Day 8. Pistoia

We were surprised this morning as we were able to sight see. The forecast was for rain & thunderstorms last night but not much eventuated. So off we went having our normal coffee and brioche. I have just trained the barista to serve Shirl's coffee as she likes it. An expresso with a little hot water. They say "un americano" . I say no and eventually She got the message.
Our intention was to visit the Fortress of Santa Barbara first but a pleasant surprise awaited us. The Dominican Library was open. We tried to visit yesterday but it was closed. An enthusiastic young man gave us a personal tour. The library itself was not much to see but we saw some interesting frescoes and sketches. At one time it was the friars intention to have a museum of sketches. These sketches are the artists design for the frescoes which are painted over them. They have technique which paints a coat over the fresco and when it sets they remove it and adhere to a plaster base. The original sketch is revealed underneath. I was allowed to take a photo of one example.
One corridor in the building had its walls covered in the original sketches.
Did you know the Dominican's are "The dogs of God". (Domini cane).
Another coffee and brioche and then we visited St Paul's with its bare interior walls. No frescoes remain.
Finally we arrived at the Fortress. What a disappointment. A derelict dump.
A final Pistoia gelato and we headed home with threatening clouds above. They disappeared after several hours. The forecast is for storms tonight with up to 10 deg drop in temp. Fingers crossed.Les mer