Woke up to a rainy and cold day. Everyone was moving pretty slow either still from jet lag or just the excessive amounts of cool we have been having. Either way not much movement in the mornings.

We also couldn’t decide what to do. We considered the Uffizi but then thought everyone would be doing it to stay inside. We couldn’t get into the Accademia until tomorrow so really didn’t have any plans for the day.

We decided to try the food market and headed out in the rain to Centrale Mercarto for lunch and some shopping. We thought we would be early enough but the place was a mad house. We were able to get a table upstairs so we decided to stay. We all got different things. I ended up with gnocchi. It was good but not great. Nothing like the sandwich we had the day before so a little disappointing. The sandwich line was long so I had passed on that. Had I gone downstairs I would have found lots of sandwich and better food options. So if you want to go there definitely eat at one of the shops downstairs. The upstairs is more mall food court and the atmosphere is very frantic.

There was some good shopping on the first floor. I found the Sarti alcohol I was looking for to make pink spritzes. Also got some melon cello which was tasty, the orange not so much. We got a few other snacks things but were ready to move on. Most didn’t want to deal with the cold and rain and headed back to the apartment, Kelle, Jeff and I went to the Medici Chapel.

The chapel was much bigger than I expected and not quite as elaborate. It did have some nice pieces. Donatello’s pulpits (which look more like chests) were amazing and the Lippi Annunciation was really nice. Probably the neatest thing was the astrological dome. It depicts the Florence sky on July 6, 1439 which was the closing day of the council.

The church was also full of relics. There were multiple bone relics and one full body under a shroud wearing a crown. They also had a crazy amount of silver.

From here we walked through town and down to the duomo. The line wasn’t too long so we went in for a quick view. Mainly to see the frescoes dome. I do love the depictions of demons and hell.

From the church we just wandered around for a while and then headed to an Enoteca Jeff wanted to check out. Kelle and I had a glass of wine while Jeff shopped.

Tonight was the dinner party that I had planned with the owner of the apartment. She also has a vineyard so it was a wine and food night. Surprisingly she was from Massachusetts. She had married an Italian and had lived in Italy since college.

The wine was very good. She is a very small vineyard and does it mostly by hand. She produces about 4000 bottles a year. She named the vineyard after her daughters Fanciulle, which translates to young girls or maidens. It was interesting to hear how she got started and how it has evolved over the years. The food was delicious and we had a great time talking with her. The house was her ex husband’s great grandparents. It was someone’s palace built in 1617 and the frescoed walls and ceiling were done in 1637. It is crazy that we are staying in a place with paintings that old. A fabulous night