Olive tree, Baptistry, Dante, Santa Croce sky

Near the Uffizi, down a road I've not taken before, stands this little memorial. 

As always, click on an image to see a larger version.

In 1993, a group, probably the Cosa Nostra, set off a car bomb here.  The explosion killed six people and injured 26 more, according to this New York Times piece. In 2004, a local association planted this tree as a memorial to the dead and injured and also as a repudiation of the goals of the attackers. (More here.)  It's a small but oddly touching presence, one that few people even walk by.  I'm glad today brought me to it. 

A bit of a stroll later, I toured the Baptistry, the smaller building in front of the Duomo.  Have I mentioned that the Italians like a good ceiling?

Another detail from the ceiling.

The Baptistry was once a Roman church and so is much plainer than the sibling that towers over it, but it is still a very cool place and worth the five euro ticket cost.  

I said "plainer," not "plain," though the altar itself is actually fairly simple. 

I love that in Florence a random turn around a very normal looking corner can land you here, near where Dante worked, on a street that now bears his name.

On the way back to the hotel, in the very late afternoon, as the day was preparing for its exit but the sky was still bright, the view of Santa Croce looked exactly like this.

Hard to complain about that.  Hard, in fact, not to love it.  I sure did.