Last evening nine of us walked through rain-washed streets for a couple of blocks to have dinner at Ristorante Accademia, highly recommended by others in our group. We arrived a few minutes before 7:00, which, as it turned out, was their opening time. They seated us anyway, and we knew we were going to like this place!
After a delicious meal of melanzane di timballo, eggplant cooked in a way I'll never be able to duplicate, and of course several carafes of wine, we topped off the meal with shots of limoncello that our waiter brought - on the house. We had a blast! In fact, we had such a blast that we attracted the attention of other diners who turned out to be staying at our hotel, and they greeted some of the group at breakfast this morning with a big cheer.
After breakfast, we attempted the hop-on/hop-off bus again. Remembering our stormy experience on Thursday, we tied our rain jackets around our waists, took a deep breath, and once again found seats on the top of the bus. What a glorious day! Using the earbuds supplied by the bus company, we listened to a wonderful narration of everything we were passing and enjoyed the beautiful Baroque music playing in the intervals between the snippets of information. We wound through the city and climbed the hill to Fiesole. The flat meadow in which Michelangelo created many of his beautiful works was perfect - the view of the city below, with the Duomo, the Campanile, the Arno, the Ponte Vecchio. What artist could have picked a better spot?
After returning to the city, we made our way to the Chapel of the Medici. We were most curious about the tombs of Florence's founding family, and also were curious about the many religious relics displayed there. What a magnificent chapel! The domed ceiling is a marvel of painting. The tombs are quite grand. The room where the most important tombs are located was never quite finished, and the niches intended to be occupied by statutes of the dead remain empty. Bill pointed out that all of the ornamentation is marble work. How on earth an artist/craftsman could depict shafts of wheat using only marble, right down to the tiniest spicule, is hard to understand. This is art that takes a lifetime to create, and sometimes the lifetime of more than one artist. It's difficult to imagine anyone having the patience and dedication to do that in modern times.
After returning to our hotel for a brief rest, we ventured out again, headed for the Duomo. Finally, time to go inside! The long line moved quickly and we were inside the vast church. Bill had noted that perhaps the exterior of the church is more impressive than the interior, but we were quite taken with it. It is a soaring, cool space, with plain arches and only a few (beautiful) stained glass windows. There are sculptures and paintings, both sacred and secular, lining the walls. We heard a voice: "Silenzio. Shhhhhh. Silenzio, per favore. Silence. Shhhhh. Silence, please." Oops. We had indeed been talking, although very quietly. In about ten minutes, we heard it again. We realized that it is a recording, and began to listen to the crowd. Even though everyone seemed to be reverent and quiet, there were many people there, and a thousand whispers make quite a racket. Just as the sound began to be noticeable, the recording would play again and everyone would fall silent. Then the voices gradually rose until the next playing of the recording. I found this to be a fascinating, and pretty courteous, way to control noise. I'm thinking it might work well in many situations!
After the Duomo, we were off to Santa Croce. As we approached the piazza, we found every street blocked. This is the beginning of the summer games, calcio storico, which are football/rugby/boxing/ kicking/gouging matches played with teams from different neighborhoods. We had been warned that the actual matches are quite bloody, with players suffering bloody noses, breaking limbs, and sometimes even losing eyes! We really don't want to see a match (assuming we could get a ticket, which is almost impossible), but we are interested in the processions that precede them. The supporters from different neighborhoods come out in groups and march through the streets, apparently becoming more and more rowdy as they near the makeshift stadium set up in the Piazza di Santa Croce. So instead of visiting the museum, we circled around, stopping for gelato and to peer into the mercato nuovo, before we encountered a portion of the procession. What fun!
Back to our hotel, hot, tired and very thirsty - but dry! We heard some rumbles of thunder, but no rain. Hooray!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment