We got up bright and early and headed out to the Academia Gallery ready for opening time. We thought an early start would mean we would arrive before a queue formed, and we could check out the statue of David (or as Karen calls it 'the naked bloke') before most of the city was awake. Well, half the city had the same idea - the queue went for ever, and after waiting a few minutes without moving forward even an inch, we decided to tackle another one of the sights instead. This time we went to the Santa Maria Novella Church, which is opposite the train station, and has the same white marble facade as the Santa Croce Church.

Now this is a church I would seriously recommend above many of the others . The artwork is superb and you can get up close to all of the paintings, tombs, frescos, plus you are allowed to sit in the church and drink in the sights. Plus the tourists were fewer, with barely a tour group to be seen!

The Church was built between 1279 and 1420, and was started for the Dominican Order. There is an altarpiece by Giotto, another crucifixion with more gilt, blood..but with Mary and John sitting on each side of the crucifix looking terribly sympathetic (as they should be!). There is also a painting by Massaccio of the Trinity with Jesus on the cross, God the Father standing behind him, and I assume the Holy Spirit is all around??? There are also some fabulous frescoes on the walls behind the Nave, and in a couple of small chapels, one showing Heaven (lots of smiley people) but the opposite wall showing Hell and Purgatory with demons everywhere and some very unhappy looking people. Fortunately the colour is faded, so it's a bit hard to make out the Hell side! There is also a Crucifixion carved in wood by Brunelleschi which is simply fabulous . The Christ figure is shown as being quite ordinary, with bulging veins and leg muscles, and it is set in a chapel with little around it, which shows the carving off to perfection.

There are a number of great frescoes in the church and the surrounding chapels. One shows St Philip at the Temple of Mars - Mars waves his broken lance in a fit of rage, and Philip the Christian lets out a little dragon in retaliation. The dragon farts (and you can see the cloud coming out of his bottom!!) which causes the pagan king's son to die. Another shows St John raising Druisiana from the dead, and the fresco has the most amazing colour and light. There is also a small circular chapel called the Spanish Chapel that is covered in Frescoes, including the ceiling, which shows the long and tricky road to salvation (where those saved humans end up in the last fresco being greeted at the pearly gates by Peter, right next to a picture of Peter in his fishing boat!! And finally there is a walkway called the Cloisters of the Dead, which has hundreds of gravestones (for all those wealthy Florentines who could pay for the gravestone).

In the afternoon, we wandered around the streets near the Duomo, dodging tourists and touts, enjoying the shady streets. I looked at a couple of handbags (I have these high hopes about replacing the backpack....) but the only one I liked costs hundreds of euros. Back to the backpack!! Garth whipped up a storm in our tiny kitchen, and we washed it down with prossecco and chianti. Have I mentioned how much I like the food? And drink???