EuroTour 2010, Day 15, Florence

Our first morning in Florence started slowly and casually.  

While Barbie lay in bed, thankfully getting a chance to sleep in for the first time this trip, I snuck upstairs to snap this picture.

I was coy yesterday, not showing you any pictures of our room.  I wanted to wait for daylight to present it to you.  Now, before I show you the pictures of the day, maybe I will go ahead and share a video from later in the day.  It is almost odd how loyal I am to presenting you pictures in the order that they are taken.  But this is a video.  Does that not mean I can show it out of order?  I am actually quite embarrassed by this video, but writing a blog titled Colossal Waste is all about being embarrassed.  

WIthout further delay, here is a video tour of our ridiculous hotel suite.

For those who refused to watch it, this one-take video tour, badly narrated by me (it includes me naming the wrong city when I get to the roof) shows that we have two levels plus a rooftop veranda at our disposal.  It is unique and over the top, to be sure.  One might even call it yachty.  

Breakfast in our suite's own personal library.

Sean takes a bite out of Lon after breakfast.

Did I say breakfast?  We ate after 1 PM.  I should call it brunch.  After brunch, we got ready and took a cab to meet Livinia's friend Giovanni who works in Florence as a guide.  Giovanni can get us into see Michelangelo's David using the reserve line.  We used the reserve line three.  It is huge, as it allows you to skip the line of hundreds who stand for hours because they made no reservation.

The Palazzo Vecchio.  We met Giovanni at the Piazza Della Signoria, in front of the Palazzo Vecchio, next to the Uffizi Gallery, which is where the original David stood until 1873.  Since then David has been in a safer place and a replica has stood in his place.

There stands the replica, taking the sun and rain for the original.  

For me, this was one of the most fascinating lessons I learned in Florence three years ago.  Noting how exact this copy is, and it is quite exact, and yet seeing first hand how the original effects you versus the copy, truly sends home the fact that art itself is based entirely on intangible qualities that cannot be measured.  You will hear me say it when we get there, but looking at David, the actual David, is an overwhelming experience, akin to the Mona Lisa. There is no explanation for their greatness.  It might simply be a fluke.  Other Michelangelo sculptures strike me as great, but none strike me as perfect.  Even he could not replicate what he created with David.  Perhaps art at its best is truly accidents of inspiration. For me, this does not belittle art, but makes it even more significant.

Next to the Piazza is the Loggia dei Lanzi, which the Medicis turned into an open air sculpture gallery.  Here stands The Rape of the Sabine Women, by Jean de Boulogne, with the obligatory mention that in this case rape is used with the literal meaning, to steal.

Perseus with the head of Medusa, by Benvenuto Cellini.  Look at this bronze closely and you will see the gory details.  

The Medici's liked their art, and chose this as perhaps the most public place in Florence to display it.

Enough with this, though.  We have one main agenda, David.  Let us walk to the Academy.

Walking toward The Gallery of The Academy of Fine Arts, where David stands in protected, ideal conditions, we pass by the Duomo.  Specifically, the Basilica di Santa Maria di Fiore.  We took dozens of pictures of this Duomo three years ago, yet we never got to go inside.  It was always closed when we got here.  This year we plan to fix that today, perhaps after our date with Michelangelo.

The front of the Duomo.  All the sharp angles and intricate designs give away that this is a pre-Renaissance, Gothic cathedral.  In fact, construction began in 1295, centuries before the Renaissance.

This gentleman was not a particularly good violinist.  In fact, his playing made me think I should call him a fiddler.  Still, you know that I love candid portraits of complete strangers.

Flip The System.  It is funny that Italians will often use English in their graffiti, is it not?

We arrived at the Academy of Fine Arts, where I planned in advance to show you the following picture.

No pictures allowed.

I no longer enjoy trying to sneak photos where they are not allowed.  Last year in Spain it completely burnt me out.  However, perhaps for David there is a loophole?

There you go.  Possibly the most perfect sculpture ever created.

This is how the above picture was brought to you.  Giovanni was rather amused that I was willing to take a picture of the postcard instead of trying to sneak an unauthorized picture in the hall; he volunteered to hold the postcard for me.

Fine.  I will spoil you with something better.

Here is the Wikipedia picture, which I know is better than the post card pic and is also free of copyright infringements.  The picture does it no justice, of course.  David is technically a colossal marble sculpture.  That is the official art name for it.  Colossal.  Which, regardless of the lovely coincidence with the title of this blog, means that David stands 17 feet tall, three times the size of a normal man, yet in detail and expression is as real as looking at a person.  More real in some ways, because you are looking at humanity captured in marble.

Let me say this.  If you like art, even if you feel ignorant and uninformed about art but feel in your heart that you just like it, just come to Florence sometime soon.  Get on a plane and come to Florence, even if it means flying home a few days later.  When you look at Michelangelo's David, you will get to feel a feeling that you may not ever feel anywhere else in the world.  

For the record, I also get this feeling looking at Picasso's Guernica in Madrid and DaVinci's Mona Lisa in Paris.  Just in case you want to do a three-city masterpiece-fest.

Rest assured, loyal Waste readers who saw last year's Guernica-only post, there would be a David-only post if the flipping Florentines running this joint were not so greedy as to want to force everyone to buy books and posters.  I understand not allowing flash photography, but not allowing any is pure greed.  Jerks.

Having had a wonderful time looking at David, with excellent commentary from Giovanni, Barbie and I headed to the Duomo while Sean & Lon stayed with Giovanni to eventually hit the Uffizi Gallery.

