Oct 2-10: Florence by Cathy

The drive from Nice to Florence via FlixBus was beautiful, especially the coastal views on the first leg of the trip from Nice to Genoa.

We arrived ahead of our friend Dan, whose trip had been screwed up due to some kind of strike by KLM, and got settled into our elegant Florentine apartment at 16 Via de Ginori, a few doors down from the Palazzo Medici Riccardi and the basilica of San Lorenzo and the Medici chapels, where most Medici are buried. From there it’s a blur of art, history, churches, gelato, leather, monuments, pasta; animated, hand-flourishing Florentines, and hordes of other tourists. Our friend and “tour guide,” Dan Flaxman, went to school in Rome and Florence in the 60s where he studied art and art history, and has made dozens of pilgrimages back to his favorite city over the years. His extensive knowledge of and love for the city was to our great benefit. After taking us through many of the historic Catholic churches in Florence and pointing out the significance of their contents (paintings, sculpture, tombs, frescoes, relics, etc.) it’s understandable why he was named “best Catholic” in college, despite being Jewish! One of our favorite churches was San Mineato al Monte, where Dan took us to hear the Benedictine monks sing mass (when only four showed up and one was about 150, we left early) after taking in the views from Piazzale Michaelangelo.

We saw all the biggies – Michelangelo’s David, Ghiberti’s Gates of Paradise, and Botticelli’s Birth of Venus to name just a few, but we also got to see lesser know (at least to us) works.

We visited the church of Sant’Ambrogio, where Francesco Granacci, a lifelong friend of Michealangelo, is buried so Dan could pay his respects. Granacci, who lived near the church, would leave his house in the morning, pick up Michaelangelo at Borgo dei Greci (before M moved in with Lorenzo D’Medici) and the two teens would walk to “school” at Ghirlandaio’s studio. Granacci, who neither sought nor achieved fame, was nonetheless instrumental in helping Michaelangelo with the Sistine Chapel’s frescoes.

At Santa Maria Novella, in one of Ghirlandaio’s frescoes, there is an angel that he let Michaelangelo paint when he was about Mick’s age (in my opinion not his best work, but very cool to see). Masaccio’s groundbreaking Holy Trinity fresco is also there, the depth of the ceiling above Christ the first example of Renaissance 3D! At the Santa Maria Novella Pharmacy, which dates back to the 1200s when the Dominican monks created medicines for their infirmary, we browsed the interesting oils and creams and smelled lots of perfumes, some still made with the original recipes. Mick still talks about the stinky scented oil used to revive people and the herbal concoction for the elimination of gas!

We crossed the Arno to see more examples of 3D technique in the Brancacci Chapel/Santa Maria del Carmine and its realistic frescoes of the Life of St. Peter by Masolino, Masaccio and finished by Filippino Lippi. Dan had us compare Masaccio’s Adam & Eve  with Masolino’s Adam & Eve to show the new Renaissance style versus the more traditional.

At Santa Croce, Dan gave Mick a list of famous “dead guys”  and sent him off to find their burial sites. We also visited the Pazzi Chapel – built by Brunelleschi and funded by the Pazzi family (the Hatfields to the Medici McCoys). Dan explained that while Santa Croce is one of the largest Franciscan churches in the world, the architect of its façade was an Italian man of Jewish/Spanish descent named Niccolò Matas. Matas, who loved the church and is buried just outside the front door (not being Catholic, he couldn’t be buried inside), included the symbol of the Franciscans in the facade, but also, up high, the Star of David.

One day we took a 2 ½ hour tour of the Uffizi with a really friendly and knowledgeable guide who taught us all a lot and put up with Dan’s many questions (she did say he knew “a lot”).

Let’s see, we did so much in our week. We climbed the 463 steps to the top of the Duomo and took in the amazing views from the top. We went up to Fiesole one night and, while we just missed the sunset, found a great restaurant that made room for us at a narrow, wall-facing table so we could escape the a microstorm that brought thunder and lighting just as we stepped off the bus. When Mick ordered a Sprite, our cute waitress explained that they only serve locally sourced products, so Mick ordered a milk. You would have thought he’d ordered a martini from the look she gave us. She said she’d never had anyone order milk before – thought it was the oddest thing. The locally-sourced milk was delicious as was the rest of the dinner.

By our last full day, Dan’s soon-to-be-replaced knee was worn out, so Mick, Jeff and I went to Pisa on our own. Maybe it was the lovely, warm weather or the fact that there weren’t masses of people, but we really enjoyed strolling from the train station to the green lawns of Piazza dei Miracoli and going through the church, baptistry and cemetery. And, along with everyone else, taking the requisite tower-holding pictures.

Our favorite night was probably our pizza and gelato making class, but Mick is going to write a post on that, so I’ll leave the details to him. Our least favorite thing, the thorn of the rose, was the crowds, even in mid-October. It felt more like an amusement park – Firenzeland – where everyone is either a tourist or in service of tourists and that no one was actually a “local.” That was a bit dispiriting, even to Dan, one of Florence’s biggest fans.

While we often poked fun at Dan for his gelato-obsession, his highly tangential story-telling, and his eccentric eating habits, (to which he might respond get lost or “kish mein touchess”), we learned an incredible amount, had a wonderful time, and are very thankful for all the time and effort he put into our Florentine adventure.

RANDOM THINGS of INTEREST:

David’s Ankles: How Imperfections Could Bring Down the World’s Most Perfect Statue (long, but worth the time)

Ever hear of the Anti-Popes (meaning Illegit Popes, not people who don’t like the Pope). One is buried in Florence.
Baldassare Cossa – the Pirate Pope

Why does one of the balls on the Medici coat of arms have 3 fleur-de-lis (associated with France)? In 1465 the King of France, Louis XI, had a huge debt with the Medici Bank. In exchange for a reduction of the debt, the King allowed Piero de Medici and his descendants to use his symbol. 

Do you know the difference between the fleur-de-lis and the Florentine lily?