Florence - 2006

Travel Diary: Florence

Wednedsay, July 5

Steve wrote:

Packed up and checked out of The Danieli and took the vaporetto to the station for our train to Florence. Passing some of the sites we had visited, we were sorry to leave Venice.

Got to the train station and had to wait to see which track we were on before we could board. In 1^st class on the Eurostar, adjoining seat numbers face each other, so one of us is always traveling backwards. This time it was Rosemary, and she became a little sick from it, but we made it without incident and detrained in Florence.

And we thought Venice was hot! Stifling heat as we leave the train station for what we believe is not too long a walk to our hotel. We have a sense of where it is but the streets of Florence are unlike any other city we've been in. Odd angles, names changing every couple of blocks and, of course, Italian drivers who elevate horn honking to a fine art. Due to the heat, the walk and general level of anxiety trying to find it, we arrive at our hotel sweating like the American pigs we are.

Rosemary wrote:

"Mamma mia!" said the doorman when we told him we had walked, rolling our luggage behind us, from the station. This is the first time in my life I can remember being embarrassed by my own sweat. I leaned on the front desk and left a puddle which was hard to mop up surreptitiously because everything I was wearing was wet.

Steve wrote:

The people at Hotel Savoy, our home for the next few days, were too polite to notice our condition. We checked in, were given a free upgrade to a junior suite (thanks to our travel agent, Evelyn), a lovely space with large bed, separate sitting area with desk, two TVs (neither of which we would watch, it turns out) and a welcoming gift of some dessert wine and biscotti. Not much of a view, although we can see the top of the Duomo, but the air conditioning works pretty well. We unpacked, cooled off and went down to the bar for a couple of glasses of wine and a snack. Spoke to the concierge, who was able to get us two tickets on Saturday to the Accademia, home of “David” by Michaelangelo, and arranged for a rental car for our side trip to Siena tomorrow. Feeling fortified, we walked around town a little and had dinner at a restaurant across the Piazza della Repubblica (Caffè Concerto Paszkowski), where the waiter brought us ice with our bottled water, a welcome relief.

Thursday, July 6

Steve wrote:

We had some breakfast with a window view of the Piazza and went to get our rental car for our trip to Siena, a medieval town about an hour away. Having

never driven in Italy, but having seen what lunatics the drivers are plus the people on scooters that weave in and out of traffic, plus the confusion of the one-way streets, areas where no vehicles are allowed and the odd street angles, I was a little nervous about driving. Plus, as we discovered, road signs are very confusing. In some places, there are 5-10 signs indicating various towns, directions, mileage, etc. So by the time you find your sign, you've gone past the intersection. Despite all of that, we found our way to the Siena-Firenza Highway, or the "Si-Fi", as it's called, and navigated south through beautiful country scenery.

Rosemary wrote:

It was a pleasant drive through lovely, green countryside. The signage getting out of town was pretty good, and once we were on the autostrada we had no

problem. Leaving Siena was a little more complicated. We couldn't seem to get out the same way we came in, and when we finally reached Florence things seemed really crazy. The signs were mostly tiny (and sometimes conflicting), especially at traffic circles. My favorite was a sign in Siena that read "tutte le direzioni" - "all directions".

Siena is a hilltop town, where you are always going up and down (usually up, it seems). Getting lost there is not part of the fun, the way it is in Venice. The town is certainly picturesque, and I'm glad we got to see it, but I don't understand why so many people seem to be deeply in love with it. We found the Duomo and its museum, and saw the “crypt” with its untouched 800-year-old paintings. The colors were amazingly vivid, having been protected from both the elements and human attempts at preservation for so many years. We saw the famous Campo where the horse races are held. We were amazed at the large number of shops selling neckties. Lunch was unimpressive, just some pizza that we ate on the street while it rained lightly, and later some gelato.

Steve wrote:

After walking around for several hours and seeing the main attractions, we headed back to Florence, getting slightly lost trying to find the Si-Fi and following a nice country road until it crossed the main highway. We got back to our room to find a nice fruit plate, courtesy of the hotel, rested a bit and had a nice dinner at a casual restaurant (Natalino) recommended by the concierge, followed by gelato and a good night's sleep.

