Firenze

May 20, 2005--We woke and had breakfast at Dei Mori, then off to see the David at the Accademia. We had reservations so we got in the short line and didn't wait long. As you enter you are greeted by Michelangelo's slaves on both sides and at the end of the room you see David standing there big and bare as life. I never thought I would ever see him and at that moment I realize that I'm torn between the two. I never expected the attraction I would have to the slaves. They were completely compeling. I read once where Michelangelo said that he didn’t sculpt figures into marble, "He liberated them out of it. He quarried his own marble in Carrara, seeing the figures in the living rock before driving in the first nail that would split it off the rockface. The unfinished slaves are examples of how Michelangelo chipped away the marble enclosure, gradually exposing more and more the sculpture trapped inside." Needless to say I couldn't take me eyes off of them, nor did I want to move on, but the place was so crowded with tourists, I felt like I was in a river of them, so I went with the flow. David was just amazing. and to the right of him was a beautiful Pieta. But Kevin and I couldn't believe two other pieces exhibited in the wings. They were in Kevin's words, "complete rubbish". One was a huge poorly carved wooden shoe and the other was an old man with an erection holding up an image of the Sistine Chapel. The things that pass for art and actually get exhibited, I'll never understand.

But---the other wonderful surprise in the museum were the medival rooms that held works by Taddeo Gaddi and Bernardo Daddi. They were beautiful beyond words. We loved their paintings of the Madonna and crucifixes. I was especially touched to see the little angels, picture after picture, with bowls in their hands, catching Christ's blood as He hung on the cross. I was happy that Kevin was there with me to explain the details. He amazes me with his knowledge for this time period.

After that we walked to the Duomo and stood in line for about a half an hour to climb the 463 steps to the top. I had just finished reading "Brunelleschi's Dome" by Ross King. The book really helped me understand and appreciate all the work that went into building this Cathedral. While we waited we met a nice couple from Toronto. The cost of the climb was 12e. It was hard work climbing all those stairs. We got a closeup view of the inside painting of the dome by Vasari. The outside view from the top was bright and sunny. You could see for miles. After our descent we ate a sandwich at the cafe on the Piazza Della Signoria, and got ripped off on a bottle of Pepsi that cost 7e!! We learned that whenever you sit down in a Piazza it's very expensive. It was nice though to be off our feet and to be under an umbrella, out of the sun for a while.

While standing in line for the Uffizi Museum we met a couple from San Diego. They were very nice and we had a great conversation. She was a marathoner. Kevin had fun talking about marathons and the joy of running. While waiting in the line we learned that the museum was free. Florence was celebrating something the weekend we were there and alot of the museums were free. We were fine with that because it just meant more gelato money for us. In the Uffizi we saw some wonderful artwork by Martini, Giotto and Botticelli. The Botticelli’s deperately needed cleaning. Still they were absolutely gorgeous. On the way out we met an older single woman traveling by herself from Houston. We took her picture by some roses and then she took ours. We were hungry and knew we needed to head back to “our bakery” for lunch. We had only been there one day but had found something we could call our own. Kevin had flat bread with filling and I had a green and red tomato pizza. Then of course a bag of cookies to go. Now we were off to the Brancacci Chapel to see the Massaccio frescoes. We sat down to watch a film about Massaccio and I fell asleep thru the whole thing. The frescoes were amazing, especially the one of Adam and Eve getting expelled from the Garden of Eden. We walked back to the Ponte Vecchio and had gelato at the Arno Bridge. This time we tried pistaccio.

We walked a few steps up to the Pitti Palace and went inside since it was free. This Renaissance Palace dates about 1458 and was the home of Luca Pitti, who was a Florence banker. It was later purchased in 1539 by the Medici family. We did see some Titians but overall I wasn’t to impressed with the palace. It's too gaudy for my taste. We left and walked up a steep winding hill to see the view of Florence from Piazzale Michelangelo. The park was beautiful and we took some great pictures on our way up but the sun was too bright to get many good ones at the top.

