mojosmom

The day started not so great. I couldn't find my cellphone! It wasn't in my room, it wasn't in the sitting room where I'd been using the computer the evening before. Fortunately, it did turn up at the restaurant where I'd had dinner, but I was panicking there for a bit.

I began the day at the Palazzo Pitti:


Talk about art overload! Rooms full of Raphaels, Ghirlandaios, et al., and ceilings all over bas-reliefs and paintings. Suddenly, in the midst of all the religious and allegorical art, and portraits of the rich and famous, was an exhibit of still lives and landscapes - a nice change!

Only here would the Galleria d'arte moderne begin with 18th-century art! But as one goes through these galleries, it becomes clear that there are distinct differences from what went before. Portraits become less formal, religion and allegory are less important than scenes of civic and private lives. It's possible to paint ordinary people, so instead of the Virgin giving her breast to the infant Jesus, it's an ordinary woman feeding her child. There's permission, too, to try new techniques of painting, leading to pointilism, impressionism, etc.

Taking a break from art, I went down the street to the Museo di Storia Naturale, part of the Università di Firenze, with its "secular temple", the Tribuna di Galileo, so-called from the statue of him there. There was a knock-out exhibit of crystals - nature is really rather beautiful! Once again, I was sorry that photography was not permitted, but you can see some of the pieces on the museum's website. I particularly liked the crystals that were combinations of minerals. There was spinella su marmo, white stone dotted with crimson, like blood; azurite, looking for all the world like navy blue velvet with sparkles; calcite su ametista, with a group of crystals shaped almost like asparagus growing out like rays. Colors, shapes, angles, all come together to form objects of great beauty. It's easy to see why people collect "rocks"!

Upstairs, we travel from the smallest protozoa, through corals, worms, bugs, to mammals, primates, and humans. (Query: why does every museum and zoo feel the need to put a mirror in the primate room?) There were room after room of anatomical waxes from the late 18th-century. Incredibly life-like and detailed.

Outside, there is a lovely garden, which abuts the Pitti's Boboli Gardens, and which is a hangout for the students:


I went to lunch at the Caffe delle Gallerie Pananti, a little place across from the Pitti that is also an art gallery. I had carpaccio on a bed of arugula, which was served with a bag (literally!) of really good warm bread. Then stopped at Giulio Giannini and succumbed to the lure of printed and marbled paper.

Then back to the Palazzo Pitti for an afternoon in the Boboli Gardens. Not very floral, more formal gardens, multi-level, rambling, with vistas:


and prospects and allées:


and little (or not so little) houses of repose:


I can't imagine how le belle donne Medici got around it in those skirts! The buildings are now, among other things, a porcelain museum and a costume gallery.

There was a great exhibit at the costume gallery, Fashion: A World of Similarities and Differences, which showed similar styles from different eras. Some stunning garments, including a couple of Fortuny gowns. But there was one Gianfranco Ferré that would have made Tim Gunn cry "edit!" It was beige lace from under the bust to the knee, with a 2-level train, a coral and pink baeded bodice, a big foofy flower at the hip with pleated tulle below it, and a pink and beige striped underskirt! Weird, because there was another gown by Ferré that was a minimalist column of white with just a small sparkly flounce at the back neckline and hem, so simple and elegant.

The Gardens are noted for their cats, but I only saw two - or maybe three - or possibly four - I'm not sure if the black cat was the same cat in different places or several different cats!

I was sitting at the bar having a glass of wine and resting when a black cat appeared in the courtyard and just preened under all the attention.

I was then saved from myself. I'd seen a pair of shoes that really tempted me, despite the €98 price, but when I went back later in the afternoon, they were gone. I was tempted by another pair on sale, but they didn't have them in my size. A dress I had been admiring turned out to be nearly €300 - no way!

I had dinner at a neighborhood place, had insalata caprese, ravioli stuffed with ricotta and spinach in a walnut/sage sauce, and 1/2 bottle of chianti. I then went back to the hotel, did as much packing as possible, left a wake-up call and set the alarm.

