Florence and Pisa, Italy
Florence & Pisa, Italy Friday, April 29, 2022
Apologies to you readers for the tardiness of these blogs…we’ve had some technical challenges and hope that we’ve found solutions. We’ve also scheduled ourselves on tours that are up to 10.5 hours of the day with lots of traveling from the port to the destinations. No complaints here, just apologies.
Years ago, I fell in love with this city, and I vowed
to visit Florence anytime we were in Europe.
Everywhere one looks in the city, there is eye candy…of the
architectural variety.
Today is the morning after Jerry’s surprise birthday party that lasted longer than planned cuz these bridge players simply love to play the game. Everyone had already had a LONG day in Rome or in outlying areas yesterday, and today’s tours promised to be lengthy also due to driving times from the port to anywhere. Our tour promised to be 10.5 hours, leaving at 7:15 am this morning. Jerry’s been more than a champ at setting the alarm for medications prior to breakfasts. He never complains—even and especially when the meds overtake his muscles. My tears are quiet, but were witnessed by some good people who have scooped us into conversations.
Our much-anticipated trip to Florence and then to Pisa
was splendid. The sun shone, it was
about 68 degrees, VERY windy, and as I’ve written before, spring is blossoming
all over Europe. We drove about 1.5
hours through the fabled Italian Tuscany hills and valleys where agriculture
soothes this farm girl’s eyes with fields of sunflowers, poppies, vegetables of
all sorts, and later with olive trees and vineyards. Watch any movies set in this location and
drink in the romance and lush. Be sure
to have plenty of wine handy.
A short bit of history: blame or credit the Medici dynasty for the ports, perfume (!), the roads, the canals, fountains, collections of art, and the beyond-magnificent-into-opulent buildings. Founded by the Romans circa 59 BC, Florence exhibits influences from each of the occupations since. Leonardo da Vince competed with Michelangelo here for commissions. Raphael aided in architecture as well as oil painting. It’s THE city for name-dropping, especially the names attached to the Renaissance period and the Roman Catholic Church.
Predominantly, our tour in Florence today was an
outside tour, meaning there wasn’t enough time to stand in the blocks-long
lines in order to get inside of the significant structures. No worries, though, because there is enough
to dazzle the senses just on the exteriors, the fountains, the markets and
high-end shops (leather goods and Murano glass are popular along with jewelry),
and the overly friendly pigeons. We
tried to document photos for you, but please allow room for error.
An iconic 13th Century cathedral, St. Mary of Florence, with dome (not going to include how domes were built) was deemed out-of-style in the 1800s, so the entire façade was rebuilt into a lush Baroque/Arabesque green borders that look like window frames. Yes, it’s marble. Yes, it pops the eyes! The smaller matching domed structure next to the cathedral is the baptistry. Separate space because it was forbidden to worship if one was not baptized. Ghiberti showing stories from the Old Testament, stories of paradise, and stories of the life of St. John. It’s probable that the building was originally a pagan temple. Huh.
A popular attraction was Porchilino or Little Pig, a
bronze statue with a well-rubbed nose.
It’s good luck to rub the nose while dropping coins into the fountain
below.
Walked to the Tower House and learned that by 1250 AD
it was forbidden to have towers above 90 m because they were just too
dangerous. Collapses killed. Our guide told us that the tower in the photo
once belonged to the wool corporation.
Marble is seen everywhere—on facades of buildings, on
floors and walls, as material for sculptures and fountains. Where did all the marble come from? From various sites around the known world,
from the stripping (pillaging) of temples or structures as power changed hands to
be repurposed into more visible wealth and therefore power. Does anything ever change?
But the story told about Michelangelo and the marble block he used for the David is worth knowing. The commission for the chunk of marble was originally for David AND Goliath. The original artist hired to do it found it unusable—he had no experience with large piece of marble. A second tried but gave up. The block lay for 35 years. Chipped. Hewn. Damaged. Waiting. Michelangelo had just finished the Pieta for the Vatican and had gained fame. Taking on the original commission, the finished product was intended for a tall niche for the Florence Cathedral, meant to be seen from below and therefore somewhat exaggerated for proportion, and in line with other artists, depict the bloody victory scene, probably with Goliath’s head in David’s hand or at his feet. But free-thinking Michelangelo broke with tradition and chose to capture the pose of one who is poised for imminent victory as “a nod to the Renaissance ideal that man’s victories are due to intellect and confidence, not brute strength.” (www.contextravel.com) Deemed too heavy and too naked for its original site, it was moved a half mile away with the use of 40 men and 4 days. The masterpiece has withstood damage, but the greatest threat it being toppled due to the on-going seismic activity of its home country. Many art lovers suggest you go see it. Soon. Even though we couldn’t get in to see the David this time, we saw a replica in an outdoor sculpture garden nearby. Lots of replicas of this famous statue are peppered throughout the world. Google can help you locate them.
We arrived back to the ship, windblown and pooped, but excited that we had seen parts of Florence. One more time.
Art can be seen everywhere!
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