Three Days in Florence
Three Days in Florence - Sept 20-24, 2023
The DuomoOur exploration of Florence included two museum visits for which we purchased tickets before leaving home. The first was the world famous Uffizi Gallery, which houses sculptures and paintings by all of the renowned artists that you read about in the encyclopedias. There was a gallery dedicated to Michelangelo, one dedicated to Leonardo, one to Raphael, and countless more. The subject matter of most of the works was very solemn, with a focus on religion and Roman mythology. This did not stop us from reconsidering the potential labels for the works we viewed. Thus, the “Death and Mayhem and Destruction” gallery was softened by the “Oops, I Slipped a Boob” gallery, not to mention the “Has Anyone Seen my Penis?” gallery and the ever popular “Has Everyone Seen my Penis? “ gallery. There can be no doubt that the practice of sculpting predated the invention of pants.
Another observation we had was that it is surprising that the Italians evolved to be such an attractive race of people considering that their ancestors would have been the babies we saw in the paintings who all looked like Winston Churchill.
The second prebooked museum we visited was the Galleria dell 'Accademia, which is considerably smaller but houses Michelangelo’s statue of David. This David looks a lot like the one in Las Vegas but it’s a lot more awe inspiring. The gallery offered tutorials there on how to duplicate a historic statue, a skill you can never be too knowledgeable about.
We rounded out our days with a lot more visits to religious sites and landmarks too numerous to mention. The Duomo is probably Florence’s most notable landmark, and it’s odd that such an enormous structure can remain hidden from your view until you’re rightly on top of it. We watched a busker sing an amazing operatic aria in front of it, and we eventually managed a self-guided tour inside after enduring a Disneyesque lineup.
We made a foray through the Galileo Museum and found it most interesting. It was full of wonderful contraptions and inventions that put us in mind of the various whatzits and doodads that can be found in almost every Dr. Seuss book. Alongside all of the inventions, we discovered a small showcase that displays Galileo’s middle finger. A bit macabre, we thought, but probably fairly symbolic considering that Galileo lived out his latter years persecuted and considered to be a quack. Now his middle digit is raised to all the naysayers in perpetuity.
Florence proved to be a very walkable city, with almost all attractions within a reasonable proximity. Having said that, we logged a lot of “steps” during this part of our holiday, and anything that wasn’t uphill from one direction certainly was from the other.
We’re starting to acclimatize to the Italian way of eating, which means that dinner times are becoming much later than at home, but this does allow for more digestion time for the afternoon gelato. We’re dining at outdoor curb side restaurants in piazzas or very narrow streets. The food and the ambiance has been outstanding.
During one of our dinners, some unexpected rain drops descended from the heavens, and within about 45 seconds, the staff had every single table relocated inside and it was as if we’d been seated that way the whole night.
It was definitely a very precise operation.
The rain lasted about two minutes.
The next leg of our journey takes us back to Rome via high speed train.
The adventure continues …..
The Saturday crowds at Piazza Signoria
The Neptune Fountain at Piazza Signoria
"Well, at least he died with his pants on"...
a phrase never once uttered over the course of Roman mythology.
Who knew that we would find both Cousin Itt and Thing enshrined in the world-famous Uffizi Gallery.
Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence - also known as the Duomo
the Duomo
The other side of the Duomo Chris being Chris...
The Duomo baptistry doors - beautiful!
Tradition says if you touch the snout of the wild boar statue in the outdoor market, you will return to Florence one day. And so you have it, we shall return!
Life imitating art, or art imitating life?
The Bargello National Museum (on the right)
Palazzo Vecchio, hub of the Florentine government for over seven centuries (erected 1299)
This cannon was commissioned by the Grand Duke as the protector of Pisa. No it is not a man being shot out, it is the bearded face of Saint Paul.
The toilette is THAT way.
Amazing inlay. This is a flat piece of wood. The detail and shadowing is extraordinary!
Elevator system (crane) to deliver goods in Florence where there are few elevators.
relaxing by the Arno river
The real David! This part of the Galleria dell 'Accademia was created just for him!
Galleria dell 'Accademia - student works at the sculpting school
Musical instrument room at the Galleria dell 'Accademia - earliest version of the upright grand piano
Santa Croce church- walking on holy ground
Santa Croce, much of the precious works were almost destroyed in a devastating flood in November 1966 when the banks of the Arno river flooded the city with as much as 22 feet of water and mud. All of Italy and indeed the world came to the rescue. Many of the precious paintings and works of art have been rescued but many are are still being restored.
Piazza Santa Croce
Galileo's tomb at Santa Croce
Museum Galileo - scientific equipment and experiments dating from the 11th to 19th century including Galileo's telescopes.
Some of the equipment was too sophisticated for us to figure out their purpose.
Various whatzits and doodads at the Galileo museum
Palazza Pitti
Boboli Gardens, on the grounds of the Palazza Pitti
Boboli Gardens
The sculpted babies were, for the most part, unattractive.
The painted ones were just plain homely.
Except this one. Different gene pool.
Some of the ancient Roman battle strategies were outside Chris's comfort zone.
Food Glorious Food!
The food (and wine) is perfecto!!!!
Once again you've covered so much territory. We stayed in hotel l'orologie in the Piazza Santa Croce and had that view of the church from the breakfast eating area. So cool to see it again. The amount of art and sculpture in that city is overwhelming especially the naked ones. Enjoy your second stay in Rome.
ReplyDeleteFlorence was one of my favourite stops in Italy. You've seen so much amazing stuff!
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