TELGEN
VACATION REPORT
Florence, January, 1999
When
the folks came to visit after Christmas, we all celebrated by heading out to
Italy for a week. We had a big checklist of places to visit and sights to see,
so we kept very busy.
First up was Florence, or Firenze as it's
called locally. Every city in Europe worth its salt has a large, impressive
cathedral, and Florence is no different. The Duomo (pictured here) was begun in
1294 and was designed to outdo cathedrals in rival cities. Because the master
builders hired to supervise the work kept dying in the middle of the project,
it wasn't actually until 1436 that the place was actually consecrated by the
Pope. That was the year that Filippo Brunelleschi completed the famous dome
that gives the church its name. (Sorry, that part's not in the picture. This is
the front of the cathedral.)
What you probably can't distinguish in
the picture are the extraordinary shades of green and pink marble that were
used in the façade. You can see there is a great amount of detailed carving,
and it extends the entire circumference of the Duomo. The façade wasn't
actually added until the late 1800s, and our guidebook says that this
"neo-Gothic" style "rather jars with the original architectural
ideals involved." Poppycock, I say. The Duomo has a striking exterior,
giving it a unique character.
Within
walking distance of the Duomo (and did we ever test the definition of
"walking distance" during our trip) is the Piazza della Signoria.
This is one of the main piazzas in the city, adjacent to the Uffizi (the museum
with Botticelli's "Birth of Venus") and the Palazzo Vecchio. Here you
can see David in one of his favorite occupations: chasing fat pigeons that need
the exercise. The statue on the left in the background is a copy of
Michelangelo's "David" (we saw the original, too). Our David likes
this "David" because he's naked and you can see his butt. Which means
you can point and say, "I can see his butt"—and no five-year-old will
ever pass up a chance to say "butt"! Between the naked statues and
the gelaterias (ice cream shops) we managed to keep David entertained.
Also very close to this piazza is the
Ponte Vecchio (literally, "old bridge"). You've probably seen
pictures of this amazing little structure. It's a regular bridge, but several
shops have been built onto its sides. When you look at it from a distance, you
wonder at how these buildings manage to keep from falling into the river. While
on the bridge, however, they seem perfectly safe—unless, of course, you like to
shop for jewelry. Then you can get yourself into some pretty serious trouble.
Florence
is also a great place to find some really extraordinary knockers, as you can
see here. Sorry, guys! I meant the door kind. This knocker is placed at the
same height as Bill's head—about six feet high. Also, this is only one of a
pair of doors. So just imagine how large and wide each set of doors are! It's
pretty impressive to find these huge doors sitting in the middle of these
skinny skinny buildings on some narrow narrow streets.
We
found this particular building on the south side of the Arno River, on our trek
to find the Brancacci Chapel. It's so popular that they have to limit visits to
fifteen minutes a person. This portion of a much larger church has some of the
most renowned frescoes in Europe. You've probably seen reproductions of the
most famous of these, "The Expulsion of Adam and Eve." There was just
a wealth of art to see in Florence—Michelangelo, Bottacelli, Da Vinci—so much
so that we had to coin a new phrase: being "museumed out." We
persevered, however, and by the time we got on the train for Rome we were ready
to conquer that city as well. But you’ll have to click on the “next” button if
you want to read about that…
Copyright
© 1999 by Diane Telgen. All rights reserved.