OK, I know you've seent his one before but hey I like this photo. Oh the carousel? It's on the Piazza della Repubblica pretty much all the time. Another tiny historical note this was also the exact location of the original Roman city Florentia. Pretty cool.
Anyway, it rained Wednesday and Thursday and the temps have been a bit chilly without the sun but how far away can spring be now that February is half over?
Thursday we went to the movies at the Odeon (where they show the film in the original language) and saw Tea Leoni and Jim Carey in “Fun with Dick and Jane”; yeah it was fun but not much more than that. Afterwards we strolled, stopped and bought some wine, checked out a place called "Sam’s store", located on Via Ghibellina (the only place in town for All-American junk food and other sundry US items college kids can’t live without) and then stopped at Gilli’s on the Piazza della Repubblica for an aperitivi and light antipasti.
Anyway it wasn’t rainy for Valentine’s Day and in fact it was absolutely gorgeous here so we made the most of it. After a leisurely morning at home we walked over to the Accademia to see Michelangelo’s stunning and powerful David. After a stroll of about 45 seconds (it’s just around the corner) we walked in the nondescript entrance, paid our 13 euros, got our tickets -- there were absolutely no lines and so making a reservation the day before was completely unnecessary – and headed inside.
Before moving toward the gallery where the David is actually located we turned right from the entrance into the museum of musical instruments. They had a wonderful display of a history (of sorts) of musical instruments – with several computers set up for listening and as interactive information stations. There were several instruments by Stradivari and other Cremona, Italy instrument makers and a very nice exhibition, well homage really, to Bartolomeo Cristofori, generally regarded as the creator of the piano.
We then retraced our footsteps and soon found ourselves at the entrance to the enormous gallery, on either side of which were the four “prisoners”, four works of stone which remain unfinished and all the more powerful as a consequence; at the other end of which was the David, a mass of marble which seemed to dominate everything around it. We walked up to this tribute to the intelligence of man overcoming the brutishness of this life, circled it slowly and found ourselves truly amazed that this was created by the hand of one man; no power tools, just two hands. Surrounding the stature, sitting on the floor were quite a few students making their drawings; looking a a few of these one is struck by how differently everyone sees the same thing. That too is amazing.
But I suppose Mike would be amused by it all – but given what little I know of his history I think he would want a piece of the ticket action naturalmente.
We moved into the plaster cast room and were awed by the large number of works which were carved by just a few of the 19th century Italian sculptors. Although these were copies, and while some were clearly symbolic, others seemed to try and represent the individual for whom the piece was made – whether to adorn a garden or serve as watch over their final resting place; also worth a look as well.
After leaving the Accademia we headed toward Giotto’s tower, the huge bell tower (“campanile”), which sits beside the Duomo in Florence. Originally designed by Giotto it was completed by Pisano and is about 83 meters high. So we paid our fee, and started our climb toward the top. After 414 steps and numerous landings where one had increasingly higher views of the city, including the Duomo itself (see photo)we arrived at the very top of the tower and what a great view it was. The day was a bit hazy but we had a spectacular view of the top of the Duomo.
We stayed for a while and just took it all in – but we had to go eventually and go we did. Sue had class at 3:00 pm – Pastry Shop which is not to be confused with Wood shop for you Industrial Arts people – so after she went off to class I took my camera and walked north of our apartment about 10 minutes or so to the Piazzale Donatello, to find the “English” cemetery, the final resting place of Elizabeth Barrett Browning that's her just below).
Located right in the middle of one of Florence’s busiest thoroughfares, the “English”, or Protestant cemetery was originally outside the old city walls. After the walls came down Florence created a series of “ring” streets around the northern tier of the city, and Piazzale Donatello sits right in the middle between two of these, Viale Matteotti and Viale Gramsci.
Burials in the cemetery took place, often against the will of the majority of Florentines at the time, from 1827 to 1877 after which only cremated remains were permitted interment. While nominally called "English" the 1409 graves represent some 16 nations overall: 760 British, 433 Swiss, 87 North Americans, 84 Italians and 54 Russians are among those buried in the cemetery.
Although the cemetery is owned by the Evangelical Reformed Swiss Church, and administered by their "consistory", the property is managed and lovingly cared for by Julia Holloway and her staff, who live right on the premises. They not only oversee this wonderful little garden of powerful and evocative sculpture located right in the middle of one of Florence's busiest thoroughfares, but they also have put together quite a significant library of Browning materials as well. Julia a lively and very erudite English nun and speaking with her for the better part of an hour about the people who now rest in her care was a sheer pleasure.
Unfortunately, the small hillock on which the tombs rest is literally eroding away and much of the stones and sculptures are themselves turning from marble to gesso. They need help but they are not going to get it from the Italian government, local or national and the church is increasingly strapped for money. The question remains how much longer this island of Victorian history will remain.
After I left the cemetery I walked back to the apartment, dropped the camera off and went to pick up Sue at school (why to carry her books home of course).
We then went out later in the early evening for passegiata, and stopped at not one but two places to check out their prosecco selection and try their antipasti (it was Valentine’s Day after all). About 8:00 pm set out for Osteria Ortolano, which as some of you may recall is one of our favorite places to pick up wine and food to go (they really don’t serve there) and that’s what we did. About a week or so earlier we noticed they had put out a menu of a special dinner to take home (“portare via”) and we put our name down. It was sort of like going out but, sorta not, actually the best of both worlds we thought. For 32 euros (not including wine which was a sparkling Franciacorta, “Ca’ del Bosco”) we got the following:
For antipasto -- eggplant with parmigiana cheese in a multi-layered puff pastry;
For first course – pasta rosettes (wide pasta rolled and cut and then laid on its side to resemble a rose petal) with a ragu sauce; and also risotto with morel mushrooms and pecorino cheese;
For second course – slices of roast pork stuffed with celery and herbs and carrots, with glazed carrots; and slices of rabbit over a bed of stewed fennel;
For dessert – tiramisu and a glass of vin santo.
Eveyrthing was made right on the premises. Marta and Massimo, who run the Osteria both trained at the Cordon Bleu in France and this meal really showed off their culinary skills better than anything we’ve had so far (and so far it’s been pretty good).
Stay well, keep cool
Wish you were here,
Steve
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