Florence - Renaissance city of the Medici's
Teeheeheee...... We giggle our way through Florence. The girls think it is just hilarious how all the statues are in the nude. Oh mummy, I see another willy! Teeheehee.....
Ah yes, we must be in Florence!
After sleeping off all the rich food and gelato from the night before we get off to a bit of a slow start in the morning. We are booked on the last of our Context Travel tours for children of the trip, but we are not meant to meet our guide Monica until late afternoon. We have what's left of the morning and midday to explore Florence on our own and decide to wander into the old town of Florence and see what we can see on foot, and maybe buy a suitcase to hold all the extra "stuff" we have accumulated during the last six weeks of travel!
Florence, the heart of Tuscany, famous for it's rich history and culture, does not disappoint, it was one of the wealthiest cities of medieval times. Straddling the banks of the Arno River, it was originally founded by the Romans in the century before Christ, but didn’t really come into its full swing until the 1000’s ad when Florence’s very powerful rival Pisa was crushed by their other rival Genoa, and the Florentine people rose up in an anti aristocratic movement and were able to establish a republic of sorts. Being a strong mercantile city-state the guilds of each profession rose up around the city wielding much power. The wool guild in particular.
Walking from our hotel by the Pitti
Palace, across the Arno River on the Ponte Vecchio, “the old bridge” it was
quite easy to simply meander into the heart of the city. We found ourselves in
the main square of Piazza della Signoria. “A massive holding tank for
tourists”, is how the Lonely Planet guide describes it, and right they are.
It’s hard to believe, but the crowds of American tourists seem to be even
greater than Venice during the America’s cup. Holy moly, that’s crowded, but
still worth it for the splendor of the scene! Created in the 13th
century, the Piazza may be a swarming tourist nest now, but back in the high
times of the Florentine renaissance this was the hub of all political activity.
The public would be summoned here to vote on critical matters, and listen to
political orators.
Once I had overcome my little fit of
giggles, and was able to focus on navigating the crowd, I caught up with Randall
and the big kids who had made it safely across the piazza without getting
trampled by the herd of tourists and were admiring the statues in the Loggia della
Signoria. Originally a platform for public ceremonies, the Loggia is home to
the more famous of the statues on the Piazza. It was hard to decide which was
more moving. Having read so much history and heard so many stories about
mythology over the past few months the kids were completely cued in on the
stories behind the statues. Look, there’s Perseus and Medusa! That must be
Hercules and centaur! A few stumped them, but that’s why we have a guide later
on in the day.
When I was a little girl my dad used
to tell me the story of "Michelangelo and perfection". I don’t know if it’s true
or not, but looking at these statues I feel compelled to share it!
And so we pass out of the Piazza, we’ll
be back later with the guide, and head for a little shopping. All the purchases have strained our four
suitcases to the breaking point, so I relent on my four-bag policy and we buy a
shiny new suitcase. Liam gets the honors of carrying it back through
Florence to our hotel. A lesson Randall tells him about how easy travel is
these days. Liam enjoys his Sherpa
status and soon we are repacked and ready to meet our guide.
We meet the guide back at the Piazza del Signoria, most specifically the Loggia, where we get an overview of the Florentine history and the kids get to ask her all sorts of questions about the statues and the meaning behind them. Our guide Monica, at first seemed like she’d been hit by a steamroller. But then, the kids can have that effect, especially when they have the bit between their teeth. “But what is the story behind the “Rape of the Sabine?” asks Clara. We are all blushing. That is one thing about learning history and art at a young age. You discover some of the less Disney-like aspects of life. But Monica pulled it off and was able to tell the story of the statue so that we were all happy! Again, so happy to have a guide! (The Sabine’s were a neighboring tribe to the ancient Romans, and when they ancient Romans had a shortage of women they threw a huge party, got the Sabine men drunk and carried off their women.) It’s a stunning statue, with three figures all carved out of the same piece of marble.
Moving along we head by the to-scale
replica of Michelangelo’s David outside the Uffuzi gallery. The kids get the
story of David and Goliath and want to go inside to see the real one, but alas, with time limited standing in
line for hours is not going to be on our agenda. We’ll save it for the next
time we visit Florence, and also when the kids are older.
We head down to the Arno river to view the Ponte Vecchio, the bridge we’ve been crossing each time we walk into the historical center of Florence. It was originally a Roman bridge and had been swept away a few times by floods before this bridge was constructed out of solid stone in 1345 and has been Florence’s main bridge ever since.