Up early, and decided to take a cab to the bus station, where I caught the 7:30 bus to Amerigo Vespucci airport. I arrived with plenty of time to spare, so had tea and pastry in the departure area. I'd seen a very interesting looking building on the way in from the airport on Saturday, and was able to get a couple of photos of it. It turned out to be the Palazzo di Giustizia, designed by architect Leonardo Ricci:


I almost bought Cathy some truffled lard at the airport shops. I was ready to risk getting it through security in Zurich, but then I realized it needed to be refrigerated, and, of course, I wouldn't be able to do that!

My flight to Zurich was uneventful, but while transferring to the Amsterdam flight, I noticed signs that KLM had cancelled flights "due to the volcano", a portent of things to come!

( Monday )

( Tuesday )

More later.

Since I've been home two weeks, it's about time I wrote about my trip, no?

Both flights (Chicago-Zurich, Zurich-Florence) were uneventful, as all flights should be. Sadly, because I'd gone through passport control in Zurich, I don't have a nice "Firenze" stamp in my passport. All this "European community" stuff means a much less interesting and less colorful passport. I took the bus from Amerigo Vespucci airport to the Firenze Santa Maria Novella train station, and walked to the hotel from there, as it was only about a 15-minute walk and, of course, I wanted to see the sights! The walk was along the Via Tournabuoni, which is where you shop if you have more money than God. I don't, so I didn't, even if the hotel was just down the street from Salvatore Ferragamo.

My hotel was wonderfully located, one street over from the Arno, between the Ponte Vecchio and the Ponte Santa Trinita, on the Borgo S.S. Apostoli, near the Piazza del Limbo (a juxtaposition that amused me). I could see the Duomo from my window, and across the street was an art gallery with a sculpture garden.

It was mid-afternoon when I arrived, so after unpacking I went out to explore and get my bearings. I walked along the Lungarno, crossing to the Oltrarno on the Ponte delle Grazie, then back over along the Ponte Vecchio, admiring the jewelry stores as I went. Then I headed in the other direction, towards the Ponte Santa Trinità, stopping for my first (but not last) gelato of the trip. I wandered into Il Papiro, which, as the name implies, has lots of pretty things made with marbled and other decorative papers, but did not buy anything as I wanted to see what else was available.

When I went back to the hotel to change, I asked the guy on duty if he could suggest a place for dinner. To his question, "Cheap, medium, or expensive?", I said, "cheap or medium". So he recommended a couple of places, and I decided to go to one near St. Mark's English Church, as I had reserved a ticket for their (truncated) performance of La Traviata. It was the Trattoria la Casalinga, clearly a neighborhood place, full of regulars and families. I had minestra in brodo, scallopine di vitello al limone, patate rosto and crem caramel for dessert, with a quartino of house white.

As I walked towards the church for the opera, I saw this place:


It's the Palazzo di Bianca Cappello. She was the mistress, and later the second wife, of Francesco de' Medici, and had a rude ditty sung about her: "Il Granduca di Toscana/ha sposata una puttana/gentildonna Veneziana" ("The Grand Duke of Tuscany/has married a whore/a Venetian gentlewoman").

I enjoyed the opera. Nice voices, particularly Alfredo, prosecco at intermission, and I didn't get back to the hotel until nearly midnight.

As a result, I overslept, and missed breakfast at the hotel, so I headed out to find a pasticceria for tea and pastry. Then went to the Uffizi, and, when I saw the lines, was very glad I had a reservation! I spent about five hours in the place. It's got tons of gorgeous stuff. The prints and drawings room was closed, or I'd likely have been there even longer. I spent a good deal of time with my head tilted back looking at the ceilings, which are replete with fantastical figures and designs. I had with me an old guide book that I'd gotten at Powell's that was both useful and opinionated! It said the Uffizi had an "incomparable view of the Arno and surrounding hills", but I was to learn that there are incomparable views of the Arno and surrounding hills all over the place.

I also spent a fair bit of time browsing in the shops there. OH, they are good at marketing! First there's a small shop, then a big one. Then a shop with stuff for kids, and a big bookstore. This is followed by a Ferragamo boutique and then a little trinket place and post office. I can't imagine anyone gets out without spending a euro or two or three. I bought a few books and a pair of earrings.

Dinner at a restaurant down the street from my hotel, the Antiche Carozze: salsiccie Toscana, with patate al forno, melanza e pomodori, really good warm bread, a glass of Chianti and panna cotta ai frutti di bosco.


-- to be continued