Friday, July 7

Rosemary wrote:

It was cooler (but only a little bit) Friday morning, and that didn't last. It had rained early. The housekeeper predicted "brutto tempo", and some people thought it would rain all day, but it didn't rain again until dinnertime, and then only lightly.

The first time we were in Florence, I found the streets terribly confusing. At the time, I wrote, "The streets are narrow and winding, and tend to change their names every few blocks. In fact, there is no such thing as walking around the block. Streets fork and fork again, going off at odd angles. Every wide spot where two or more streets meet is a piazza." But after having spent a lot of time walking in Venice, the streets of Florence seem wide and almost well-organized. It's the traffic - especially those nasty little motor scooters - that can drive you crazy.

Steve wrote:

I checked my paperwork on our reservation for the Uffizi Gallery, only to find that I had mixed up the dates and that our reservation was for Thursday, not Friday. Made a phone call to the tour company, who said, “Oh yes, your reservation was yesterday.” before I could even explain why I was

calling. But they graciously added us to today's tour. Having a few hours to kill before the Uffizi, we went to the Duomo, including going down into the crypt where you could see layers of flooring from earlier versions of the church, including some mosaics from the 1300s. Also, we saw a stone tablet carved with names of donors to the original “building fund” and the amounts they donated. We then went to the Duomo Museum, where there are statues, mosaics, sculptures and tapestries from hundreds of years ago. It makes you realize that the U.S. has relatively little history and what we call “old” isn't really old at all.

After lunch (Guelfa), we went to the Uffizi Gallery, the former offices of the Medici family and their banking businesses and home to the largest collection of art in Florence, from the 12^th to the 17^th century. Two museums and one Duomo are about my limit, so we had some gelato and went back to the hotel to rest before dinner, another good recommendation (Parione) from the hotel. It rained a little, but we didn't care, we were just happy to be together in Italy.

Saturday, July 8

Steve wrote:

While I was showering in the morning, Rosemary noticed that our phone message light was lit. My sister had left us a message the night before that my father was back in the hospital and “it looked bad”. Even though it was 3am in Atlanta, I called her. Janis was flying to Florida with Gracie and would assess the situation, but one of the doctors told my mother that he might not make it through the weekend, so everyone was in a panic, including me trying to figure out if we would have to cut our vacation short and how to get from Florence to Florida quickly (BTW, it can't be done quickly, as I found out going online to search for travel info). But until Janis got to Florida ten hours later, there was nothing we could do.

We decided to try to enjoy what might be our last day of vacation and kept our 12:00 reservation at the Accademia, another art museum, the star attraction of which is Michelangelo's “David”. I had seen pictures, and there is a copy outside Palazzo Vecchio, but the original is breathtaking. Michelangelo, who is notorius for not finishing projects, completed this work from all angles. Originally intended to be placed atop the Duomo, he even sculpted the hair on the top of David's head, even though only pigeons would see it. His technique was unusual, in that he did not work from a sketch, but simply chiseled away everything that didn't look like David. The musculature, the veins in the arms, the look on his face and other details are what make this one of the world's great artworks. I think I have a man crush on David!

Rosemary wrote:

Of course, there is other artwork in the museum, even though people don't always remember to look at it. There was, among other things, a large exhibit featuring Lorenzo Monaco, a prolific Gothic artist who created many different kinds of paintings as well as illuminated manuscripts.

Steve wrote:

We took a cab to the Pontevecchio, had lunch at a little cafeteria and did some window shopping. But it was hot (have I mentioned it was hot?) and we were tired, so we went back to the hotel to get off our feet for a couple of hours before dinner. We had another great dinner, at Buca Lapi. (And why aren't Italians fatter as a group?)

Rosemary wrote:

The waiter was so pleased when we complimented the flavor of the onions, that he told us the recipe. Interestingly, they were cooked with a little bit of Vin Santo.

Steve wrote:

Later I spoke to my sister, who had seen my father and spoken to his doctor. While he was not in good shape, the feeling was that the immediate problem was dehydration and getting his body chemistry back in balance. So, for the moment, we're going to Rome tomorrow and will hope for the best.

