Florence: Angelo’s Florence

After breakfast in the hotel’s dining room, we walked to Caf Tours’ meeting point at the corner of our hotel’s block.  We checked in with Roberta, who gave us a blue sticker and instructed us to be back at this spot at 2:15 PM for the second half of our tour after lunch.

We sat in the bus for half an hour waiting for the rest of the group to show up.The bus took us outside the city center to the top of a hill where a bronze copy of Michelangelo’s David stands in the center of a round plaza featuring panoramic views of Florence and the hills toward Siena and Chianti.  Our tour guide informed us that if we wanted to come back for a longer stay at this site, for one Euro, we could take Bus 12 and 13, which leaves every half hour.

We boarded back on the bus, driving by churches and palaces.

Next stop, our bus dropped us off in a narrow alley.  We walked over Ponte Santa Teresa Trinita bridge toward the Duomo via Palazzo Strozzi and Della Republica.  The Duomo had a line of visitors that snaked around the city block.  Our guide had us focus on the gilded door of an outer building, which had been newly renovated and polished.  I think it was to keep us from realizing that our tour did not include going inside the Duomo.

Via Piazza S. Giovanni to Biblioteca Laurenziana, past Palazzo Medici Riccardi, we walked to the Academia Galleria to see the original David by Michelangelo.  Photography is not allowed in that room, but a great many visitors were photographing in the open.  Angelo was a bit annoyed, but turned his head, asking us to turn the flash off.  This concluded our morning tour.

As it was approximately 12:15 pm and with our next meeting not until 2:15 pm, Marie and I quickly saw the rest of the gallery before making our way back to the hotel.  We went toward Piazza S. Marco before realizing we went the wrong way.  We back-tracked to the Duomo, by way of Via del Pucci (which was full of street vendors – we’ll be back…).

We found our hotel by 1:30 pm.  We changed out of our clothes, damp from the heat of the day.  We dashed around the corner of our block to buy lunch:  a huge slice of “Speciale” pizza, fries and a soda.  I’d never had fries with pizza before.  We ate in the cool of our room until a few minutes before second tour check-in time.

Upon checking back with Caf Tours for the second half of our “all day” tour, we received a second sticker before choosing a seat and waiting for others to arrive.

Our bus and tour guide Angelo took us through the lower fortress of Florence, past two monuments, the Florence Gateway and Arc de Triumph (original – France copied them, says Angelo) to the town of Fiesole.  If you want to spend more time in Fiesole, take Bus 7 for 1.20€.

Our bus stopped at Florence Square.  At an English cemetery at Piazzale Donatello, Angelo pointed out Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s gravesite and William Shakespeare’s last descendants Beatrice Shakespeare and Edward Claude Shakespeare Clench.  Along the way, we could see the green dome of a synagogue named Tempio Israelitico and the gate of the “Holy Cross” Beccaria at Piazza Beccaria Porta Alla Croce.

We left the bus to join Angelo on our walking tour at the Basilica of Santa Croce.  The courtyard (Piazza Santa Croce) of the basilica was set up with bleachers and a stage for a reading of Dante’s Inferno by Academy Award winning actor/director/writer Roberto Benigni.

Angelo told us in detail of his village’s tradition of a competition that involves an early form of a football game (Calcio Fiorentino) played in the Piazza Santa Croce.  It is played during June and involves four teams facing each other in the first of two games; the winners go to the final game played on June 24 the day of the Saint Patron of Florence, San Giovanni.  It’s a brutal game which allows head-butting, punching, elbowing and choking.  Angelo was so proud that his village/team won this year.

Our walking tour continued through the streets to Bargello National Museum.  Palazzo del Bargello contains the oldest palace in Florence.

At Piazza San Firenze, Angelo stopped us in an alley where the wall behind him contained spray painted drawings/words.  Angelo asked, “Do you like graffiti?”

I said, “No.”

Angelo queried, “You don’t like graffiti?!  I love graffiti!  What don’t you like about graffiti?”

I replied, “I don’t like the way the paint ruins the walls with bad words and pictures.”

“Ah!” answered Angelo.  “Do you see the artwork way up there?”  Angelo pointed to the tiles of brickwork containing imprints of scrollwork.  “That’s graffiti.  Come.  I show you more.”

At the Palazza Vecchio, Angelo pointed out the windows from which, if you were an important enough enemy/prisoner of the Vecchio’s, you were hung.  Marie said to me, “That’s where Assassin’s Creed begins!”

Next stop, Piazza Della Signoria, containing:  Fontana di Neptune (Nettuno), a copy of David at the entrance of the Palazza Vecchio, Hercules and Cacus; and the Loggia dei Lanzi containing:  Two Medici lions (Marzoccos), Perseo (Perseus) holding Medusa’s head, Duke Cosimo I, Rape of the Sabine Women, and Seven Virtues.

