Fancying Florence

As I wrote earlier, Johnny had already warned us about the weather forecast for this day, Sunday, when we were to spend the day in Florence.  Originally there had been a "special alert" issued, for flooding rains and damaging winds.  Though that had been downgraded, which Johnny attributed to our collective prayers, it was still very dark and gloomy when we all boarded the bus in Montecatini for the 60-minute drive to Florence.  Rain held off during the drive but, unlike on previous days, we saw no breaks in the cloud cover and we soon abandoned hope of a miracle clear-up.  During the drive, Johnny continued with the history of Florence, which touched upon some of what we'd learned the day earlier, in relation to Siena.  Before the formation of Italy proper in 1861, Florence remained the most powerful kingdom of the past 500 years or so.  Much of their prominence was achieved by and sustained by the infamous Medici family.  K and I had actually just completed watching the second season of the series "Serpent Queen" before we left, which centers on Katherine Medici, who was the powerful queen and then regent of France.  

As in Siena, cars are prohibited in the center of Florence, and our bus had to drop us off outside what what remained of the former city walls. It was quite eerie, as the sky was a multi-layer gray, and it seemed only a question of time before the skies opened up.  We were better prepared this time, as we both had raincoats, but we now each had our own umbrella, having purchased an extra during one of our main highway rest-area bathroom breaks.  Our first stop was the Piazza of Santa Croce, with its famous basilica, which is the resting place of Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, and Dante.  It was, however, Sunday, and that church would not open until the afternoon.  In fact, the arguably most famous site in Florence -- the famed Duomo -- which we'd see (from the outside) later this day, was closed to visitors all day because of religious services.  We started at a shop which demonstrated how famous Florentine leather is produced and, of course, we had the option to make some purchases.  I found the demonstration interesting, and we did buy a couple of small things, but this stop could have been skipped in my humble opinion.  Outside the shop, we met our local guide, who was surprisingly young.  His youth, however, belied the depth of knowledge, as well as his passion for all things Florence.  He was a regular font of information.  We set off on a walking tour which, understandably, was full of very dense information, given the sheer volume of history in and about Florence.  K had visited here back in the 1990's, and I did in college, but we both had few memories, aside from seeing Michelangelo's David and Da Vinci's Last Supper -- neither of which we'd repeat during this visit.  I particularly enjoyed the architectural information our guide shared as we slowly crept through the old city.  Despite the weather, it was Sunday and the city was very, very busy.  Though Johnny had spoken with us during our orientation arrival dinner about petty street crime, this was the first time I actually felt like I had to be extra mindful of my surroundings, as I did not want to be pick-pocketed.  It was nothing like Rome, but I was alert all day.

Though they didn't do very well at this year's Paris Olympics, evidently Italy is known for their crew teams, many of which base out of Florence.

Basilica of Santa Croce (resting place of Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, and Dante) 

Palazzo Vecchio (seat of Florentine Government under the Medicis)

"Fountain of Neptune" by Bartolomeo Ammannati

Michelangelo's iconic "David" (copy) and Bandinelli's  "Hercules and Cacus"

"Ajax bearing the corpse of Achilles" by Antimenes Painter

"Rape of the Sabine Women" by Johannes of Boulogne

"Perseus and Medusa" by Benvenuto Cellini

The Famous Uffizi Gallery (ALWAYS under construction)

Ponte Vecchio 

Almost unbelievably, the rain held off for the duration of our tour, though the air couldn't have been more heavy with the feeling of impending rain.  We broke shortly before noon, and we had almost four hours on our own.  This was built in so people could visit the things they wanted to see.  One day in Florence is not enough to see many things of substance, but this at least allowed people to concentrate on what interested them most.  As if on cue, it started to rain a few minutes after we broke up, just outside the famed Duomo.  We retreated and found a restaurant on a small side ally, with both outside umbrellas and a view back to the cathedral. The rain tried to pick up, but we remained dry while we enjoyed a very substantial (almost too substantial) pasta lunch.  We'd discussed our plans for Florence well in advance, and we knew the Duomo would be closed.  We were however, able to visit the Duomo museum, which was simply outstanding.  People must not know about it, as it was not crowded in the least.  As an added surprise, the museum is built in the building which served as Michelangelo's workshop, and David was sculpted in the inner courtyard.

The Baptistry of Florence's Famous Duomo

The Duomo

Lunch With a View

Entrance to the Duomo Museum (this courtyard was where The David was sculpted)

Original Golden Doors for the Duomo (moved to the Museum for protection)

The museum had a roof-top terrace, from which we got some amazing views to the neighboring Duomo.  We also knew, now, that the rain had started in earnest.  When we exited the museum, we had to break out the umbrellas as we tried to navigate ourselves to our next stop -- -- while dodging as many raindrops as possible.  We were headed to the Palazzo Medici Riccardi, which dates back to 1444.  It was acquired by and became home to the Medici family.  It is today both a museum and seat of the City of Florence Government.  The outside was covered by scaffolding, which concealed the entire facade. The building is huge, and comprises an entire city block.  This museum was even less crowded than the other, though it had an almost "unused feel" to it.  It included to two open-air inner courtyards, and soon after we entered, the deluge started.  We could see, hear, and even feel the heavy rain from the inner rooms, which were not climate controlled.  That fact alone really surprised me, as there were many paintings and tapestries, which surely can't benefit from such moist and hot air.  Nonetheless, it was an interesting stop, and it did shield us from the worst of the weather.  As most of the windows in the building were open, we could hear a constant rumble of thunder and see bright flashes of lighting.  The storm sounded much worse than it appeared through the windows.  We later learned that the hills surrounding the city had in fact stopped the major storms from reaching Florence proper, so what we heard was happening far from downtown.  If that storm had hit the city, I'm sure we would have been very unhappy campers.

View of the Duomo From the Rooftop Terrace of the Museum

Entrance to the Palazzo Medici Riccardi

Room in Palazzo Medici Riccardi where Catherine di Medici first met the Valois family, which led to the marriage that made her Queen of France

Rear Entrance to Palazzo Medici Riccardi (the only part not covered by scaffolding) 

Rain persisted as we exited, and people were crowding into any covered areas, which made walking around a bit of a challenge.  We window shopped and slowly made our way back toward our meeting place.  By luck, we stumbled upon the Caffe Gilli, which is the oldest cafe in Florence (1733), and about which Katherine had read.  Partly out of curiosity, but more so to shield ourselves from the rain, we were able to secure a table inside the very elegant dining room.  We ordered iced coffees, and I got a piece of their namesake cake, which was okay; nothing extraordinary.

Escaping the Rain in Caffe Gilli

With our impromptu stop at Gilli, we were the last to arrive back at Santa Croce, though we were exactly on time.  Thank goodness for that.  The rain had stopped by now, replaced by a persistent fog-like mist.  We made the shortish walk back outside the old town, and met back up with Marco.  As a final stop, we drove to a vantage point over the city, which afforded some amazing views, made all the more ominous by the threating skies.

View Down Over Florence

Rain-soaked Square Outside our Hotel in Montecatini

This was to be our final night in Montecatini, and given the jam-packed day, dinner was included back at our hotel, which was welcome, and no one apparently had any desire to venture out on their own.  We had time to pack up our bags and make some calls home before turning in the night.