In and out of Florence; a new introduction to a well-known city . well, then twelve lire; shall I hitch up im-mediately, signora? came back without a momentshesitation. And before we had recovered ourbreath, used even as we were to Italian bargainingand vagary in the matter of prices, our new con-ductor had slipped on his oilskins and was hitchingup. In another trice we were off with a clatter andsplashing, startingdownhill to the LaVerna road. We came soon tothe little Dominicanchurch and convent ofSanta Maria del was originally asimple hospice, butwas expanded underthe direction o
In and out of Florence; a new introduction to a well-known city . well, then twelve lire; shall I hitch up im-mediately, signora? came back without a momentshesitation. And before we had recovered ourbreath, used even as we were to Italian bargainingand vagary in the matter of prices, our new con-ductor had slipped on his oilskins and was hitchingup. In another trice we were off with a clatter andsplashing, startingdownhill to the LaVerna road. We came soon tothe little Dominicanchurch and convent ofSanta Maria del was originally asimple hospice, butwas expanded underthe direction of Sa-vonarola and by thegenerosity of Lorenzothe Magnificent. Inthe church is an orna-mented central taber-nacle, with a dellaRobbia frieze. Be-hind this shrine, undera perched dove, is the sacred stone (sasso) on whicha peasant once saw the Holy Mary seated by theroadside at the spot where now the church stands. Along the climbing road to St. Franciss famousmonastery, set aloft in mountain cliffs and forest,we saw again the characteristic scenes of the simple. St. Franciss famoustery, set aloft incliffs and forest. monas-mountain 312 Florentine Excursions old-time life that still persists in this shut-in valley ofmedievalism; old women with distaff and spindle,ox-carts and wooden plows, singing lads and maidswith their sheep. And for a while all the beautiesof the valley fields and vineyards lay on either beyond the Corsalone the way quickly growssteeper and rougher, and the tilled land gives placeto oak scrub and hill-side pastures. The road is ahard one, having many bits of climbing far too crueleven for light vehicles. It was a day of moving mist and showers, and the views of the val-ley below werebroken and shift-ing. In front ofand above us all wasgray. We seemedto be winding andclimbing upward tosome mystery in theclouds. La Vernasstrange congeries ofgreat cliffs, rockcaverns, and un-formed buildings, aholy place of mysticecstasies, is inde-scribable in words. T
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookidinoutofflore, bookyear1910
