FIRENZE
March 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
We had a relatively uneventful train ride from Vernazza to Florence, just one beautiful little Italian city after another. We did stop at Pisa and got a glimpse of the leaning tower.
Our friend, Roger Lane, has been coming to Florence for a number of years and suggested that we stay at the Hotel il Bargellino which we did. It is run by Carmel, a Boston Irish-Italian and her husband of 15 years or so,
Pino, a native Italian. We had a nice room on the second floor with French doors opening onto an adjacent, large, 40x40, communal terrace area right out our door. Since the weather, for the most part, was sunny and mid 60s, this was a great bonus. Another bonus was the complementary wireless internet connection that had just been hooked up the day before we arrived. Keeping a blog and uploading it on line is a challenge without that connection.
Florence, to me, is predominately three things: Piazzas, art and food, especially gelatos.
Piazzas, to simplify matters, are neighborhood parks. In Mexico this would be the zocalo. They are usually giant squares associated with a religious landmark. To get around the city, you first find the piazza then you locate your destination. Around the perimeter of the piazzas are restaurants, bars and cafes. There is always activity in the piazzas, even deep into the night. Figuring out your way around Florence is a challenge…..seems they built their landmarks and then sort of filled in the streets. Many times I would think we were going the correct way and Ann’s radar would be in direct opposition.
We did the art think in Florence.
We went to the Uffizi Gallery where we saw Botticelli’s Birth of Venus and Spring. There were also works by Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael, Canneloni, Manicotti and Lasagna. You need a reservation to get into this gallery as well as others, especially in a busy season. Our timing allowed us to pretty much waltz into these places.
One of the Piazzas (Della Signoria) has famous sculptures throughout. One of them was made by a contemporary of Michelangelo but described by him as a waste of marble. Mikey was a tough critic.
We went to the Academia and saw Michelangelo’s David. This was impressive…about 20 feet tall and perfectly placed in a rotunda area surrounded by what appears to be natural light. When looking up at it, Dave seems to be serene and happy. In actuality, Dave has a snarl and frown on his forehead signifying, probably, that he didn’t like Goliath. A must see. Also in this gallery are some beautiful Botticelli’s, Ann’s favorites.
There was a Cezanne exhibit in town which had a major collection of his paintings, more portraits and landscapes than fruits.
We went to the Piazza San Giovanni to see the Baptistry.
There were 3 sets of doors around the church which had small bronze depictions of religious life throughout the large doors. Inside there was an incredible golden mosaic ceiling again showing aspects of religious life with a picture of Christ in the center.
On our last day, we went to the
Pitti Palace on the other side of the Arno. The Medici’s lived here in the 16th century (?) and collected an enormous amount of art works: Raphael, Rubens, Botticelli, Titian, et.al. There was also a costume exhibit (what the Medicis wore or costumes that were in the paintings) up through the 1950s, beautiful gardens
March 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
We had a relatively uneventful train ride from Vernazza to Florence, just one beautiful little Italian city after another. We did stop at Pisa and got a glimpse of the leaning tower.
Our friend, Roger Lane, has been coming to Florence for a number of years and suggested that we stay at the Hotel il Bargellino which we did. It is run by Carmel, a Boston Irish-Italian and her husband of 15 years or so,
Pino, a native Italian. We had a nice room on the second floor with French doors opening onto an adjacent, large, 40x40, communal terrace area right out our door. Since the weather, for the most part, was sunny and mid 60s, this was a great bonus. Another bonus was the complementary wireless internet connection that had just been hooked up the day before we arrived. Keeping a blog and uploading it on line is a challenge without that connection.Florence, to me, is predominately three things: Piazzas, art and food, especially gelatos.
Piazzas, to simplify matters, are neighborhood parks. In Mexico this would be the zocalo. They are usually giant squares associated with a religious landmark. To get around the city, you first find the piazza then you locate your destination. Around the perimeter of the piazzas are restaurants, bars and cafes. There is always activity in the piazzas, even deep into the night. Figuring out your way around Florence is a challenge…..seems they built their landmarks and then sort of filled in the streets. Many times I would think we were going the correct way and Ann’s radar would be in direct opposition.
