The Badia Fiorentina ("badia" translates to "abbey" in English and you don't have to guess what the translation of Fiorentina is) dates back to the year 978 but has obviously undergone some changes in that time. It was the angel attached to the cross on the spire that caught our attention; I suspect that it may serve as a weather vane.

So what was the revelation? Not something that happened here, but when I was processing the photos seven (sigh) months later. Since Olympus does not provide a real GPS unit with the E-M1 (or the Mk II, and no, the pain in the backside to get to work mobile phone app does not count especially when this was several hours before we had SIM cards anyway), I had to figure out where this was. I could roughly estimate where the bus parked, and I knew where we went to first, so I scouted around between there until I found it. And my jaw dropped, for I suddenly realised that I had crossed the Arno, had walked through medieval streets, past wondrous places... and had not taken a single shot up to that point.

Of course I know why; it was "Rush! Rush! Rush!" all the way through the package tour. It's part of the price you pay for the convenience of being delivered to all of these places but the price really was no time to just stop and contemplate, and take in what you're seeing.

The thing is that although I had researched the trip extensively I didn't revise that research sufficiently just before the trip; I had too many other things going around in my mind. I spent most of the trip feeling like I was playing catch up. I got lost in Rome (albeit briefly) because I hadn't trusted my instincts and over-relied on Google Maps, and I failed to really appreciate where we were as we were walking though Firenze even though I probably should, by then, have had enough of an appreciation of the town to understand the general layout.

So when I saw this show my jaw dropped and I realised exactly how much I had missed. This is one of those occasions where I wish it was April 2016 again but I had then all of the knowledge that I have now.