Saturday
3rd December
A
little slower this morning after both of us are suffering slightly
from the night before. (Damn that Italian beer and those cocktails
on the balcony).
We
visited the Botanical gardens that are only minutes from our
Monastery and knew that they were begun the 15th century.
On approaching the entrance, there is a huge sign touting the
gardens as being “the oldest Botanical Gardens in the world”.
Now that's impressive. But when we entered and paid for the guide
book, we discovered that they were in fact the third oldest botanical
gardens after Pisa and Padua. Hmmmmm. (and they weren't particularly
impressive). Nic says that it's the Italian birthright to covert and
bend the truth. Tough words but true. Tougher words are that
Italians steal and lie!
Our
wanderings continued through the streets of the old city and we ended
up at Santa Croce, the remarkable pantheon of all things great about
the Italians. We spent many hours here and the audio guide helped to
reinforce our understanding of the architectural and artist
developments of this remarkable city.
Now
it's time to say goodbye to Galleries and Churches for a week or two
– getting close to overload.
Siesta
time now before another night in boy town. We been invited to a
Leather/Rubber/Uniform/Skin/Military party beginning at 10:00pm –
but what will we wear?!!!!! Nic has his green cargo greens and a
black tea shirt. Jim, well, might be left at the door or sent back to
the monastery.