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From our hotel window, we could just see the top of the Duomo, temporarily encased in scaffolding.
Designed by Filippo Brunelleschi in 1420, this dome was one of the greatest architectural achievements
of its time, and served as the model for many other domes, including St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome.
It is possible to get a magnificent view of the city by climbing nearly 450 steps to the top, but we
decided not to do that.

The frescoes inside the dome, representing the last judgment, were painted between 1572 and 1579
by Giorgio Vasari and Federico Zuccari. There are 3,600 square meters of painted surface.

The "crypt" underneath the cathedral is an archaeological site revealing the mosaic
floor of the previous church as well as various artworks from earlier periods.

The east doors of the Baptistry (housed in a separate building) were created by Lorenzo
Ghiberti in 1425. Michelangelo called them the gates of Paradise. Currently, copies adorn
the actual doors, and some of the original panels are displayed in the nearby museum.

The museum contains statues and other artworks which were removed from the church when it was
redecorated, redesigned, or rebuilt for various reasons over the centuries, as well as items that
have been brought inside for protection while copies take their places outside, and miscellaneous
pieces of religious or artistic significance. This choir box was carved by Donatello.

Michelangelo used his own face as that of Nicodemus in a "Pieta" that he originally
intended for his own tomb. Unhappy with the work, he destroyed it while it was incomplete.
One of his assistants later had it put it back together.

This modern "art" in the courtyard of the Uffizi Gallery helps us appreciate the Renaissance.

This lookout tower tops the Palazzo Vecchio, once the city hall of the Medicis, now a museum.

Large groups of touring teenagers find it easier to stay together by wearing matching shirts.
Can you spot the spy?

We don't know why this hotel is in Florence.

This triumphal arch frames one side of Piazza della Repubblica, where once the Roman forum
of Florence stood. Rosemary's guess-interpretation of the inscription is,
"The ancient city center, from centuries of squalor, restored to new life".

Details of one of Ghiberti's panels in the Duomo Museum.

 

Madonna with the glass eyes - an unusual detail.

A decorative detail on the exterior of the Duomo.

Siena still has a medieval look and feel.

The town's main square is known as Il Campo, which means "the field".
This is where the famous (and dangerous) horse race, the Palio di Siena, is held twice a year.

The surface of the entire plaza is angled down toward this very fancy grate.

Pigeons take turns drinking from the Fonte Gaia (Fountain of Joy).

This fountain is a copy of the original, which is now inside the museum up (up, up, up) the street.

 

The tower of the City Hall is 330 feet high, the tallest secular tower in Italy.
We chose not to climb to the top.

Medieval Siena was proud of its political independence from the Pope. The pagan she-wolf of Romulus
and Remus became the city's symbol. It appears everywhere, large and small, in statues, reliefs,
paintings, and logos, sometimes in combination with other important symbols.

Siena's streets are all uphill. It was incredibly hot and humid, with shade hard to find,
and no relief provided by the light sprinkling of rain.

Nearly every Italian cathedral is nicknamed Il Duomo. The full name of Siena's is
Santa Maria della Scala. Scala means "staircase", and that's no coincidence, since just walking
around the outside of this building requires scaling a long flight of steep steps on one side and a
steep street on the other, as well as the stairs up to the entrance, down to the crypt,
or down to the baptistry (which we never actually found, due to vague and conflicting signs),
as well as the many flights of stairs in the adjoining museum.

The coffered ceiling of the dome's interior is a painted illusion.

The heads of 172 popes encircle the ornate church. A close examination reveals that the same
four faces were used repeatedly.

This structure was begun in 1215, and most of the decoration was done between 1250 and 1350.
It took the better part of two centuries (1373-1547) to pave the elaborate marble floor.
Many artists and artisans, both famous and unknown, collaborated for over 300 years to produce this interior.

The bright frescoes of the Piccolomini Library tell the life story of Aeneas Piccolomini, a Siena native who became Pope Pius II in 1458.

This spiral stairway, unnaturally illuminated by the camera's flash, is just wide enough to
accomodate one person. It's the only way up or down from the famous panoramic view on the
roof of Siena's Duomo Museum. A second spiral stairway, narrower and darker than this one,
climbs up inside a small tower, but we chose not to go there.

A view of the church of San Domenico from the roof of the museum. The artists'
colors "raw sienna" and "burnt sienna" were named after this town.

The pavement of Il Campo.