Two Monasteries and a Procession The Certosa--A Company of Uncles--The Cells--Machiavelli--Impruneta--The della Robbias--Pontassieve--Pelago--Milton's simile--Vallombrosa--S.

Gualberto--Prato and the Lippis--The Grassina Albergo--An American invasion--The Procession of the Dead Christ--My loss.
Everyone who merely visits Florence holds it a duty to bring home at least one flask of the Val d'Ema liqueur from the Carthusian monastery four or five miles distant from the city, not because that fiery distillation is peculiarly attractive but because the vessels which contain it are at once pretty decorations and evidences of travel and culture.

They can be bought in Florence itself, it is true (at a shop at the corner of the Via de' Cerretani, close to the Baptistery), but the Certosa is far too interesting to miss, if one has time to spare from the city's own treasures.

The trams start from the Mercato Nuovo and come along the Via dell' Arcivescovado to the Baptistery, and so to the Porta Romana and out into the hilly country.

The ride is dull and rather tiresome, for there is much waiting at sidings, but the expedition becomes attractive immediately the tram is left.