On an amble through Florence today, the Standly’s, Kathy and I ran into some unexpected pleasures, like the Boboli Gardens, the huge park/gardens of the Medici Family, the ruler/banker family who funded much of the Renaissance. Their glorious Pitti Palace had the gardens as its front yard. Filled with fountains, hidden trails and statuary, it also included many museums. It was here that the electricity went off while I was using the restroom and sitting in a completely enclosed “stall” had to fumble around in the dark for all the necessities. It was not humorous at that moment.

We also stumbled upon a fully costumed enactment of the Renaissance flag throwing ceremony in the Piazza Della Signoria, the large gathering space for ancient town meetings filled with marble and bronze statues. With trumpets blaring and drums pounding, the flag bearers worked with precision. It was a happy discovery.

I was personally moved by the two famous crosses housed in the Santa Croce church–one by Donatello and the other by Cimabue. Santa Croce is the church of Italian national glory, housing the tombs of Michelangelo, Dante, Machiavelli and Galileo among others. It is filled with artistic treasures, but the crosses along with Gaddi’s fresco of the Last Supper and the Tree of Life caught my attention and gave me inner peace.

The laugh moment of the day came with Melisa’s suggestion that Randy and I copy the pose of statues in the Boboli gardens for some fun pictures. I pointed to one for Randy to copy in our game of “double dog dare you.” What he and Melisa did not know was that I was filming rather than picture taking. The big discovery was Randy’s acting ability. The resulting video provided so much amusement that other tourists commented to me later in the day that they enjoyed watching us having so much fun. WEG