Monks and Mexican Food...

*So I was really tired last night and didn't post so....let's just all pretend that date says May 29....*

Today was a day in which I found myself very thankful I was not a monk. Not that I could've been anyways...but still.

After our morning lecture, we all headed out to visit the Museum and Friary of San Marco, both of which house beautiful works of art done mainly by the monk, Fra Angelico.

Here's one of his unfinished works (it was huge!) that I again snatched before the guard caught me.

....I'm getting a little sick of that really. 

 Yet, while the first is indeed a museum, the second place we visited is an actual friary with the tiny cells still intact and within them, Angelico's otherworldly frescoes meant to inspire the brothers. Unfortunately no pictures were allowed within the friary, but it was really cool to see where these men lived out their days. The cells were very, very small with just one window (that at least often looked out to their enclosed garden), the painting, and a small door. One of the cells even belonged to Savonarola who was known for his fire-and-brimstone speeches and his eventually burning in the Piazza della Signoria...but it had a few of his monastic garments, his desk, and some other artifacts from the time that were cool to look at! The friary also had a huge library that would've once been filled with many great Greek and Latin texts, but now only has a few manuscripts on display. However, they had a few glass cases filled with not just books, but tools of writing and little descriptions on how pigments and paper were created...and let me tell you, it was not easy. Fish glue and pumice-scraped lamb's skin says it all...

Here's a Google image of one of the cells:

...the fresco in this cell - of the Annunciation (Gabriel telling Mary she's gonna have a baby!) - is by far the most beautiful. Many of them have images of Christ on the cross with much blood and self-flagellating monks. I don't know if I could look at that every day...

After our walk through San Marco, we took a break for lunch. Sabrina and I picked up some delicious sandwiches from a tiny cafe and then finished off with some gelato. It was fun too, as we were waiting in line I realized the people in front of me were from Australia and turns out one of them lived close to our neighborhood! Small world...

Anyways, we still had ample time before we had to meet up - we were meeting at our next location, the Basilica of Santa Croce (it means Holy Cross), which is literally across the street from our apartment - so we just wandered around for a bit making stupid jokes to keep ourselves entertained until the rest of the group arrived!

But I have to say that it was amazing how a church we had walked past almost everyday had so much to offer INSIDE!

There were tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, and several other Italian notorieties, there were numerous frescoes - many of which were by Giotto, and then there was the gothic architecture of the church itself to admire. However, it was a little weird to walk around because, though the big-shots had elevated tombs, there were many more right below our feet in the floor...you couldn't help but step on them...and many showed the wear and tear of many years of foot traffic. Poor guys...

Michelangelo's tomb

...a sculpture by Donatello

...some of the floor tombs...

:(

Giotto's frescoes...

...detail of the amazing ceiling decoration!

big, cool-looking organ from around the 17th century

Galileo's tomb

After we were finished walking through the inside of the church, we went into the adjacent 'first cloister' and visited the Pazzi Chapel. The design of the chapel is attributed to Brunelleschi, but it also is somewhat famous for its association with the family (the Pazzi's) who tried to oust the Medici from power by assassinating the two ruling brothers. Unfortunately, they only succeeded in killing one of the brothers and a blood bath of revenge followed, wiping out all traces of the Pazzi. So this chapel is really all that remains of their once powerful and wealthy existence...

...the chapel is that square, dome-topped building...

...covered porch outside the chapel

So, after being thoroughly creeped-out by the bloody legend, we moved on to the next cloister and the small museum within it. There were works by Giotto's master - Cimabue - as well as more religious art including a 'family tree' of sorts for the Fransican order.

...this was cool too - it was a huge sculpture currently being restored in the museum - right before our eyes!

But our cloister excursions were not finished yet.

After Santa Croce, a smaller group of us took the optional hike up to the Basilica of San Miniato al Monte......and did I mention this church is located on the highest point of the city?

Needless to say, if my legs could talk, they would say horrible things of me. But we finally made it and really it was so beautiful that many of us agreed to do it again tomorrow and this time watch the sun set over the city. But besides the view, we also got to go inside the church and listen to a few of the monks there perform their evening vespers in Gregorian chant. It was so beautiful, ethereal, and moving. And being inside a centuries-old church hearing centuries-old verses....well, I felt like I had stepped back in time.

...the cemetary below the summit of the church

So after soaking up the sight and, like I said before, promising to come back tomorrow, we headed back home. And for some unknown reason, Sabrina and I were really craving Mexican food....I know, don't judge.....so we decided to give it a go at our Italian grocery store.

We couldn't find real tacos, salsa, any Mexican spice, or cheddar cheese but we did find ground beef, pinto beans, corn, pita bread (that we fried up into tortilla-esque chips), tomatoes that we attempted to mix into a salsa, and even sour cream! (it's called panna acido, btw)....

So it really tasted more Mediterranean than Mexican, but it was delicious anyways and we were quite pleased with the fruits of our adventure!

So until tomorrow....buonanotte!