Firenze the beautiful

[bixaorellana]

Here I go with some coverage of a city which has already been wonderfully covered by anyporters on various occasions. But since it's one of those cities that will keep beckoning travelers, I will boldly record here what I've seen and what has delighted me. Do go back and check out the reports of others, though, to try to get a more comprehensive idea of this almost mythical city.

Inspired by one of Fumobici's reports, I targeted the south side of the river Arno for my lodgings and am well pleased that I did. It is May and the tourists are here in droves, but far less oppressively on this side of the river. I arrived here in a heavy rain and my first real look at the city was under a heavy sky and at one point, through a curtain of rain.

This is Santo Spirito church overlooking the square of the same name. The square hosts a daily market of clothing, household items, and probably not great quality leather goods. The church is no great shakes inside, and doesn't allow pictures anyway ~

Fairly typical shot of almost any street, with that soft yellow and the myriad of louvered shutters ~



These 14th & 15th century frescos are on many corners. It's a shame it took so long for protective plexiglas to be invented ~



There is a fair bit of whimsy in this city ~



The river Arno! This was taken from "my" bridge, the Ponte alla Carraia ~



Looking east to the famous Ponte Vecchio ~





... and west at paddling people ~



And we're across the river now looking toward the core of the old city ~





So Renaissance-y! So Florentine! ~

[bixaorellana]

Moving on, I came upon people shuffling in that blind pack-mentality way of tour groups into and out of the narrow door of a church.
I shoved through their mass into what I found out later was the Museo di Orsanmichele ~ wonderment!

[bixaorellana]

Inside the church were a couple of rather terse notices advising of something else to be seen around the side through the back door.
I figured it couldn't be much, after what I'd just seen, but duly trudged over there.

Checking out the exterior of the church was worthwhile ~







But oh, goodness gracious ~ the treasure snugged practically to the back door was astounding ~

[bixaorellana]

So much glorious detail ~



















Finally I tear myself away and head off to find the next point of Florentine fabulousness ~

[mossie]

You have really shown us ancient with a touch of modern, with Mariah Carey poking her nose into one shot

[bixaorellana]

She's doing a fine job of keeping her eye on all that antiquity, isn't she?

Before disgorging my onslaught of cathedral pictures, I will treat you all to a sterling example of Italian bella figura. This pair instantly made me think of Albert Alligator's famous dictum:

They are standing in front of the Battistero di San Giovanni with its famous doors sculpted by Lorenzo Ghiberti ~











Beautiful as the Baptistry is, nothing compares with the jaw-dropping beauty and majesty of the cathedral ~

[bixaorellana]

Looking around to the side. See that crowd? It extends completely across the front and all down the side of this massive building, which is why we won't be going inside. Don't worry ~ I have the interior of a consolation church to show later on.

The cathedral's side is no less dazzling than its front ~







A side effect of the overly-popular sites is that nearby areas can be pleasantly deserted ~

[fumobici]

I should have guessed that merry-go-round was the one in Piazza Repubblica.

I've walked by Orsanmechele probably dozens of times and never once gone inside, it's amazing. Shameful of me. I've never been inside the Duomo either. Maybe my favorite church memory in Florence was in the relatively modest Chiesa di Santa Maria del Carmine o detto semplicemente, Carmine. There were maybe four of us in the whole church and I said my 'buongiornio' to the priest as he was doing some work near the altar and the scene was so quiet and peaceful we had a short and pleasant conversation. Try *that* at the duomo or at S Croce. The only other time an Italian priest had bothered to talk to me was being scolded at Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome when I forgot to take my hat off when I came in.

Some years ago I posted photos here of the piazza del duomo and piazza S Croce almost deserted in early May. I think it was pretty early and had been raining the night before, and those together were enough to keep the crowds away. So, early morning is a great time to hit the places that tend to get slammed with tourists and the light is often excellent then for good photos not littered with tourists.

Awaiting more report, you've surely found more wonderful stuff I've never seen.

[bjd]

I have been to Florence twice, both times years ago, so it's good to see what has changed. Not much as far as buildings go, other than the advertising with Mariah Carey.

Are you going to go up to Fiesole, Bixa? Nice view over the city from there.

