Ah … a great night’s sleep. GREAT night’s sleep. Did I say, we slept great? Anyway, our new room was cool and quiet and comfortable. In fact, we slept in a bit longer than we had planned … after all, what’s a vacation for!
Last night, after posting my blog to you, we both had a hankering to walk a bit. We took off to enjoy Florence at night. And, as beautiful as it is at day, at night it is even moreso. Magnifico!
The Duomo, Campanile, and Baptistry of Santa Maria del Flore
We finally ended up on the Republic Square and found a cafe for a light dinner. We people watched, were amused by street vendors and performers, enjoyed a delicious dinner of bruschetta, fresh baked bread dipped in olive oil and balsamic, fresh pasta with a cream sauce and mushrooms (yummy) and a glass of an excellent local Tuscan wine.
During dinner and desert, we (and all those in the square) were serenaded by an opera singer who was standing in a nearby portico. The acoustics were marvelous. And, her Ave Maria put us in the mood for the wedding we’ll attend Friday at St. Peter’s in Rome.
By the way, desert was Vin Santo and biscotti … or Sacred Wine with biscotti. We have not had this special European desert since enjoying it in Southern France when we were students over 30 years ago. There it was called Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart) wine and was a sweet red wine. Here it was a sweet white wine. But, my oh my oh my … bueno.
It would be hard to imagine a more romantic evening … and reminded us of another just over three decades ago … but, more on that in a moment.
After our wonderful sleep, we were up and off to the Uffizi Museum. We were SO happy we had studied the guide books and had made reservations for tickets. The line to get in was endless … but, at the appointed hour we breezed right in.
The Uffizi is said to have the greatest collection of Italian art anywhere and was a wonderful lesson in the history of art from medieval times through the Renaissance … from Giotto, Lippi, Botticelli, Da Vinci, Duerr, Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian, to Rembrandt.
Barb loved Boticelli’s Birth of Venus, which she calls Venus on the Half Shell …
But, my favorite was the Baptism of Christ by Andrea del Verrocchio. I loved findin and studying this large painting for a reason that may surprise you … it certainly did me.
It’s not that the painting itself is so well-known (it’s not), or that it’s a masterpiece (it’s not), but it signals something amazing in the art world Notice the little angel in the lower left hand corner of the painting …
I’m sorry that the picture does not really reflect the stunning beauty of this little angel. And, here’s the story behind him or her. It was painted by a 14 year old student of the old man … one Leonardo Da Vinci.
Legend has it that when Verrocchio saw that some kid had painted an angel better than he ever would … he hung up his brush for good.
After the Uffizi, and lunch at a trattoria packed with locals (thanks, again, Rick Steves), where we enjoyed grilled pork, freshly hand-made pasta with butter and garlic, fresh-baked bread dipped in olive oil, and a very enjoyable Chianti … followed by delicious gelato at Vivaldi gelato (my friend, Len Frommer, says it’s the best in the world. The servings are small, and expensive, but pretty good, Len.), we were off to the south bank of the Arno River again.
This time we climbed above the Oltrarno area to a Benedictine church, San Miniato al Monte, overlooking the city. According to legend, the church’s namesake, Saint Minias, was beheaded on the banks of the Arno in 250 A.D., whereupon, he stood up, picked up his head, and walked up the mountain to this point where he died.
I’ll tell you this, it would have been a tough hike with our heads on. So, we took a cab. Inside the church, under a carved pillar holding the pulpit …
… was a VERY unusual sculpture of a cat whose eyes seemed to follow you as you walked around. And, the cat could watch more than one person at once. Creepy …
We then walked down the hill a bit to our favorite overlook of the city, the Piazzale Michelangelo. Here we encountered our second copy of Michelangelo’s David …
Yep, even the copies are pretty good. Looking forward to revisiting the real one tomorrow.
And we just dwaddled for a bit, living in the memories of camping overnight in this same Piazzale Michelangelo in March of 1978. We had just been skiing for 10 days or so on the Italian/French border (at Tignes Val D’sire) with a bunch of single friends from England. We drove from Northern Italy to Florence only to find the camp was closed for the evening. They directed us to camp here.
Well, that was the first week of March in 1978, and Kate, our first child, was due November 25, 1978. You get the idea. And, thus our smiles and recollections of a Piazzale with much significance to our family …
Even though Kate decided to come early (October 30, 1978), we reminisced together the wonderful gift that our children have been to us … the two we have (Kate and Scott) and the four we’ve lost (who we’ll one day meet in heaven). And, we’re grateful to the gift of God our children represent.
We walked back into town, had a rest time at the hotel, and then an evening stroll around the Palazzo Vecchio. We stopped in at the Fescobaldi Wine Bar. Frescobaldi is one of the better known wine makers in Italy and we sat for a long visit, tasting super-Tuscans and a wonderul Chianti Reserva … along with carpaccio prosciutto and shaved parmesan drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and a dash of sea salt. Oh, Nellie …
The chef must have seen how we were enjoying our feast, so he made us a small plate of crostini (grilled Tuscan toast) covered with sushi-grade Red Tuna (from the Mediterranean) dashed with olive oil and herbs. It was fabulous.
We listened to a marvelous musician play his guitar and sing in the courtyard of the Uffizi and then headed back along the pedestrian walkways, stopping, of course, for a last dark chocolate and coconut gelato. A perfect ending to a great day in Florence.
And, we still have one more to go. Hope you’ll come back and join us for it.
Ciao.
Here’s the entire series:
Dr. Walt and Barb’s Italian Adventure — May 8-25, 2010
If you’ve ever wanted to go to Italy (or even if you have in the past), you’ll want to come along with us and enjoy the sites, sounds, food, and art.
Hopefully, this blog will stimulate you to put visiting these amazing cities on your to-do list. Just click on any of the days or cities you want to visit with us.
We’ve hoped you’ve had fun accompanying us on this trip to Italy, and that one day you’ll be blessed to experience and enjoy her yourself.
0 Comments
SOUNDS LIKE YOU TWO ARE HAVING A GREAT 2ND HONEY MOON.
What fun! Your travel log has become the subject of much interest with Anna, who was at a “bored” point in her education. She still has to do her math the “normal way”, but I believe tomorrow we are headed to the library, grocery store and then on our own little “virtual” tour of Italy with an accompanying travel log by my little author. I’m grateful that you two are having so much fun and are so good at communicating about all that you are seeing!
We might even compare canned ravioli (I feel the same way as Barb about it) with some good stuff!
Anna, all of the great architects, scientists, artists, and musicians we are studying here in Italy (in Venice, Florence, and Rome), when they understood math, were able to be much more excellent in the work to which God called them. So, keep up with the math and your studies. And, I hope you keep enjoying the blog. Give your mom and dad a big hug from me.
Dr. Walt