When we first passed the Duomo, the line was short.  When we walked up to it to enter, there was no line at all!  

Most other Italian cathedrals are more ornate inside, featuring seating and art everywhere.  Florence's cathedral may be empty, but the emptiness shows you the vastness and beauty of the architecture.

Barbie takes a break to light a candle.

See the women with the blue bags on?   Normally the Catholicism police simply turn away women in tank tops, who by showing their bare shoulders are rather sinful, dirty, and disrespectful.  Barbie came prepared with her own light piece of clothing to put over her shoulders.  But when it is 93 degrees in Florence, instead of turning women away they give them these blue bags to cover their sinful shoulders.  See?  And I have friends who think the Church is intolerant.  Pish.

As you near the front, you see the beautiful artwork inside the dome.

I love this trick.  You may not see it unless you right-click-new-window it, but the outer gray octagon is a walkway with railing, for those who pay to walk the stairs to the top of the dome.  But the gray octagon very near the center?  That is painted to look like another walkway.  You know, like Bugs Bunny painting a train tunnel on a rock face.  Wonderful!

Outside, I try to get close to the belfry.

Having gotten inside the Duomo for the first time after what felt like three years of trying, it is time to celebrate with Barbie's favorite gelato.  Yesterday we went to the wrong gelateria.  Today she will get that which she seeks.

We crossed the Ponte Vecchio along our path to the gelateria, and I noticed that you can turn back around and see the Duomo still behind us.

The sheeting over the Ponte Vecchio robs it a bit of its feel, but this bridge never loses its charm.  How many bridges are nearly 700 years old, pedestrian only, and feature shops along both sides?  Just the one, I think.  History Time:  this is the narrowest point of the Arno river, and bridges have stood here since Roman times.  All these bridges were eventually washed away, until the current bridge was built-to-last in 1345.

These public fountains must have been great for hand washing during the Renaissance.

Barbie inside Gelateria Santa Trinita.  Holy Trinity Gelato.  Iced creams of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit?  We now know the name of this place, which Barbie went to every day for five days in October, 2006.

That is a pleased woman.

Some days things go your way.  Besides getting to see a masterpiece again and finally getting inside the Duomo and getting Barbie's favorite gelato, the gelateria happened to bring us a short bridge walk away from where the hotel shuttle will pick us up and return us to Il Salviatino.  And which bridge?  Ponte Santa Trinita, Barbie's favorite bridge that features a sculpture at each corner representing the four seasons.  

Say... it seems like Barbie has a thing for things named Santa Trinita.

Autumn, the harvest.

Winter, the chill.

Summer, the wheat.

Spring, the flowers.

If you look closely, you can see where Spring's head was broken off then re-attached.  The Nazi's -- boy, they keep coming up -- blew up this bridge in August 1944 as they retreated from Allied troops.  Spring's head was not found in the river bed until October 1961.

Beneath Spring I could not ignore this graffiti, which I think utilizes a very creative use of stencils.  And is it me or is that Michelangelo's David running from the police?

The Basilica di Santa Trinita, near the foot of the bridge and across from where the hotel's shuttle shall pick us up.

Inside the Holy Trinity Church.  iPhone camera testing.  The above pic is your basic snapping of a picture.

This is tapping on the screen where the stained glass is shown, allowing the camera to adjust focus and light levels to that area.  Hey, you may be bored with this camera stuff but I am not.

Inside the Basilica Santa Trinita is this rather spooky relief.  I mean, if you want to know where the whole deathy-gothy thing comes from, look no further.  This is a an undead skeleton woman in garments that recall the Mother of God.  That is intense.

Outside the Basilica Santa Trinita, we have the Palazzo Spini Feroni, dating from 1289 but owned today by Salvatore Ferragamo who has placed stores, offices, and a museum to his shoes in there.  Our shuttle happens to park right in front.

Scooter Rider, Candid Portrait.

We had some time to kill and walked over the Piazza della Repubblica, which we loved last time but now has a large, tented bookstore that kind of ruins it.

We got onto the hotel shuttle and when we got back, I opted to get out at the bottom of the hill so that I could show YOU where we are staying.  I walked up a hill instead of riding in an air conditioned Mercedes van for YOU.

The easy to miss marble sign next to the hotel's gate.  We missed it, and the Germans who arrived today whom I eavesdropped on missed it.

Il Salviatino.  This property began as a modest farmhouse in 1427.  As it changed hands owners kept building it up and adding to it, and in the 16th century it belonged to Alammano Salviati, who named it Villa Salviatino.  It changed hands a few more times, becoming more and more elaborate.  In the 1970's it housed the Stanford University program, Stanford in Italy.  (My brother will like that one.)  And today, some 600 years after its life began, Villa Salviatino is Il Salviatino, a boutique hotel that aims to provide, "unparalleled luxury."

One actually enters from the side, not the picture you saw before that certainly looks like the front.

This is the entry hall.  Often entry halls are not halls at all.  This one is a hall, for certain.

The next room one sees is the library.

This next room connects to the elevators, stairs, restaurant and tavern areas.

The bar.

All seating for the restaurant is outside.

All seating is also white.

There is more to show you, but I think you get the gist.

For those too rude or lazy or busy to have watched the video, our suite does not have a number, it has a name.

The view from our rooftop veranda near sunset.  Yes, I cannot get over the fact that our suite and only our suite reaches to top of the hotel.  Look closely and you can see the Duomo, very near where that hill begins.

After Barbie's massage we ordered a late dinner in the room to share.

While Barbie works upstairs in the library, I sit on the bed typing up the Waste to CNN International.

It is seriously time for bed.