We did the art think in Florence.
We went to the Uffizi Gallery where we saw Botticelli’s Birth of Venus and Spring. There were also works by Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael, Canneloni, Manicotti and Lasagna. You need a reservation to get into this gallery as well as others, especially in a busy season. Our timing allowed us to pretty much waltz into these places.
One of the Piazzas (Della Signoria) has famous sculptures throughout. One of them was made by a contemporary of Michelangelo but described by him as a waste of marble. Mikey was a tough critic.We went to the Academia and saw Michelangelo’s David. This was impressive…about 20 feet tall and perfectly placed in a rotunda area surrounded by what appears to be natural light. When looking up at it, Dave seems to be serene and happy. In actuality, Dave has a snarl and frown on his forehead signifying, probably, that he didn’t like Goliath. A must see. Also in this gallery are some beautiful Botticelli’s, Ann’s favorites.
There was a Cezanne exhibit in town which had a major collection of his paintings, more portraits and landscapes than fruits.
We went to the Piazza San Giovanni to see the Baptistry.
There were 3 sets of doors around the church which had small bronze depictions of religious life throughout the large doors. Inside there was an incredible golden mosaic ceiling again showing aspects of religious life with a picture of Christ in the center.On our last day, we went to the
Pitti Palace on the other side of the Arno. The Medici’s lived here in the 16th century (?) and collected an enormous amount of art works: Raphael, Rubens, Botticelli, Titian, et.al. There was also a costume exhibit (what the Medicis wore or costumes that were in the paintings) up through the 1950s, beautiful gardens
with panoramic views of Florence, a porcelain/ceramic exhibit and a history of Pinocchio (I’m not lying). Ann especially enjoyed the Palace and the timelessness of some of the costumes/outfits.In one of the piazzas there is a large statue of a wild boar surrounded by a fountain.
It’s called “Porcellino” and if you rub its nose and throw some coins in the fountain, you’ll ensure a return trip to Florence. We did and we hope we do.We had some fantastic food here. Our first meal was at Da Mario’s (similar name to the Genoa Restaurant). We sat at a picnic table in a crowded narrow room with five men and enjoyed some seafood pasta, minestrone soup and grilled swordfish. All excellent and reasonable priced. On our last night,
we had tagliatelle with sausage and porcini mushrooms, ravioli in a red sauce and split a small steak Florentine…a large Florentine steak can weigh up to 5 lbs. What we enjoyed most was sitting on the terrace on a sunny afternoon
with some fresh bread, prosciutto, provolone, olives, peppers and a bottle of wine.....that's amore!
Gerard said this lady was talking to him all during our dinner
On St. Joseph’s Day, March 19th, we were invited to dinner by Carmel and Pino. The meal was mostly prepared by their friend/worker, Mario. The highlight was a risotto fagioli (“fazool” as the paisanos say)…rice and beans. We also had fried artichokes, cheeses, crostini and desserts with some very nice people. Mario commented that it was incredible that one could still make dinner for 3 euros!
Can’t mention Florence without dealing with gelato. It’s everywhere and, I believe, they consider theirs the best.
One night, we walked 20 blocks in the light rain to go to Vivoli’s,supposedly the best according to our guidebook, but in our humble estimation, it was no better than our local gelateria. Gelato is creamy ice cream which comes in 20 or so flavors rich with fruits and some times even flavored with nuts. Ann liked the chocolate, lemon and strawberry. I like pistachio.We spent
St. Patrick’s Day in Florence….went to 
the Fiddler’s Elbow for the “party”. However, no music. Instead, there were people watching a rugby game. I was disappointed while having a few Guinness’ and some Jameson.
Street acting....
Street art.....
At the market place
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