In Florence, I didn't count the steps walking to the top of the Duomo. I think I did the first time I did it, in my twenties, but now I enjoyed it and probably thanks to yoga was able to breathe while others half my age were huffing and puffing. The views are phenomenal. If Venice makes you think - it's a clever city, improbable, fairy-tale made real, better to visit than live in (I was told this by someone who lived there for ten years and he said the fog and the tides and the smell in the summer - ouch) but it's a living museum and magical. And I still remember that hot chocolate.
I visited the Bardini Gardens (www.bardinipeyron.it), smaller and quieter than the Boboli, over the other side of the Arno River and the Ponte Vecchio which you can only appreciate on it when you're not on it. This side is more residential, quieter, the energy there is more balanced, more meditative probably because of the gardens and lack of commerce but you walk up (you exercise a lot in Florence) to the gardens and the vistas overlooking the rooftops, the Duomo punching the skyline and the towers, with the Appennine mountains tracing the final horizon, make it a place you will sit and stare for longer than you have time for.
I visited the Accademia, and cried at the the sculpture of the Sabine women, the copy out in the Loggia dei Lanzi, the real thing in the gallery. It's incredible, excellence in art and passionate. That's the word - passionate. How can cold anaemic stone be passionate? The sculpture by Giambologna is designed to be moved around, to walk around and you find yourself walking around the three bodies in perfect symmetry and balance, unlike in life. Breathe in it, it's the first room you visit and although there are wonderful paintings around it and the rooms that followed I found myself wanting to return to that room over and over again. I bought a postcard. You cant' take photos of the real thing. The David is awesome and I listened to the guides talking about it's artistic mastery but sorry, it was the Sabine which hooked me. And the Annunciation by Filipino in the same room. I'm mentioning this because when I go again I want to see if I like the same ones.
The Uffizi is huge and overwhelming and thankfully due to foundations and individuals which support it, is in a continual state of renovation. There is probably so much more in the vaults they don't show the public - actually I know there is, one of the guides who sat 'Mr Bean-like' in one of the rooms told me so. The paintings by Lotti and Corregio of the mother and child were wonderful and left me dewy eyed. Could look at them for ages. Bottichelli seems to fall in love with all those he paints and it shows. Lotti and Corregio understand the mother/child connection and it shows. They are in Rooms 71 and 88 at the moment although I'm told with all the renovation going on these may change. I tend to stop and admire those paintings I like rather those paintings I'm supposed to like. That's why I'm pleased I didn't have a guide, many of whom were with their Chinese followers. Probably the same ones that nearly ran us over in Venice.
I didn't queue for the Accademia, Uffizi or the Duomo. In the Summer it goes on for hours although it did make me laugh when we were told at gate two to go to gate three and then to gate one if you pre book at the Uffizi. Usually after the queues you are so resentful the quick tour round - jostled by other tourists, not able to get decent views of anything, make you feel the time and money wasn't worth it. Go do Florence in January. In January, not July. And I kept thinking I would see Helena Bonham Carter, Judy Dench or Maggie Smith walk round a corner. I didn't, but I saw lots in their ilk.
San Lorenzo Market, especially the indoor bit with the food is fascinating for the pasta making and a cornicopia of raw ingredients you would find at many times in the price back in the UK. And not of the same quality although I think we're getting better.
The hotel we stayed in The Brunelleschi (www.hotelbrunelleschi.it) which features in Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, was a Byzantine tower and church. The novel says DB stayed there but as far as the hotel manager is concerned he never did - the mystery thickens what what. The place is a museum, built on a Roman bath and a womens prison no less, it has been beautifully restored; the sort of place that inspires you to not only return but try to introduce the same decor and style in your own home. Wonderfully central - five minutes walk from the Duomo, it has narrow cobbled roads surrounding it which somehow large taxis manage to navigate. The architect who designed it Brunelleschi, also designed the Duomo. There's a huge chandelier in one of the sitting rooms which the manager described as 'costing something like a fortune'. I like that. All Murano glass.
Somehow like the food, the wine and the moment, the decor doesn't travel well. We asked the concierge to choose a restaurant that doesn't have tourists. He chose Hosteria da Ganino, and said he has to choose a different one each time to make sure he doesn't send different people on the same day. They are 'bean eaters' in Florence. Panzanella di pane e verdure is a typical dish of vegetable and bread salad but you will always and polp candito in olio d'oliva insalata di cannellini e pomodori secchi (octopus sauteed in olive oil, beans and dried tomatoes.
If Venice inspires the intellect, Florence heals the heart. You romance yourself in this city, even if you don't have someone to hold hands with.
This wonderful trip was care of Citalia (08437704443 www.citalia.com) who organise trips like this for just over a grand which includes bed and breakfast in all the hotels which are characterful as well as central, train fares, transfers and flights.
No comments:
Post a Comment