Just as in medieval times the bridge still has stores open in it. Originally lined with the town’s butchers (so they could throw their offal into the Arno) but when Cosimo D’Medici built his famous Vasari Corridor (a private Corridor that crosses half of medieval Florence which allowed him access from his Palace on the other side of the Arno directly to government buildings without going out in public) he forbade the butchers to sell on the bridge anymore and invited the goldsmiths to inhabit the stalls, upping the prestige of the bridge, and of course himself. And it is such an unspoiled, beautiful reminder of life in the renaissance, that when the Nazi troops were pulling out of Florence in their big retreat they blew up all the bridges along the Arno - but Hitler gave express orders that the Ponte Vecchio would be saved. Thank goodness for that!
We wind back down into Florence, to a side we haven’t seen yet. Moving through the older part of town we pass the Mercato Nuovo, a covered market dating back from the 12th century that merchants originally sold luxury items at, but now houses all sorts leather, t shirts and other touristy stuff. The best part is the statue of Il Porcellino, the wild boar of Florence. As legend goes if you put a coin in the snout of the boar and give it a good rub you will be guaranteed to return to Florence. Needless to say the kids were all over that; Liam even parting with some of his hard earned coins to do it more than once. Il Porcellino has stood guard over the market since the 1500’s so even though his body is a patina of old bronze, his snout is as shiny as can be. Imagine all the tourists who have rubbed this nose over the years.
Heading further into the heart of the
old city we pass through some of the oldest buildings, mainly the guilds of the
renaissance time. The guilds were secular entities that controlled the various
trades of the city (think wool guild, doctor and pharmacist’s guild etc) and
had huge influence in the matters of government and the life within the city.
There is an amazing building that was erected where each of the guilds were
able to decorate a different niche with their own patron saint and symbols that
represented their guild and what they brought to the table. My particular
favorite, and this is probably no surprise, is the stonemason’s guild with its
ornate statues and beautiful portrayal of a renaissance art studio.
Begun in 1296 in the gothic style and
finished in 1436 with Fillipo Brunelleschi's famous dome as the crowning peak. A
revolutionary new design in the renaissance period, the dome was, until the
advent of modern building materials, the largest in the world. The Duomo is one of
Italy’s largest churches and beautiful and unique in it’s own way. And facing
it is something that steals the kid’s imaginations, especially Clara. Anyone
who has been to Florence will already know what I am talking about. They are
the magnificent bronze doors of the Battistero di San Giovanni, dubbed by
Michelangelo himself as “the Gates of Paradise”.
The building itself stands opposite to the Duomo and was the baptistery where the most notable of Florentine’s would have been baptized, including Dante Alighieri. The spot has been a religious sight for much longer though, dating back to Roman times when there was a temple dedicated to Mars, the god of war. The building is an octagonal shape and there are three sets of Bronze doors, the north and east sides being created by Lorenzo Ghiberti. We spent over an hour examining the east doors, which depict ten stories from the old testament of the bible. Clara quickly picked out Moses and the Ten Commandments; of course, she has quite the vested interest now that she’s been to Mt. Sinai! Our guide is magnificently patient with the kids and answers in detail each question about the different scenes, something I am glad we have her for as each panel depicts an entire story out of the bible, but all in one scene. It is genius how he was able to tell the stories this way, and yet keep it beautiful. It took Ghiberti 27 years of intense work to complete these doors, and it’s truly a masterpiece. And to the common people who would not have been able to read, this would be a way for them to learn the stories of the bible visually.
Finally we must farewell our guide and make some decisions about the rest of the evening. Whether to explore the Duomo
surrounds, or get some food?
And that is how I happen to find
myself walking back along the Arno river at sunset admiring the views and the
peaceful nature of just being (ie not constantly alert to the chance
that one of the kids will run in front of a car, or some such fate). I arrive
home to the hotel, mounting the 96 something steps, and collapse on the bed.
Luckily the kids are awake and decide that tonight is massage night, giving me
the nicest welcome home present!
 |
| Can we have breakfast here? |
Ah yes, we must be in Florence!
After sleeping off all the rich food and gelato from the night before we get off to a bit of a slow start in the morning. We are booked on the last of our Context Travel tours for children of the trip, but we are not meant to meet our guide Monica until late afternoon. We have what's left of the morning and midday to explore Florence on our own and decide to wander into the old town of Florence and see what we can see on foot, and maybe buy a suitcase to hold all the extra "stuff" we have accumulated during the last six weeks of travel!