We proceeded onward to the Uffizi Gallery.  We waited in the hot shade outside of the gallery for tickets to be printed and distributed among our group before proceeding through security, checking in our backpacks.  Because of Marie’s ankle issues, rather than walk up 126 steps of the marble stairs to the gallery on the fourth floor, we opted to take the elevator and meet our group at the entrance.  Angelo pointed out artists’ self portraits in many painting as well as brought to light hidden meanings/political statements by the artists.  The most valuable/rare item, in my opinion, is Michelangelo’s only painting known in existence, Doni Tondo :  A commissioned portrait of a couple with their young child, who Michelangelo portrayed in biblical robes with nudes in the background wall.  The painting was presented in a carved and gilded circular frame with heads of 5 important people protruding from the frame, as well as vines, a coat of arms and other symbols of the two families.  The couple initially rejected the portrait asking Michelangelo for a discount.  Michelangelo refused to refund any money then charged the couple more when the couple decided to accept the portrait.

Angelo also told us the story of the monk (Fra Filippo Lippi) who fathered a son with a nun (Lucrezia Buti).  There were a few paintings of the nun and his son as face models for Mary and Jesus.  All three (Filippo, the nun and son) appear in the Coronation of the Virgin painting by Lippi.  Fun fact:  Lippi’s son, Filippino Lippi, later became a student of painter Sandro Botticelli, who was student of Filippo Lippi.

Angelo discussed Sandro Botticelli’s Birth of Venus.  The myth, according to Angelo, is that Roman God Caelus (Greek = Uranus’) son Saturn (Greek = Cronus) wanted to make sure he’d have no brothers, so he cut off his father’s genitals, threw the genitals into the ocean. The genitals turned to foam.  From the foam of the ocean, rose Venus (Greek = Aphrodite).  The Birth of Venus painting is large, vibrant and beautiful.  Seeing the original was one of my favorite moments of this visit.

6:00 PM, Angelo’s tour was over.  After he gathered up all the headphones, we said, “Ciao.”  Marie and I finished seeing the rest of the rooms of the gallery and claimed my backpack before the gallery’s 6:30 pm closure.

We exited, not having any clue where we were in Florence.  We stopped for gelato, eating it on the steps of a church on Gondi Borgo dei Greci.

Marie suggested we find Piazza Vecchio.  We didn’t realize that the Piazza by Palazzo Vecchio was Piazza della Signoria outside of the Uffizi Gallery.

We were sidetracked by the sign pointing to Casa di Dante.  We found the home, which is now a museum next to San Margherite.

In search of Piazza Vecchio, we backtracked to the church, ending up at the Uffizi, then circled again.

After asking for directions, we ended up at Piazza della Signoria, realizing our misunderstanding of the difference between “Piazza” and “Palazzo” (“square” vs “palace”).  Lemons to lemonade, we took more photos of the sculptures, since earlier, we were rushed by the tour.

Now we went through the Uffizi headed for our hotel.  I led us to the exit toward the Galileo Museum ending up at the Fiume River.  I suggested to Marie, “Let’s stop.  I need to get my bearings.”

Marie pointed to a bridge east of us.  “There’s the bridge with the statues from this morning.”

When we reached the bridge, there were no statues.  Consulting the map, we were at Ponte Alle Grazie.  We needed to backtrack.

We followed the river West, past the Uffizi then to Ponte Vecchio, which is the bridge with residences.  Marie wanted to turn to town from here, but I showed her the map which showed our quickest route would be from two bridges West.

One bridge later, we were at Ponte Santa Trinita, the bridge with statues.  We opted to use a familiar path rather than walk with the sun setting before our eyes.

This path wound through many designer fashion stores (Salvatore Ferragamo, Prada).  We stopped to rest by Hermes across from a beautiful church – Santi Michele.  I took some photos, while Marie rested.

From the path of designer fashion houses, we came to a familiar open market, through narrow alleys, back to the rose window of Santa Maria Novella.  We found our way back to our hotel.

8:30 pm:  Back in Room 367, we kicked off our shoes.  I fell onto a pillow; Marie claimed the bathroom for a shower.

I awoke to the sound of Marie refilling our water bottles and placing them in our room’s mini fridge.

I arose from bed to bathe before dinner.  I asked Marie to be thinking of where we should dine tonight.  Marie answered, “It’s already 10.”

I bathed and laundered, emerging from the bathroom 45 minutes later to find Marie asleep.

I wanted to finish journaling before I forgot where we went and the stories heard.  It took some researching from maps and guidebook, but I’m finally caught up.

It’s 1:30 am.  G’night.