[whatagain]

Great pics. We were there last year or the year before. Fantastic city.

[kerouac2]

I was only in Florence once... in 1971. I recognise the scenes of the Arno and I'm sure that I will recognise "that statue" in front of the Galleria dell'Accademia.

Wonderful photos. I'm sure you have noticed that my camera is dying, but your camera is still in its prime.

[bixaorellana]

Thanks to all of you! There will be more of this report, but I would love to re-visit Florence. I got here with a raging cold, plus it's rained a good bit, so I feel I didn't even skim the surface. That's okay, though. Cities such as Florence might be better appreciated with a deeper swim after an initial dip.

I can see how someone might just pass by Orsanmichele, Fumobici. It's rather staid and there are so many churches in Florence that ecclesiastical charm can wear thin pretty quickly. That said, I went into one yesterday that was wonderfully, naively OTT in somewhat the way of Mexican churches. I grabbed a couple of snaps, but then Mass started so I had to leave. The church I deliberately visited in lieu of the Duomo was Santa Maria Novella. Talk about bang for the buck! All that and more will be posted later, but right now I have to go finish packing for my morning train tomorrow to Genoa.

No Fiesole for me this trip, Bjd, although I did take in the fabulous views from Piazza Michelangelo and from higher up, where I visited the glorious garden of irises.

[bixaorellana]

Well, I arrived in Florence in the rain and it looks as though I'll be leaving an hour or so from now in the rain. On Saturday I had to hole up in a grim coffee shop across from the train station before wading back to the apartment. The next day I decided that I wasn't going to let a little rain stop me and went out to spend a miserable time getting soaked and not seeing much before scuttling back home.
These are the fruits of that excursion ~

I noticed some dabs of color at the end of a narrow street and went to investigate ~









The perpendicular street which forms part of the playground's wall ~



Even in the rainy gray light, that classic Florentine color just glows ~



Other walls are just gray. These commemorative tablets high up on walls are everywhere ~



The jolly door in that jolly wall ~



The weir ~



And one two three, kick!



One stop shopping for all your tasteful souvenir needs ~

[bjd]

So what colour statuette did you buy? One that glows in the dark, I hope.

[lagatta]

I did enjoy Santa Croce, but that was mostly for the "great and good" buried there. Along the lines of Westminster in the anglosphere. I also enjoyed visiting the Synagogue nearby, a symbol of the more recent past, the emancipation of the Jewish community (as well as minority Protestant groups) as part of the Risorgiamento process. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Synagogue_of_Florence

I'm sure the guide at the Jewish museum within the Synagogue thought I was Jewish (I had happened to study quite a bit about Jewish-Italian literature) because she was openly critical of the Lubavitcher Chabad house types, whom she found very imperious and little interested in Jewish-Italian customs, including food.

[kerouac2]

While admiring all of the magnificent sculpting in white marble, I can never help wondering if any of this could have been done if the people of the time had anything else to do instead -- Facebook, Instagram, videos to watch, that kind of crap. I see the sculptors sculpting away for 12 hours a day with a few breaks for meals. The pay they received was probably shit but they had nothing else to do.

That is why we will never see such wonderful items in modern times, but we can certainly churn out unlimited copies of David in every colour of the rainbow. (Actually, having all of those colours is a brilliant stroke of marketing, because just one in a lurid colour is beyond tacky, but if you have the whole rainbow to display, the series becomes a piece of brilliant kitsch.)

[cheerypeabrain]

Good grief...so much to look at, your eyeballs must have been on stalks! I have a sort of horrified fascination with all the ornate architecture. ...but I am absolutely in awe of the creators of the sculpture and other artworks. In my vast experience of visiting Italy (2 day trips whilst on a cruise) I did fall in love with the country. The villas I saw in Tuscany and around Naples (from a coach) did glow in the sunshine too...

I'm enjoying your trip Bixa..I wish I could just jump on a plane and explore too! (But it would cost me my marriage)

[lagatta]

Why? Look at the Man in Seat 61 (great Graham Greenish title) whose mission is to seek out the best railway rates: www.seat61.com/index.html Couldn't you pack husband in with you?

