Notable Times: Adventures in Italy 5: Florence

Florence (Firenze)

On the morning of our only full day in Florence (Thursday, June 16, 2016), we sort of overslept. I don't think anyone woke up before 10am, due in part to the wooden shutters over the windows, and of course because of how exhausted we were from flying and going non-stop.

So we took a little time in the morning to figure out how to repair the washing machine and do some laundry.

Then Roger and I tied our laundry string to a wet sock and threw it across the inner courtyard a couple times to rig a laundry line.

It worked perfectly. There's no school like the old school.

Finally we went out and explored Florence. There was cool chalk art on the street. This stuff seemed as good as the stuff we saw in the galleries.

There was a lot of cool art everywhere.

We went to the Accademia Gallery, where Michelangelo's David is housed. It was indeed impressive to walk in and see this massive (12-foot-high) statue in this beautiful setting.

The detail was amazing. (I was impressed with the veins on the hands).

The head was apparently larger than scale so it would look right when viewed from below. And the hands were made larger than scale to emphasize the power of God that was in them when David faced Goliath.

Michelangelo believed that God placed a sculpture into each block of stone, and that "it is the task of the sculptor to discover it." So, apparently, when Michelangelo was carving the David, he didn't discover any pants in there. They hadn't been put there, so what could he do?

It was a magnificent work, even if a bit underdressed.

There were a series of partially completed sculptures called "The Prisoners" that Michelangelo abandoned when the project was cancelled. It was cool to see what sculptures look like when only partially done. It gave us a greater appreciation for the finished, polished products.

There was also a room that contained shelves full of busts and sculptures carved by art students in Florence.

And then there was this, carved in 2003. Apparently over the centuries we have gotten embarrassingly bad at art compared to the good old days. I looked at this and thought, "Seriously? That's the best modern art Florence could come up with?"

Ugly Shoe. By someone unnecessarily famous.

The Accademia also had a room with musical instruments, which was fun.

Erika really wanted to play the harpsichord, but it was under glass.

This stringed instrument looked like Noah's Ark. I named it "Noah's Guitark."

And you can use this horn if you want to play songs where the notes go up and down a lot.

Speaking of works of art...

At 2:30pm that we met our guide, Cecilia, and she showed us around Florence. She was really fun.

Cecilia tells us all about the cathedral

We visited the outside of the Baptistry of St. John, with its stripes of different colors of marble from different areas.

Baptistry of St. John

The facade (front) of the cathedral was left embarrassingly unfinished for hundreds of years before it was finally completed in the 1800s.

Here we are standing in front of Giotto's Campanile (bell tower), with the Duomo di Firenze on the left.

The group in front of the "Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flowers"
(Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Flore), or Il Duomo di Firenze (left),
and Giotto's Campanile (bell tower).

The top features sculptures of famous people from Florence like Michelangelo.

The inside of the cathedral was more simple than some of the ornate places like St. Peter's; but was still impressive.

The dome had paintings showing the final judgement and stuff.

Here's a close-up of one small section of the dome.

There was a huge 24-hour clock decorated by Paolo Uccello. It appears to go the opposite direction of normal. Apparently, it's a "counter-clock."

Again, I noticed that even the floors were fancy.

This red flower is the symbol of Florence. (It's not quite the same as a French fleur de li).

Cecilia took us to a gelato place she liked. Along the way I asked why the streets were curved, and she said it was because there was a Roman amphitheater built near the river back in the day, and the streets were in concentric curves around that.

Here you can see the bell tower atop the Palazzo Vecchio ("old palace"), which was completed in 1332. It was renamed the "old tower" in 1550 when the duke moved to the Pitti Palace.

In the same square as the "old palace", there was an outdoor exhibit of some famous sculptures.

It was all very dramatic.

There is a full-sized replica of The David out in the courtyard, and silhouetted here is Perseus with the head of Medusa.

David replica (left); Perseus with the Head of Medusa (Benvenuto Cellini).

At the "piggy market", the tradition is to rub the nose of the boar, and put a coin in its mouth. If the coin falls into the grate, then it means you'll return to Florence. Either way, you're out a coin.

Our guide ended us up at the Piti Palace, where we posed for one group picture.

Since that was a block from our apartment, we went home for a moment to take down our laundry (in case of rain) before heading out to dinner.

At the apartment we had this chair where you could take, not so much a long rest, as a tall one.

Sharon wanted to try a Florentine steak, so they all went to this restaurant that Cecilia had recommended.

Meanwhile, I got separated from the group and was lost for a while, and texting wasn't working in Florence. So I took this picture of that night's sunset while looking for everyone.