Our Grand Trip to Italy: Firenze part 1

We have now spent 3 days in Florence and the facts, and impressions, and the sights, sounds, smells, and people of this city are to much to contain in a single blog post. So bear with me as I digest and separate things into collective thoughts regarding all we have seen and done. This will not be a regurgitation of all that was shared by our outstanding tour guides, nor a recap of all we have seen and done. Instead, I will offer glimpse of what Florence has shared with us.

I apologize now for the unhelpful automated help that my iPad was providing. i should have proof read more, as many corrections were way out of wack from what I was trying to say. I think I have it turned off now so the mistakes are my usual Patrick Henry High School education showing through.

We had two tours arranged for us by Road To Italy. Both were outstanding. The quality of the guides we have had has far exceeded our expectations. Both were teachers, one from a middle school who taught Humanities, and the other a University Professor who taught Art History. Can you imagine any better guides to share Florence with?

Our first day was with Marco Seca. Words alone are inadequate to describe what a great guide he was. We spent more than the allotted time and we discussed politics, discrimination, food, wine, art, the evolution of the younger generation, similarities and differences between US and Italy, and what makes Florence and Tuscany so wonderful. I would have liked to asked him to join us on our journey across Italy. He has a web site at www.tuscanytours.it that gives you a lot about him and and some of the many things he has worked on.

In addition to being so learned, he was a delightful person filled with a lust for life he not only enriched our day with information, but an appreciation of the context of the times. He took this great photo of us.

We strolled down the Arno and crossed over into an area of craftsmen who are the generations of knowledge passed down from parents and mentors as was done hundreds of years ago.

This was the shop of a frame maker. We got into a discussion with him about the importance of frames and how everyone remembers the artist, but no one knows who built the frame. In many cases the frame is a piece of the art as we saw latter in some works by Michelangelo. He was was wonderful old craftsmen and we talked about the great artists of the past. He told us about the frames he had finished for several of the works at the Uffizi. As we turned to leave he grabbed a cherub he had been working on and presented it to Joan to remember him and the importance of the frame maker. We looked at the frames as we toured every new museum in a completely different light.

We crossed back over the Arno via the Pointe Vecchio bridge. This is the famous bridge that is now full of Jewelry shops. We went past the Uffuzi and the courtyard to the Duomo and then on to St Croce

The only non original art work in the square is the statue of David.

Inside are the tombs of Michelangelo, Rossini, Florence Nightingale, and monument to Marconi the inventor of Radio.

On now to see the real David.

Unfortunately, pictures are not allowed inside of the David or any of the other pieces by Michelangelo. There are 5 carvings before you see the David which are in various stages of finishing. With each, it is as if the form was trying to escape the bounds of the rock that contained it. You can clearly see the the impressions left by various chisels from the large to chop away large chunks, to the medium that almost looked like a small jack hammer had repeatedly stabbed at it, to the fine highlighting the muscle of the arm.

Then there is the David. I was amazed. Marco had us view him from many different angles. When we were standing to the right, it was clear from the eyes that he was focused and determined to slay the Giant. I have never seen such intent, it was as if you could read his mind. I was taken away but the life that emanated from this carving. I wanted to capture what I saw and raised my camera up and was immediately pounced on by an official. Seems if you have a nice camera, the notice, but cell phones mostly were not disturbed.

The David is on a pedestal about 4 feet high and then stands an additional 15 feet. It is impressive and pictures do not do justice to the detail and skill that Michelangelo possessed.

With Joan's recent knee surgery, Marco suggested that we venture to a nearby store which features a cafe on the roof with excellent views of the Duomo. We said our goodbyes and head off for some much need resting of the feet and a couple of Gin and Tonics.