[bixaorellana]

Bjd, first I went for the green one because I like green. But then I noticed that coquettish cant of the hip the blue one has, so had to get it too. But two just didn't make a statement, so I rounded off the group with the sassy orange one.

LaGatta, I think you need to get back to Italy, plus write a great guide to places that are never on those quicky what-to-see sites.

Kerouac, dear ~ time for a medication adjustment, or maybe just some time in a quiet darkened room?

Cheery, if you could see what the >>shopping<< is like in Florence, you'd probably walk there from England! And yeah, the culture is awfully nice too. It would be ideal to have you with me, although our squealing and giggling might get us deported.

I got into Genoa yesterday afternoon. Totally different from Florence, but definitely a place to fall in love with.

[mickthecactus]

Coquettish cant?

Crikey...,.

[lagatta]

I'm listening to early morning radio here, and every day there is an interview with a Québécois or Québécoise abroad. Today, someone living in Buenos Aires. The relation with this thread is that a great many Genovesi and other Ligurians (as well as people from southern Piemonte)emigrated to Argentina and had a great influence on both the language and the cuisine there, though as one might suspect, Argentines eat a great deal more red meat (not much grazing area in Liguria and fish was more common as protein).

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunfardo

The famous Pasqualina/Pascualina (Easter pie) is of Genovese origin. In Argentina they make it with acelga (chard) as the spring greens gathered in Liguria were hardened or dead in the autumn.

By the way, one time in Florence, I stayed in Fiesole as a Florentine colleague lived up there. Yes, spectacular view. There is a youth hostel up there; the setting seemed pleasant but I didn't check it out.

[onlyMark]

May 10, 2019 10:00:43 GMT mickthecactus said:

Coquettish cant?

I think my missus has got one of them. I need to have a look when it's light though.

[mickthecactus]

[bixaorellana]

Sheesh! I turn my back on you boys for one minute and .........

I will now raise the tone by showing the walk I took to get to the iris garden. The garden will be a separate thread, but the walk there and back was worth recording, especially the walk back, which wasn't uphill and which took in the Piazza Michelangelo.
Anyway, onward and upward to the garden ~

Aftermath of a wedding shoot ~



Those stairs weren't part of my walk, but the views at their base were awfully nice ~



That old voice crying in the wilderness ~






I love the way these walls curve to follow the street ~





For quite a way I walked alongside a wall which rendered more interest than one would expect ~











Different wall, different kind of interest ~



Now I'm on the very steep stone stairs leading to Piazza Michelangelo.
These dog houses will remain a mystery, as I neither saw nor heard dogs ~







Go here to see the iris garden: anyportinastorm.proboards.com/thread/8570/giardino-dell-iris-florence

Still to come: the walk down plus more of Florence.

[kerouac2]

Remarkable view. Things like that make a long climb worth it.

[fumobici]

I've eaten lunch on that S. Giovanni Battista statue. It wasn't very comfortable but the view made up for it. Did you go up to S. Miniato del Monte? The views are wider up there, the church is a gob-smacker, and it's got the cemetery I took the illegal photos of. I can see snow in the distance from the piazzale!

[bixaorellana]

Kerouac, that's what I always tell myself as I look despairingly up at what remains to be climbed.

May 10, 2019 19:21:20 GMT fumobici said:

I've eaten lunch on that S. Giovanni Battista statue. It wasn't very comfortable but the view made up for it.

You don't want to know how I interpreted that!
To answer your question, no and I would have if I'd realized how close I was. I can't imagine why I didn't remember that nugget from your thread.

[bixaorellana]

So, here we are having exited the iris garden and on the way to the Piazza Michelangelo.
On the way are wonderful views of the city and a glance downward affords a glimpse of the irises ~







And there he is, Florence's fair-haired boy. A good thread maker would research the background of this copy --
when made? same dimensions? how accurate? etc. Does anyone know?





Whole lotta picture-taking going on ~





Fairly nice town out there to take pictures of, too ~

[lagatta]

It's better now, but at times Florence has experienced air pollution "peaks" and smog, simply because it is in a bowl surrounded by high hills, although it is many times smaller than CDMX or LA.

[kerouac2]

Italy at least had the courage to ban cars from the city centres, something that France does not dare to do since the French are already ready to start a revolution.