Powered by two caffe con latte, a focacia, and a gelato (flavor nutella), I spent twelve hours on my feet walking around the city of Florence and wandering around the Uffizi Gallery. Florence is small but intense. If Rome was the city of ruins, Florence is the city of rebirth. Rennaisance, rebirth, new perspective are themes of this city. I went on a tour that wove through the streets of Florence as it wove a story of Florentine life rising from the lessons of the ruins of the Roman Empire. I learned about the powerful Medici family and the creation of guilds that promoted the arts and sciences. My head reels from all the names --- Michelangelo, Donatello, Rafael, Carvaggio, Leonardo Da Vinci, Giotto, Botticelli, Brunelleschi.
I started the day early. I head over to Ponte Vecchio because I knew the bridges over Arno River would be pretty this time of day. From walking around yesterday, I've established two things 1) buses are unnecessary because 2) from Plazza dela Republica which is the city's center everything is a 20 minute walk (okay so maybe 30 for me). Although, this place is perfect for the aimless wanderer like myself, I had a full but organized day. At 9:30, I start 3 hour walking tour of the city and at 1:00 pm, I have a reservation for the Uffizzi Gallery. I splurged on the tours because I learned from my Rome experience that I really didn't know a lot and it helps to have someone give you context on what you see.
Now if only I could retain that information. If you check back later, I will attempt to organize all the information that I can remember into something meaningful, but right now it's late and my feet is throbbing from the pain of walking all day and I'm bound to sound silly which does not fit such serious subjects. Of course it's also entirely possible that I will forget everything in the morning so maybe you shouldn't hold your breath. Taking pictures are forbidden at the Uffizi which is a good thing because this place houses the greatest collection of Italian Rennaissance paintings and it's a lot to see and to try to read the inscriptions, look at the artwork and attempt to take pictures would have been impossible. Also now after seeing famous paintings up close, I am convinced that no picture can do justice to the actual thing. This was how I felt when I saw the Pieta at St. Peter's Basilica.
The Duomo Cathedral is a favorite subject of many painters who mainly sell souvenir sketches and watercolors for tourists. It was the biggest dome of its time. What I thought was interesting was that the cathedral was domeless for 100 years. They built the structure not having the technology to build domes but the Florentines had such confidence that they knew it was just a matter of time before someone came up with the knowledge and know-how to do it. That someone was Brunelleschi.
The city is preparing to commemorate commemoration the big flood of November, 1966. All over the city are posters for the event. Many important works of art and books from the library were damaged by the flood and city of Florence celebrates to thank the mud angels, the many people who came from all over the world to help restore what could be restored. At a bookshop, I saw pictures of students, taking book pages and putting them in clotheslines to dry after cleaning. This is how much they valued knowledge and art and says much about how advanced they were. There is much more but for now I leave you with this beautiful night scene of the Arno River.
Powered by two caffe con latte, a focacia, and a gelato (flavor nutella), I spent twelve hours on my feet walking around the city of Florence and wandering around the Uffizi Gallery. Florence is small but intense. If Rome was the city of ruins, Florence is the city of rebirth. Rennaisance, rebirth, new perspective are themes of this city. I went on a tour that wove through the streets of Florence as it wove a story of Florentine life rising from the lessons of the ruins of the Roman Empire. I learned about the powerful Medici family and the creation of guilds that promoted the arts and sciences. My head reels from all the names --- Michelangelo, Donatello, Rafael, Carvaggio, Leonardo Da Vinci, Giotto, Botticelli, Brunelleschi.
I started the day early. I head over to Ponte Vecchio because I knew the bridges over Arno River would be pretty this time of day. From walking around yesterday, I've established two things 1) buses are unnecessary because 2) from Plazza dela Republica which is the city's center everything is a 20 minute walk (okay so maybe 30 for me). Although, this place is perfect for the aimless wanderer like myself, I had a full but organized day. At 9:30, I start 3 hour walking tour of the city and at 1:00 pm, I have a reservation for the Uffizzi Gallery. I splurged on the tours because I learned from my Rome experience that I really didn't know a lot and it helps to have someone give you context on what you see. 
Now if only I could retain that information. If you check back later, I will attempt to organize all the information that I can remember into something meaningful, but right now it's late and my feet is throbbing from the pain of walking all day and I'm bound to sound silly which does not fit such serious subjects. Of course it's also entirely possible that I will forget everything in the morning so maybe you shouldn't hold your breath. Taking pictures are forbidden at the Uffizi which is a good thing because this place houses the greatest collection of Italian Rennaissance paintings and it's a lot to see and to try to read the inscriptions, look at the artwork and attempt to take pictures would have been impossible. Also now after seeing famous paintings up close, I am convinced that no picture can do justice to the actual thing. This was how I felt when I saw the Pieta at St. Peter's Basilica. 
The Duomo Cathedral is a favorite subject of many painters who mainly sell souvenir sketches and watercolors for tourists. It was the biggest dome of its time. What I thought was interesting was that the cathedral was domeless for 100 years. They built the structure not having the technology to build domes but the Florentines had such confidence that they knew it was just a matter of time before someone came up with the knowledge and know-how to do it. That someone was Brunelleschi. 
The city is preparing to commemorate commemoration the big flood of November, 1966. All over the city are posters for the event. Many important works of art and books from the library were damaged by the flood and city of Florence celebrates to thank the mud angels, the many people who came from all over the world to help restore what could be restored. At a bookshop, I saw pictures of students, taking book pages and putting them in clotheslines to dry after cleaning. This is how much they valued knowledge and art and says much about how advanced they were. There is much more but for now I leave you with this beautiful night scene of the Arno River.
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