Florence: Where Private Parts are Art, Food is Good, and the Raffs are Happy!

I was very excited to go to Florence, as Sarah had often raved about it from her trip there in 2005 with her friend Shelley. I knew that we would see some great art and eat some good food; there was just one problem, we didn’t have a place to stay! You see, the very rude lady working at the bus station in Balzano had flat out lied to us about the number of trains to Florence (she said only 2), causing us to rush out without reserving a place. We discussed options on the train ride and came up with several plans, but we were not real excited about getting into Florence on Sunday night without a place to stay.

Things improved vastly, however, once we rang the doorbell at 48 Via Zanobi, where a very kind, motherly Maricella welcomed us with open arms to Casa Rabatti, her family’s home and our hotel. Although we took her by surprise, she quickly got us set up in a virtual apartment (my eyes popped out of my head when I saw that we were getting the entire quad, with queen size bed, couch, and dining table for 50E a night–significantly less than our rooms in Balzano and Rome! The whole time we were in Florence, Maricella made us feel like part of her family; although we spoke different languages, she laughed and smiled kindly each time she saw us, especially Sarah, her “blonde bella” or “Barbini”!

Monday was a bit of a slow day for us; this was the final day of our Rome/London hangover before picking up steam again. Of course, the two great art museums, the Uffizi and the Accademia, were must-see highlights for us. Wanting to avoid the lines, we were able to reserve an appointment for the Accademia on Tuesday at the Gem Museum, which we actually did not go into after buying the ticket to the more famous one. We were not able to reserve the Uffizi (neither one is open on Monday), so we decided to get there right when it opened the next day. Having procured the ticket and the plan, we were free to roam Florence.

Our morning tour took us past the Duomo (dome) church–huge, medievally garish in white, green, and red) to the Orsanmichele Church, site of a 9^th century grain market. One corner of the church featured a Donatello Renaissance statue of St. George; it was interesting to compare his statue of the saint stepping away from the church, while the older, medieval statues stayed within the shadows. Next to the Orsonmichele, we visited a modern market that sat at the site of an ancient straw market; here we saw a very strange combination of interests–an “X” in the center that marked the spot that people who had gone bankrupt once hit after being dropped from the market’s roof and a statue of a warthog that people rub and feed coins so that they may one day return to Firenze! Crazy…

 

My favorite part of the morning was seeing the square with Palazzo Vecchio’s courtyard, with it’s fake David (the real version actually stood out here in the bare elements for years!). The palace, once the Medici’s home, was big and fancy,–most would recognize it’s castle-like clock tower–but the next door Loggia dei Lanza was more interesting with several copies of famous statues, the original Bronze (well, green) Cellini statue of Perseus slaying Medusa, lots of camera-toting tourists, and about a million pigeons. It made me want to wear a hat. 🙂

From here, we crossed the famous Ponte Vecchio, the former locale of rich gold and silver trade; the bridge still has jewelry shops but now is more known for its reputation for romance–Romeos often bring their Juliets here to promise undying love by securing a lock to the bridge and throwing the key into the Arno. This is illegal, though, and love apparently has it’s price, which is currently a fine of 160E! Just a few blocks from the bridge, we got the best pizza we’d had (foccacia crust), and on the way back, we got the best gelato!

Monday afternoon, we planned out our accomodations for basically the rest of Italy, although we were not able to confirm Cinque Terre lodgings. We have learned that we need to plan a little more ahead of time in order to avoid spending so much touring time finding a place to stay–our lack of phone further complicates last-minute plans, so this was planning time well spent.

Back down by the bridge, we had THE BEST meal of the trip at a place Sarah had recognized from her other trip. At the Orestria Santo Spirito, we were immediately seated with tasting glasses of sparkling wine! We shared a tasty bruschetta and a bottle of chianti, and we each got absolutely amazing entrees–spinach ravioli in walnut cream sauce (how you make walnut sauce creamy, I do not know, but Mama Mia!) for me, and gnocchi with tomato sauce and truffle oil for Sarah; it was even better than the ravioli. If I could eat one meal over and over again, it would be this meal! This was the second of our “honeymoon dinners” and well-worth it!

Tuesday morning, we were up bright and early to visit the Uffizi, which holds some of the most famous art in Italy. We had about an hour wait, even with getting there before it opened, but at least it was cool and our legs fresh. We entered a hall of Italian busts, statues, and portraits–they were neat but a bit inaccessible to us. Most of the first section of the gallery was Gothic, where we were able to learn what experts mean by “lack of depth”–figures just sort of float all over the pictures. After these rooms, moving into Medieval works, we were able to see the same 5 Bible scenes painted in about 1,000 different ways! Seriously though, we enjoyed Fra Fillipino Lippi’s Madonna series the most in these sections because mother and son looked very devoted, and dare I say, happy.

Later, we saw three portraits by Raphael–not as good as his work in the Vatican, Botticelli’s breathtaking “Birth of Venus,” a couple of Da Vinci’s fine-lined paintings, and our favorite, Michelangelo’s Holy Family–bright colors and a very pleasant feel. Overall, the Uffizi was a good experience. It was fun to compare different genres and realize that I am…um…a Renaissance man.

While smaller than the Uffizi, the Accademia houses the greatest piece of art that I have ever seen: The David. Before seeing the statue, though, we saw a couple of other noteworthy exhibits: one on ancient musical instruments and one on Bernini, who was famous for sculpting nudes. He gained fame sculpting for Napoleon before returning to work and teach in Florence, where he began using nude subjects in his classes. His portrayals of the female body are incredible, and this was an unexpected treat. Leading up to the main attraction, some of Michelangelo’s unfinished work was interesting, but the real show was beyond…

David is absolutely amazing! First, you notice the size and detail of the statue–the way his Adam’s apple, muscles, and veins are perfectly depicted. Then, you see the enlarged right hand (hand of God) nonchalantly clutching the rock that would slay Goliath–Florence, although small, was able to maintain independence against larger city-states. The slingshot slung over his left shoulder is non-threatening but leads you up to his eyes; this is where your jaw drops–the expression David wears is not fierce as he prepares to battle; instead he sizes Goliath up with a look of subdued confidence, as if saying, “you ain’t so bad!” I just stood there in awe, trying to comprehend that one man created this. It literally moved me; it was so beautiful.

After experiencing a lot of the art culture, it was time to relax. After a glass of local wine next to the Central market, we strolled about the square, enjoyed a good dinner, and one last local liter of Chianti, some gelato, and turned in, having felt like Florence was one awesome place to spend a honeymoon!