We used Rick Steve’s travel book and were not impressed with his view on art, however he had amazing recommendations for places to eat like the one we went to that night. It was arcoss the Arno and about a 20 minute walk. It was called Trattoria S. The place was packed with locals. I could only make out a couple words on the menu. But between the waiter and Kevin we were able to place our order. Kevin had linguine and meat sauce, I had mine with tomato sauce. Kevin had roast beef and potatoes, I had cod in tomato sauce and a green salad. They also served bread and water. My cod was very salty but really good. I understand that that’s a local way to prepare fish. The homemade linguine was especially good. We also ordered chickpeas which neither of us had ever had. They served them in olive oil and now we eat chickpeas all the time. A couple vendor’s wandered in and out playing music and selling roses around the community tables. There were two dogs in the restaurant that at one point started barking and making a big ruckus. We laughed thinking that would never happen in America. Our fun dinner with the locals cost 26e. We had some money left over for the day and headed for Vivoli’s for gelato. Our favorite place was Perche’no! One flavor I love is Amerella (cherry and vanilla). It reminded me of the vanilla ice cream with the big cherries that I would eat as a kid although gelato is a hundred times better. One night in Florence we didn’t make reservations and ended up not eating in a restaurant. We were so tired and hungry we settled for pizza around the corner and a yummy pastry filled with crema. We ate that day for less that 20e.

May 22, 2005—Breakfast at 10am with Bruno. Took pictures with him and then headed to Santa Maria Novella. Admission was 5e for two. We saw some beautiful Massacci’s. We had a late lunch at "our" bakery. Kevin had tomato pizza and I had artichoke and olive. With another bag of cookies for the road, we headed to the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo (Duomo Museum). We saw Donatello’s Mary Magdeline, Brunellischi’s death mask and The Deposition by Michelangelo, also known as the Florentine Pieta, this is one of Kevin’s favorites. It’s a sculpture of Nicodemus holding the body of Christ. It’s a famous piece because Michelangelo smashed it because the marble was defective and the leg broke off. I also loved all the glazed terracotta lunettes of the 1440’s and the bronze doors by Ghiberti. We also learned about the flood of 1966 and how they found Donatello’s Mary Magdeline floating in the water.

We had a lovely dinner at Osteria Lcche C’e C’e. Reservations really help! Kevin journals this meal as follows—-I had penne with meat sauce, Mollie had penne with tomato sauce. For the piatta seconda Mollie had grilled chicken and I had a grilled pork chop. Sounds ordinary enough, but they were unbelievably tender and delicious. I will never eat another pork chop without remembering and comparing it to that meal. The restaurant itself was smallish with a delightfully cordial atmosphere. Our hostess, probably the owners wife, was a short, roundish and ebullient woman, very attentive. The chef/owner was, by contrast, slender and rawboned with a large moustache and full of laughter. There was a large party of thirteen who came in and said the had a reservation. The chef exclaimed, “We only have place for ten!” and then laughed at their momentarily dismayed faces. Later, they brought out a small chocolate birthday cake for a lady in the party. Our hostess suddenly turned off the lights in the restaurant as the chef brought out the cake with three candles. The entire restaurant broke into singing "Happy Birthday", rendered in a mixture of Italian and English and German! The chef joked that the woman (in her fifties) was only three, and when they snapped his grinning face with the birthday girl with a digital camera, he then complained vociferously that they had to take the photo over again because “it makes me look too old.” The food was an absolute delight, the atmosphere an absolute delight, and we only wish we could go back again many, many times more. It was so unlike American restaurants. It was if the owners had booked their clientele for the evening and expected you to be part of the family for the entire evening—-not by contrast, hurrying you through the meal in order to make way for the next customers; you were there to enjoy the food and the little community that had gathered for this particular evening together. Multo bene!!!