Florence

02-09 October 2019

ISL stands for Italian as a Second Language. English is first in Florence.

You walk through crowds in Florence and hear Americans exclaiming: Oh! We finally made it! or I think we should go this way. Robert heard an elderly guy say to his friend: I need to pay once in a while! I did get 2,000 euros in cash. Not exactly an item you want to advertise in a crowded city. One Italian woman said to her friend in English: The American guy forgot to give them to me and now I am left without. . . . Plus a good one by a young Australian woman to her friends while in line for tickets to the Pitti Palace: My roommate has become a full-time stripper, not because she has to, but because she wants to.

So, if you speak in Italian to someone like a waiter in Florence, most respond in English. Some will switch to Italian (thank you!). And a smaller number say Tu parli Italiano molto bene! with a surprised look on their faces.

Florence is beautiful. It is compact although we did walk seven miles a day. We stayed in the San Frediano neighborhood of the Oltrarno (the less touristy south side of the Arno River) on a fairly quiet street. Local restaurants. A grocery store. Even a butcher shop. It took only about 15 minutes to walk across the river to the big sights.

Our apartment was in an ZTL (Zona Traffico Limito), which means that traffic in the area is limited to residents and commercial vehicles with permits. If you drive in without one, a camera makes note and you receive a hefty fine. To avoid this, you can use a parking structure for 30 euros a day where they issue a parking permit or you can park outside the zone for 7 euros a day and walk in. Guess which we chose.

Bonnie signed us up for two tours. One on the highlights of the Uffizi Gallery and the other on the history of the Medici family. We talk about these with the photos below. Seeing Renaissance paintings in the Uffizi, this time accompanied by a great guide, really helped us understand how the pre- and post-renaissance styles fit into the bigger stream of art. This was a welcome break from all the baroque architecture we have been seeing.

Wanderings

Neighborhood meeting notice that included a discussion of the invasion of Airbnb.

For Jeff. Robert should have bought one.

Ellin and Callie: Ferragamo’s instructions to a textile maker

Galleria degli Uffizi

After being to the Uffizi many times, having a guide this time was great. Helped us understand the Renaissance in context of prior and post art movements.

Uffizi means offices. They were the offices of the Medici family who had a small collection of art that expanded over the years. Anna Maria Luisa (1667-1743), the last of the Medici, bequeathed the Uffizi and its art to the people of Florence with the condition that it be open to visitors from around the world.

Our guide. Look him up next time you are in Florence.

Elongated fingers were a symbol of elegance.

During medieval times, women shaved their foreheads to achieve a receded hairline—a sign of intelligence and the upper class.

Botticelli, gay, was enamored with a particular woman in Florence, and he used her likeness in many of his paintings. He requested to be buried next to her.

Botticelli often included symbols of fertility in his paintings.

Botticelli often included his own likeness in his paintings.

Note: All the faces are of the same woman model. You see this a lot once you look for it.

Michelangelo did this work on commission for 40 gold ducats. But the client didn’t like it and refused to accept it. A friend told him he was crazy not to take a work by Michelangelo, so the client changed his mind. Michelangelo told him the price was now 80 ducats. The client paid. Michelangelo ended up a rich guy.

Bernini did this at age 15.
Robert was mowing lawns at the same age.

Medici Family

We enlisted another guide—Elisabetta Gabellini—for a walking tour of Florence with a focus on the Medici family. She was great telling us stories about who married whom. About which brother was assassinated on Easter morning at mass in the church with the consent of the pope. The Medici family make The Godfather and Game of Thrones look mild in comparison.

Elisabetta was great. Look her up too when you are in Florence.

Bonnie with our expert guide Elisabetta Gabellini.

Elisabetta with her friend Simone, the owner of Alimentari del Chianti near the Pitti Palace. His two sons spent the summer in Stockton!

A Lesson on the Medici Coat of Arms

No one knows the origin of the Medici coat of arms. What is known is that the number of balls varied over the years. The following is a sample of what we saw.

Air vent—Definitely not a Medici coat of arms.

I Libri del Granduca Cosimo I

The library of Cosimo I (Medici).

Each seating area had books on a particular subject. The hanging text shown here listed which books were on this shelf.

La Basilica di San Lorenzo

The parish church of the Medici family. Florence is considering completing the face of the church with Michelangelo’s design.

Pitti Palace

Purchased and enlarged by the Medici at the urging of a wife who wanted a home with a garden (Boboli) outside the center of city. A second-story enclosed corridor connects it to the Uffizi and the Palazzo Vecchio, across the river, about a kilometer away.