Florence, Italy, August 22, 2011

The drive through the country side was beautiful with bright yellow sunflower fields, pine nut trees, vineyards and olive groves.  It appeared a little like Napa, not quite as beautiful though.  

Florence is to art and history what Hawaii is to beaches.  The mayor of Florence closed the historic center of the city to traffic about 5 years ago, which was a brilliant plan, since it's packed with tourists and residents.   I don't know how cars ever navigated those streets.

This tour barely scratched the surface of the wonders of the city, but I think that's what cruising is all about, it gives you a sense of the place and you can decide to return or not. Who wouldn't want to return here, Under the Tuscan Sun.  Clearly, this was the hottest day of the trip, 41 Celsius or 106 degrees F.  We were seeking shade and water all day long.

Some of the city:

 These are pictures of the Duomo, the 4th largest church in the world.  The construction started in the 13th century and took 150 years to complete.  The details are amazing, pink and green marble panels, and statues everywhere.  Parts of the building were being either cleaned or renovated while we were there, that seemed to be a theme on this trip.

This is a gold door.

Magnificent

 

We were in Florence on Monday which was a bit of a bummer since the museum Galleria Dell'accadema was closed. We couldn't see the original statue of David, however there was a copy in the square, which of course the tour guide proclaimed was exactly the same, still it wasn't the real one.  These statues were the most famous and they ranged in age from David in 1501 to Neptune in 1575.  We learned that Michelangelos sexuality has always been in question.  Certainly he had a love of male beauty, he was also deeply religious so he may have been a repressed homosexual.

Michelangelo's David

 

 

Perseus with the Head of Medusa

Hercules and Casus

The fountain of Neptune

Judith and Holofernes

Our adventure included lunch at a local restaurant where we were served some divine pea and carrot lasagne, crusty bread with olive oil and Italian wine.  The bread is in the paper bags.  Traditional Italian meals include a pasta dish and then a meat dish, so after the lasagne we had a beef (similar to roast beef with gravy) and vegetable side dish.  That lasagne and the stuffed grape leaves in Athens were the two best meals of the trip.

I think the wine bottles are refilled.

Bread and Olive Oil

Ham hanging from the wall.

 

After lunch we strolled through amazing neighborhoods, seeing the buildings where Michelangelo grew up and Leonardo DeVinci painted the Mona Lisa.

Mona Lia created in this building

Michelangelo's home

 

Ponte Vecchio is the famous bridge that spans the Arno river.  The bridge was the only one to survive World War II and the Germans retreat.  Want to stay with your lover forever?  Legend has it that if you buy a padlock and carve in both your initials, lock it to the bridge and then throw the key in the river, your love will last forever. 

The last stop on our tour was to the Basilica of Santa Croce.  This is the final resting place of Michealangelo and Galileo.  This was an interesting and beautiful church, with frescos, beautiful stained glass windows and is the final resting place of many famous Florence natives.  Galileo had a falling out with the Catholic church because he didn't believe the earth was the center of the universe, he believed the sun was stationary and the earth revolved around it.  For this belief Galileo was accused of heresy and sentenced to house arrest the rest of his life.  Isn't history fascinating, you can't make this stuff up!

Galileo's tomb

Michelangelo's tomb

empty tomb of Dante, his remains are in Ravenna

The entrance

I love history, I love art, now I adore the city of Florence.  Just walking through the streets brought me back to the books "Pillars of the Earth" and "World without End" by Ken Follett about the building of these cathedrals and the trials and tribulations of living during this era with plague and war. 

We are so tired, so hot and so ready for those Dos Equis!  Tonight would surely be a slice or two of pizza, and an early bed time.  Tomorrow is Rome and the Vatican, more amazing art and fascinating history!  I'm so lucky!