It's A Long, Long Road

Mistakenly I didn't set an alarm and woke up at 9:30am--a half hour before lock out time for cleaning. After a quick rush to get ready I decided to keep things simple and get familiar with the town. Firenze (Florence) is quite a nice town. It's big enough to have plenty of sights and interesting people doing their thing, but not so big that you are constantly breathing exhaust or having motorcycles blast by you every second. The old part of town is quite charming. Most of it is limited access to vehicles so you don't get run over while you're staring up at the large bell tower or gawking at a fountain.

I started out at the Palazzo Pitti where I booked tickets for later in the day to see David and the Uffizi Gallery along with a ticket to some local gardens. With a half hour before my slot to see David, I took my time working toward the Galleria dell' Accademia by passing through the Piazza della Signoria. This is the place where Florence's political life took shape. On the south end of the piazza is the Loggia della Signoria where David originally stood until 1873 when he was moved to the museum. A marble copy is now in his place where you can take photos (unlike the real one). A long street of prime shopping leads to the Galleria dell' Accademia. You can find anything here displayed in the windows from underwear to ties to scarves to purses to...well, you name it! Italy is definitely the perfect place to window shop where the displays are intriguing and invite you to take your time walking by.

Most of the Accademia is filled with paintings depicting the various scenes of Jesus' and other saints' lives. I did happen upon a music room where I viewed a Stradivarius collection and noted that all the instruments had animal based strings unlike today's metal ones. I guess I never realized strings weren't always metal (and I played the violin too!). It all happens so quickly as you are padding along through rooms of paintings when suddenly you turn the corner and POW! There's David standing high on a pedestal at the end of the hallway glowing from the skylight above. I stopped in my tracks and lost my breath. It's absolutely stunning. There really aren't words to describe how breathtaking it is to see a statue of this magnitude and perfection finished back in 1504 when Michelangelo was just 29. That means he started long before that. I can't imagine doing a work of art like that at my age now. The hair on David's head alone is so intricately carved let alone the veins in the arms. Photos don't even begin to do justice to seeing the statue in person. It was near impossible to pull myself away and finish the rest of the museum, but to make my 12:30 time slot at the Uffizi, such was necessary.

I passed some time around the Duomo (main church in the old city) and on to the Uffizi Gallery. This place and collection of art was started by the Medici family and given to the city in 1743 with the condition that the collection never leave the city. I was expecting to see a mix of paintings and antique items such as furniture or family treasures. All I got was art and I really only liked about 25% of it. Some of the highlights included Albrect Durer, Lukas Kranach (painted Martin and Katie Luther--the originals which I got to see), Vecchio, Carpaccio, Van Cleve, Rembrandt's The Rabbi, Pannini's Pool of Bethsaida, Caravaggio's Medussa and then the true highlights of my trip to the Uffizi: Michelangelo's Holy Family with St. John (the light and shading on this made it the brightest piece in the entire gallery!), Leonardo Da Vinci's Annunciation and Adoration of Mary and Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Primavera. I can remember doing a special project on Primavera in school. Still really love that painting. It was great to see the original in it's hugeness (probably 10'x15' or so). What I learned from this visit is that I really am not a huge fan of 13th-16th century painting. I truly enjoy impressionist and abstract works far more. I appreciated these works for their intricacy, age and hard work, but in the end they just didn't inspire me much. The comedy relief came in the Niobe room where a series of about 20 statues placed around the room all had various stretching and reaching poses. It was hilarious. As if somone had frozen them in the middle of their workout routine. On my way out I noticed that amongst the carefully painted scenes on the ceiling where a series of words including: poetry, academia, music, history, mathematics, theology, medicine, politics, eloquence, philosophy and love of country. Clearly the Medici were patrons of the arts. Thank goodness they were or much of these works would have been destroyed--probably in the name of Christianity.

Post Uffizi I located an excellent gelato shop which was in great need after such hard work. I sampled Rich Chocolate, Banana and Straccitelli (cream flavor with chocolate bits). I stopped at the Duomo and toured the inside. It's quite immaculate. There are inlayed marble floors throughout the church. Laying tile is hard enough let alone sizing and fitting pieces into a picture of people, etc. The last stop of the day was the Medici Chapel, but it was closed. Worked out okay since I was pretty tired by then. Before heading back to the hostel I decided to pass through the Piazzale Michelangelo for some sweeping views of Firenze. Good choice. I found the bronze version of David up there and got some good video of the area. On the way up I discovered the stations of the cross lining the stairway and I also learned that there is a protected feline colony along the stairs. Strange I know, but I kid you not.

After a nice rest I cooked up some strange concoction of steak strips, garlic, onion, zucchini, canellini beans, and some left over red pepper. It turned out quite good. Dessert was some peach yogurt which I haven't had in close to a month. Strange how you crave things like that. My only other discovery today was that one of the guys in my room has sleep apnea. Makes for a hard time sleeping.