Florence, the heart of Tuscany, famous for it's rich history and culture, does not disappoint, it was one of the wealthiest cities of medieval times. Straddling the banks of the Arno River, it was originally founded by the Romans in the century before Christ, but didn’t really come into its full swing until the 1000’s ad when Florence’s very powerful rival Pisa was crushed by their other rival Genoa, and the Florentine people rose up in an anti aristocratic movement and were able to establish a republic of sorts. Being a strong mercantile city-state the guilds of each profession rose up around the city wielding much power. The wool guild in particular.
 |
| the Naked Man from the Piazza |
As we start making our way through
the crowd to get a closer look at the statues lining the piazza I catch my
first giggle glimpse. Standing in a third story open window was a completely
nude man, posing and flexing his naked body for the entire piazza to see. I
couldn’t stop giggling, certainly not the norm when it comes for views. Too bad
I had my iphone and not the telephoto camera that Randall uses - sorry girls!
 |
| In front of "Perseus and Medusa" |
The amazing artistry that went into
these statues is incredible. The attention to detail, the facial expressions,
even the sense that the clothing (where there is clothing) is moving in the breeze
is what makes it so lifelike.
The story goes that Michelangelo was
hard at work on one of his magnificent marble statues and three young statesmen
came to visit him.
“Ah, Michelangelo, what an artist you
are!”
“Brilliant, genius!” they exclaim.
Michelangelo acknowledges them and
goes back to his sweaty work.
A month passes and once again the
same three young men come to visit Michelangelo in his workshop and this time
they are irate to find that the great artist is still slaving away on the same
statue.
“What have you been doing
Michelangelo? The statue is nearly the same as it was before, why do you waste
your time when you could be making the next masterpiece?” exclaims one of the
men.
Michelangelo stops and dusts off his
hands and walks over the young men.
“Do you see the angle of the chin?
Does it not look more lifelike? Or the fold in the robe, does that not look
more fluid? And the veins in the arms?”
“Ah, these are mere trifles!”
sputtered the youth.
“Yes, these are but trifles!” shouted
Michelangelo, “but these trifles added up make up perfection, and perfection is
no trifle!”
Upon which he went back to his work
and became one of the greatest artist ever to live.
Whether it's true or not, looking at these statues in front of
me, makes that story come to life and happen before my eyes. It takes that
dedication to detail - to spend a month sweating over a jawline - to achieve this level of artistry. It is probably why
tourists from all over are so drawn to it, especially in today’s throw away,
next please, society.
And so we pass out of the Piazza, we’ll
be back later with the guide, and head for a little shopping. All the purchases have strained our four
suitcases to the breaking point, so I relent on my four-bag policy and we buy a
shiny new suitcase. Liam gets the honors of carrying it back through
Florence to our hotel. A lesson Randall tells him about how easy travel is
these days. Liam enjoys his Sherpa
status and soon we are repacked and ready to meet our guide. |
| Rape of the Sabine |
We meet the guide back at the Piazza del Signoria, most specifically the Loggia, where we get an overview of the Florentine history and the kids get to ask her all sorts of questions about the statues and the meaning behind them. Our guide Monica, at first seemed like she’d been hit by a steamroller. But then, the kids can have that effect, especially when they have the bit between their teeth. “But what is the story behind the “Rape of the Sabine?” asks Clara. We are all blushing. That is one thing about learning history and art at a young age. You discover some of the less Disney-like aspects of life. But Monica pulled it off and was able to tell the story of the statue so that we were all happy! Again, so happy to have a guide! (The Sabine’s were a neighboring tribe to the ancient Romans, and when they ancient Romans had a shortage of women they threw a huge party, got the Sabine men drunk and carried off their women.) It’s a stunning statue, with three figures all carved out of the same piece of marble.
 |
| Ponte Vecchio |
We head down to the Arno river to view the Ponte Vecchio, the bridge we’ve been crossing each time we walk into the historical center of Florence. It was originally a Roman bridge and had been swept away a few times by floods before this bridge was constructed out of solid stone in 1345 and has been Florence’s main bridge ever since.
Just as in medieval times the bridge still has stores open in it. Originally lined with the town’s butchers (so they could throw their offal into the Arno) but when Cosimo D’Medici built his famous Vasari Corridor (a private Corridor that crosses half of medieval Florence which allowed him access from his Palace on the other side of the Arno directly to government buildings without going out in public) he forbade the butchers to sell on the bridge anymore and invited the goldsmiths to inhabit the stalls, upping the prestige of the bridge, and of course himself. And it is such an unspoiled, beautiful reminder of life in the renaissance, that when the Nazi troops were pulling out of Florence in their big retreat they blew up all the bridges along the Arno - but Hitler gave express orders that the Ponte Vecchio would be saved. Thank goodness for that!
 |
| guild of the stone masons |
 |
| Il Porcellino |
We wind back down into Florence, to a side we haven’t seen yet. Moving through the older part of town we pass the Mercato Nuovo, a covered market dating back from the 12th century that merchants originally sold luxury items at, but now houses all sorts leather, t shirts and other touristy stuff. The best part is the statue of Il Porcellino, the wild boar of Florence. As legend goes if you put a coin in the snout of the boar and give it a good rub you will be guaranteed to return to Florence. Needless to say the kids were all over that; Liam even parting with some of his hard earned coins to do it more than once. Il Porcellino has stood guard over the market since the 1500’s so even though his body is a patina of old bronze, his snout is as shiny as can be. Imagine all the tourists who have rubbed this nose over the years.
