Florence

After the scrumptuous meal at Pegasus in Fiesole on Saturday night, we had two glorious days before us in Florence, or Firenze in Italian. As with Venice, the last time I was here was in 1986, so I anticipated the chance to visit alot of the places that I remembered seeing on that trip. After a nice breakfast at the hotel, we wandered down to the River Arno...something I never did actually see on that first visit. Of course before we got there, one inevitably must make a pilgrimage to the Duomo, the architectural and spiritual center of the city. As it was Sunday, the bells of all the churches were peeling, calling everyone to worship on this the third Sunday of Advent.

We resisted their call and got ourselves to the Ponte Vecchio, the old bridge covered with jewelry shops. As you can see in these pictures, we have a lovely sunny morning. Ian, Michaela, and I wandered along the Arno enjoying the sights. Ian and Michaela were going to wander through the Uffizi art gallery but as I had been there once before I decided to seek out the antique shops I learned that were on the south side of the Arno near the Pitti Palace. Peaking into the jewelry shops along the Ponte Vecchio was amazing too. Gold everywhere. I fell in love with what appeared to be a small ivory cameo of Diana, goddess of the hunt. It was gorgeously carved. I went into the shop to get a closer view. The piece was from the middle of the 1800s and turned out to be a piece of egg-shell colored piece of lava rock. I would have snapped it up in a second until I found out it was a little out of my price range...to say the least. I decided from that point not to get my hopes to high at the idea of finding some small antique to take home.

As I wandered through the narrow streets, I discovered the parish church of St. Mark, the Anglican Church in Florence. It was a lovely gothic revival chapel and Mass had only just begun. I decided to stay through the service. They had an English vicar who was new but enthusiastically invited everyone to sample some mince tarts after the service. It has been easy to forget that Advent is moving along while we are traveling so it was good to have this moment to stop and reflect. All of the antique shops were closed when I got to them after the service but I did stumble on a flea market in front of the Basilica of St. Mary of the Holy Spirit (Sancto Spirito). They had all kinds of things for sale...from junk to antique prints and engravings to local cheeses and antipasti makings. It was alot of fun to wander through.

From there, I wandered back over the Arno and found my way to Santa Croce, the famous church where Dante, Michelangelo, and Gallileo are all buried and where the famous frescos of Giotto adorn the chapels of the church. That's the front of it in the photo above. All I could think of was the scene from "A Room with a View" with Helena Bonham Carter. Her character, Lucy Honeychurch, is being pestered by one of the tour guides and then guided through Santa Croce by Denholm Elliot who, when the English vicar comments that the church was built by faith that: "Built by faith indeed, that just means the workers weren't paid properly."

Outside the church, Dante presides over the piazza where there was a wonderful Christmas market taking place. There was food for sale, butchers, bakers, confectioners were all there in force. There was mulled wine for sale and plenty of boths hawking items to help fill Christmas stockings.

The picture here is the front of a palazzo on the south shore of the Arno. I wandered back there the next day still trying to find an open antique shop. Isn't it incredible? The intricate murals were so amazing! You could have just sat down on the street and gazed up at it for hours looking at the designs.

On the Monday, I took off by myself and wandered through the Central Market to see all the fresh produce, meats, fish, and flowers available to the residents of Florence. I watched a man in one booth bring out a huge stuffed pork roast, probably 5-7 pounds, and start carving it into crusty rolls for the people, mostly local workers on their morning breaks, who could have it with a slathering of either tomato sauce or pesto. It smelled incredible. I was in sensory overload after just a little while. I couldn't even decide on anything to buy...balsalmic vinegar? cheese? olives? dried tomatoes? wine? prociutto? salami? How is one to choose? I just savored the views.

From there, it was out into the market of San Lorenzo. The smells change from those lovely foods to the intoxicating smell of leather since that is one of the things this famous Florence market is known for. It happens to be the place I bought myfirst leather jacket all those years ago. This time, I enjoyed the sights and settled on buying Jim a new wallet for Christmas. He loves it! I strolled down the streets, popping into a small shop to have an expresso and drool over the sweets in the cases feeling quite like a true Italiano. From there, I was at the heart of it all: the Duomo! Here are the lovely views of the white, pink, and green marble facade! I remember sitting on the steps out in front back in 1986 singing old Bob Marley songs with a bunch of young people gathered there. Memories!

I end this entry with a view of the street toward the Piazza Vecchio at night. It was beautiful. We wandered here after dinner and came upon a free Christmas concert in a small church. An early music group was performing a variety of choral and instrumental works for Christmas. It was such a treat to spend a night in Florence with this musical treat!