The Duomo - 12 April

Giotto's tower for Florence Cathedral.

Bit of a wander today. Stayed in bed till late (11-ish) after being wakened at various intervals during the night by noise in the street outside, then went back to the flea-market at San Ambrogio to see if I could find more second-hand books in English. Nothing to my taste; most of the books seemed to be The Da Vinci Code, a sad reflection on tourists' reading tastes. Finally made contact with my emails. Very hard to find public internet facilities here. I also found a lavanderia so I can do my washing before I go up into the hills. I remember now that this was quite a problem on my last trips, being able to get washing done and dried.

Poor patient horses waiting for tourists outside the Duomo

Popped into the Duomo, Florence's Cathedral. I noticed the line was going fast, so tacked on to the end of it. The building is surprisingly dull inside, many of the famous artworks are now housed in the nearby Cathedral Museum, such is the risk of them being stolen or vandalised.  Sadly, the Cathedral has now become almost entirely a tourist attraction; the interior is a dull, dark, undecorated shell, and there is little feeling of a continuing spiritual life there at all. The big celebrations of Easter, Christmas and the blessing of the first Chianti bottles of the season are held there, but there seem to be no everyday worshippers, just a parade of bewildered tourists going up the left aisle and down the right.

Duomo facade

Tomb of Sir John Hawkswood, English condotierro and mercenary.

Side of the Duomo - incredibly 

ornate and very large

Comment overheard while sitting in the Piazza eating icecream - two American tourists looking at the Cathedral:

"Oh yeah, that's that Domo thing". And Brunelleschi and Michelangelo are whirling around in their graves like tops.