and see this
We made our way past the Duomo towards San Marco, unfortunately arriving too late to visit (it closes at 1:30). So we had a meal in the square, by which point Linda was rather flagging. So back to the car (quite a long walk in the heat) via a Supermarket near the Doumo and enough stuff to enable us to eat out again at the Villa
Both of us spent the afternoon quietly reading. I am reading a history of hedge funds and have reached a much-anticiapted chapter on the high-frequency trader, Renaissance Technologies - the sort of thing I aspire to do in miniature!
Dinner outside again and very nice - except for the wasps we attracted. Both of us have also been bitten by mosquities that probably got in through an open window last night. Not good!
We made our way past the Duomo towards San Marco, unfortunately arriving too late to visit (it closes at 1:30). So we had a meal in the square, by which point Linda was rather flagging. So back to the car (quite a long walk in the heat) via a Supermarket near the Doumo and enough stuff to enable us to eat out again at the Villa
Both of us spent the afternoon quietly reading. I am reading a history of hedge funds and have reached a much-anticiapted chapter on the high-frequency trader, Renaissance Technologies - the sort of thing I aspire to do in miniature!
Dinner outside again and very nice - except for the wasps we attracted. Both of us have also been bitten by mosquities that probably got in through an open window last night. Not good!
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