2014-03-31 Florence and Fiesole

Today we traveled on our own as Kara had to be in class and also do some volunteer work in the evening.  We decided to take the hop-on hop-off tour of the city to get out into some areas that were a little more than walking distance.  The tour bus was an open air, double decker bus, giving us a little higher than street view perspective.

We caught the bus across the river from our hotel and wound our way up the hills on the south side of the river past the Piazza Michelangelo.  Our first major stop was at Fortezza Da Basso, near the train station.  It had 20'+ high walls and in some areas a moat around it.  We could not find any entrance that was open to the public and it appeared that there were industrial buildings and businesses inside the fortress now.  there were interesting silhouettes on some steps outside the fortress.  We hopped back on the bus and headed for Fiesole, which is on the hills north of town.

The view from Fiesole is was not so good today as it was hazy out.  It is about 3 miles from the city, and you could still see the landmarks, but it just not so clear.  At one of the overlooks of the city, it is alleged that Michelangelo tested one of his flying machines.
We continued walking along the path and it brought us up to a monastery which housed the shrine of St. Romulus and his companion martyrs.  As we wound our way back down the hill, we passed a cemetary that contained many interesting tombs and grave sites.  The cemetary was completely walled in.  Most of the markers had photos that were made into ceramic tiles on them.

We continued down the hill and passed the ruins of the Roman baths.  This area had baths, an amphitheater and temple, and dates back to times BC.   It is a preserved archaeological site now, giving more clues into how the Romans lived in the past. 

After leaving Fiesole, we headed back into he city and went to Palazzo Vecchio Uffizi to spend some more time admiring all the statues on the plaza.  Many of the statues are of scenes of war, death and fighting.

We next headed back to the Duomo to take the inside tour.  it is a very large church full of marble statues, mosaic artwork and stained glass windows.  The floor is covered with various artwork, and only some of it roped off.  The artwork was really build to last.  there were many trees scattered throughout the church that you could light a candle for prayer.  These looked very pretty casting their light in a relatively dark area.

After a full day of sightseeing, we returned to the hotel and had a glass of wine at an outdoor bar along the river.  A quiet end to another full day exploring the sites of Florence

2014-03-30 Florence

 Sunday was another quiet day for us as we didn't have any fixed plans.  We walked to Kara's and took a few more photos of the Arno River.  There were many people using the river, some kayaking, and some crewing.


We decided to visit Boboli Gardens, which was a home to the Medici family as they ruled Florence. It is a very large garden area (about 11 acres) full of statues, ponds and gardens.  The gardens were only used by the family and never brought in outsiders.  The views of Florence are breathtaking.

After spending time in the garden we rewarded ourselves with more gelato.  Each store has such a variety of flavors, it is hard to decide what to try.

One of the museums we wanted to go to while we were here was the Accademia Gallery, where the statue of David is housed.  This was not the first home of the statue, as it originally was on the Palazzo della Signoria until 1873.  We did not have reservation tickets, so we waited in the walk up line for about 45 minutes before we were let in.  You had to pass through metal detectors and x-ray your bags before you could get in.  we had to leave our olive pate at the desk and reclaim it later.  A few years ago, someone brought in a hammer and started to destroy the statue and broke off some toes from one foot before he was subdued.  The statue is much larger than I expected, over 15' tall, and since it is housed indoors, seems even larger.  Inside the gallery, there were another 4 unfinished statues that Michelangelo had started for the tomb of Pope Julius II.  The size and time for each sculpture made me wonder how much help and support he had for the rough and finish carving as there must have been a very large team he was guiding.

For dinner, we went to a Greek restaurant for a little variety.  On the way there, we stopped at the merry-go-round in Piazz
a della Repubblica, which is the government center.  A little closer to the restaurant, we saw a building with what looked like a bunch of post it notes on it.  What they ended up being was a bunch of photos copies of dollar bills on blue paper adhered to an old abandoned building.  Another piece of modern art in this city of ancient and modern art.

We did find the restaurant, although it didn't open until 7:30 (and it was only 6:30), so we stopped at little sidewalk cafe and had a glass of wine before dinner.  The wait was worth it, as with almost all the food we had, it was very good and fresh. 

2014-03-29 Florence

After 3 days of organized tours, we planned on just walking around Florence on Saturday.  We slept in and met Kara about noon.We took a roundabout way to Kara's, going up the hill and following the the old city wall on top of the hill before cutting down to Kara's street.

We ran across some interesting statues along the way.  it is amazing how much artwork is all over this city.  There are many small parks and garden areas that are full of various artworks and statues.  The Arno river flooded in 1966 and damaged a lot of precious artwork.  Much of it was saved due to the help of local and international Mud Angels, who helped move, clean and restore many of the works.  A park along the river is dedicated to the Mud Angels

I picked up a couple of geocaches along the way, and we walked past one of the homes that Galileo was imprisoned after he published his works on the sun being the center of the solar system.



After getting to Kara's, we headed into town to do some shopping at the Mercato Nuevo.  This is an open air market that sells local products such as leather goods, clothing, scarves and shoes.  You can barter with the sellers, so you are never sure if you are getting a good deal or not.  From there, we headed to the Centro Mercato, which is an indoor market dealing more with food and beverages.  These include wine, olive oil, fresh breads, meats and cheeses. 


Since we were in the market later in the afternoon, many of the shops were starting to close down.  We bought some balsamic vinegar and truffle oil to take home.

Our lunch was in a deli not far from Kara's apartment.  It was along narrow shop and was filled with breads, cheeses and meats.  The first step was to pick out your bread, then add your cheese selection, any vegetables and finally the meats.  The items were weighed out and you payed by the weight.  The selections were enormous and the sandwiches were delicious.

 We wandered down to the Piazza della Signoria, a plaza housing many famous statues, including a replica of the famous statue of David.  The statues are various sizes, from life size to 3x life size.  Most are made from marble, but some are bronze or other materials.  I can't imagine the time it must take to carve one of these statues, or the amount of help and support needed by the master artist 

.

As we wondered around Florence and seeing all the old art, we also noticed a lot of new art, from sidewalk chalk drawings of the masterpieces (made while you watch), to caricature artists and jewelry artisans.  One artist creates interesting art using the do not enter signs around town.  He adds his own stickers to them to create a new sign.  Apparently the city of Florence has not tired to remove the stickers and allows the art to remain.

Our last stop of the day was at Piazza Michelangelo.  It is on the hill above the city on the south side of the river.  There is a nice Rose Garden nearby and a large replica of the statue of David.  We were there for the evening so that we could watch sunset, and it was well worth it.  We took a bunch of photos of the various landmarks that we had visited while in Florence, and some nice sunset photos