Busy day! We've spent the last week living next door to the Basilica di San Lorenzo, so decided to pop in! Another large cavernous church, this one particularly impressive as it is the burial place of all the major Medicis.

Next stop – Palazzo Vecchio. Again. Today was the soonest we could do the "secret passages" tour, where we got to travel through some escape routes of the palace, see some secret rooms (Francesco's private collection room being stupidly opulent and impressive) and even check out the roof to see how the massive roof and ceiling are kept from collapsing. Worthwhile tour, lots of insight on the artworks and Medicis.

A quick stroll across the river and lunch at Zeb – superfresh and delicious ravioli. Unlike anything I'd ever eaten before, and Marthese claims "some of the best pasta I've ever had."

Then a climb upto Piazzale Michelangelo for some spectacular views and some OK gelato. Also checked out a nice church up here.

Back across the river to the Basilica of Santa Croce. A really impressive church which is probably most famous for containing the tombs of Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. I got a bit excited that Marconi might be buried there but it turned out to be just a memorial plaque. Lots of great art here too, but the tombs of legends were the major attraction. Some side chapels and museums, containing random things like St Francis' robes.

Just as fatigue was beginning to set in, Marthese and I decided to part ways – she went shopping while I ran off to find the supposed "Leonardo Da Vinci Museum". I found it, it was a mixed bag. Mostly it was a few large rooms with recreations of Leonardo's desgins and inventions, including flying machines, instruments of war and various cranks and gears. You could play with some of these, but it would have been nice to have more information and context with each item. Still, it was quite inspiring to see Da Vinci's ingenuity and creativity on display. They also had an art section up the back, so got to see prints of The Last Supper (take that, Milan!) and the Mona Lisa (cop it, Paris!). Bought a book about Da Vinci to make up for the lack of detail in the "museum" (it felt more like a temporary display, perhaps it is, I can't read Italian. Yet.)