Heading further into the heart of the
old city we pass through some of the oldest buildings, mainly the guilds of the
renaissance time. The guilds were secular entities that controlled the various
trades of the city (think wool guild, doctor and pharmacist’s guild etc) and
had huge influence in the matters of government and the life within the city.
There is an amazing building that was erected where each of the guilds were
able to decorate a different niche with their own patron saint and symbols that
represented their guild and what they brought to the table. My particular
favorite, and this is probably no surprise, is the stonemason’s guild with its
ornate statues and beautiful portrayal of a renaissance art studio.
The kids were beginning to drift a
bit with the overloading of Art and Architecture we have loaded them with today
so we take a quick break watching the street artist recreate the famous
painting of the girl with the pearl earring with sidewalk chalk. Pretty dagnab
amazing.
Art of all kinds is still alive
in Florence.
We enter the Piazza della Repubblica,
site of the ancient Roman forum, and today a glamorous piazza for enjoying a
cappuccino and watching the world go by. The girls rush ahead when they hear
live music, and have an impromptu dance session to a band called “The Rom
Dracs”, a Romanian trio playing a smattering of classical and popular Italian
songs. We bought their cd and I will never think of the song Volare again
without seeing my two little girls dancing with complete abandon with the
beautiful town of Florence as the backdrop. Forget history, this is the heart
and soul of joy, may we never lose the ability to be in the moment and
spontaneously enjoy a moment that has been given to us.
But as the band closes up, we have to
guide the kids carefully through the stalls that are being set up, lest they
realize that tomorrow is the gelato festival. I will never be forgiven if we
don’t attend it, and I don’t think it starts until about the time that our
train will be pulling out of the Florence station. Oh dear.
 |
| Il Duomo |
At last we have reached the end of
our journey. The Duomo of Florence!
 |
| In front of the Duomo |
 |
| The story of Moses |
The building itself stands opposite to the Duomo and was the baptistery where the most notable of Florentine’s would have been baptized, including Dante Alighieri. The spot has been a religious sight for much longer though, dating back to Roman times when there was a temple dedicated to Mars, the god of war. The building is an octagonal shape and there are three sets of Bronze doors, the north and east sides being created by Lorenzo Ghiberti. We spent over an hour examining the east doors, which depict ten stories from the old testament of the bible. Clara quickly picked out Moses and the Ten Commandments; of course, she has quite the vested interest now that she’s been to Mt. Sinai! Our guide is magnificently patient with the kids and answers in detail each question about the different scenes, something I am glad we have her for as each panel depicts an entire story out of the bible, but all in one scene. It is genius how he was able to tell the stories this way, and yet keep it beautiful. It took Ghiberti 27 years of intense work to complete these doors, and it’s truly a masterpiece. And to the common people who would not have been able to read, this would be a way for them to learn the stories of the bible visually.
Finally we must farewell our guide and make some decisions about the rest of the evening. Whether to explore the Duomo
surrounds, or get some food?
As we had our Eurail passes stolen I
will have to make a trip to the train station to secure our tickets to Paris tomorrow evening, so we opt to walk towards the train station and
find ourselves a little pizzaria to sooth the savage stomachs, oh I mean kids,
leaving Randall to find their way back to the hotel and me to haggle with the
Italian train employees. Not the best experience of my life, I might add. First
the line is over an hour to get to the counter. Second the grey haired Italian
man does not seem to be happy to working tonight; he speaks a little English
and after more than two weeks in Italy I have workable Italian. And when the
inevitable miscommunication of dates happens and he has to reenter the new
dates the man flies OFF the handle, cursing all Americans vehemently and shouting at me to go to the end of the line. Oh no,
not another hour wait because somebody is a control freak! So I pull out my New
Zealand passport and look sorrowfully at him. The most amazing transformation comes
over him and he is suddenly my best friend, offering all sorts of advice,
circling all of the train numbers and times etc. He heaps loving praise on New Zealand
and we wave goodbye to each other like old friends. Sometimes you just have to
stay in the moment and enjoy the ride. Haha…. Gotta love it.
 |
| post train station back rub - kids rock!!! |
After they are all settled Randall
and I sneak up to the top of the hotel to take in the air and wow. A panoramic
view of Florence at night is spread before us. The main buildings lit up like
we are in a movie set. It’s a tiny little rooftop deck, but just perfect for us
to sneak our bottle of Lemoncello up to and toast to our wonderful adventure
thus far. We have the day in Florence tomorrow before heading out to the second
to last country of the trip – France!!!!
 |
| And what a place to end our day in Florence |
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