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| View from our hotel of Florence Photo: Ileana Johnson 2016 |
The bed
was maddening, the joining of two twin beds on the same frame which worked fine
as long as neither one of us fell in the crack in the middle. The fancy marble
shower leaked copiously through the glass enclosure. The bathroom had a bizarre
feature; I am not talking about the ever-present and annoying bidet but a
sliding partial wall that revealed a glassed window from the bedroom into the
shower. It was a peeping Tom meets modernity for the sake of adding more glass
into the décor and perhaps an illusion of spaciousness.
To make
matters worse, that night we got bitten by mosquitoes while sleeping. Who would
have thought that mosquitoes could fly that high up? Perhaps we would not have
cracked the window to get some fresh air and much-needed coolness as the A/C
was tied-to a smart meter tightly controlled from the reception, a balmy 26
degrees Celsius.
Interior of the gorgeous ceilings in Palazzo Vecchio seen through a window
Photo: Ileana 2016
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| David Wikipedia |
That evening
we took the 6:30 p.m. hotel shuttle to downtown with numerous magpies who talked
incessantly like children who escaped parental supervision. They were dressed up to the nines in their tightest
clothes possible. They were in town for a conference on May 5-7, the State of
the Union, Women in Europe and the World, and were going to dinner together.
One lady nearby told me that Prime Minister Rienzi was going to address them
the next day at 7 p.m. in Palazzo Vecchio
in Piazza della Signoria.
As I spoke
to three young men whom I stopped later in the piazza, I found out that one
talk did address the problem of European women raped by the influx of Middle
Eastern refugees allowed into the country by their own government who were
willing to change the face of Europe and Islamize it. The speech was allegedly
posted to the website.
The bus
dropped us and picked us up at the train station, a bustling sea of travelers
from around Europe who were taking fast trains in various directions. We had to
walk a good distance from the train station to the old downtown, past the
beautiful marbled and well-lit Duomo. The EU tourists had thickened even though
it was early evening.
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| Via dei Calzaiuoli Photo: Wikipedia |
I could tell
the locals by the way they walked, hurriedly and with a purpose, on the edge of
the street, in perfectly matched and artsy designer clothes, carrying a
fashionable Italian leather briefcase, and wearing uncomfortable-looking but beautifully
crafted shoes meant to be showy, not utilitarian.
A self-respecting
Italian would never be caught in a pair of Nike tennis shoes. Clownish-looking
shoes resembling our bowling shoes were an aesthetic expression only fashionistas
could understand.
The
ever-present Italian silk scarf was elegantly tied around their necks even
though sometimes it was not cold enough to justify wearing a scarf. If you wanted
to look Italian, you could not possibly leave home without a scarf or a shawl,
it was an essential accessory, especially around Milan and Venice where the
weather could turn on a dime.
My silk scarf shop that looked like a prison on the outside
Photo: Ileana Johnson 2016
Our favorite gelateria on Via dei Calzoiuoli
Photo: Ileana 2016
Piazza della Signoria at dusk
Photo: Ileana 2016
The street to the left of Palazzo Vecchio with the three gentlemen I interviewed
Photo: Ileana 2016
The Piazza with the Duomo at night
Photo: Ileana Johnson 2016
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| Photo: Wikipedia |
Via dei
Calzaiuoli connects the famous piazza del Duomo with the Piazza della Signoria.
We found the
tiny silk scarf shop I discovered twenty years ago called Evangelisti but it was
closed. Italians workday is much shorter than our traditional eight-hour day.
Italians know rest and take pride in their two-hour siesta, riposare dopo pranzo.
The evening
ended at the outdoor restaurant Il David,
by the heating lamps casting a glow on the Loggia with its beautiful statues, right
across from the replica of the famous statue of David, currently housed in the Galleria dell’ Accademia. Michelangelo’s original statue of David was
placed initially outside the Palazzo Vecchio as a symbol of the Republic’s
defiance of the tyrannical Medici family.
Turtle and Rider statue in Piazza della Signoria
Photo: Ileana Johnson 2016
In the
center of Piazza della Signoria, was
a gaudy temporary piece of art made of shiny rose metal, a man riding a turtle.
The piece was a strident expression of
modern art meets tasteless, in sharp contrast to the beauty surrounding it.
Giambologna’s
equestrian statue of Duke Cosimo I
(1595), celebrates the man who brought the entire Tuscany under Medici military
rule, while Ammannati’s Nettuno
(1575) revels in the Medici’s maritime successes.
Loggia dei Lanzi
Photo: Ileana Johnson 2016
Photo: Wikipedia
The name Loggia dei Lanzi goes back to the rule
of Grand Duke Cosimo I. His landknechts (lanzichenecchi, short lanzi) were German mercenary pikemen who
were housed in the Loggia.
Photo: Wikipedia
One of the
statues by Cellini which took almost ten years to complete (1554), Perseus, is holding in one hand Medusa’s
head dripping blood and a lance in another, an alleged reminder of what could
have happened to those who crossed the Medici family and its rule. The
intricately carved marble pedestal displays bronze statuettes of Jupiter,
Mercury, Minerva, and Danae. In his
autobiography, Cellini described how the melting furnace got overheated while
he was casting the bronze, spoiling the process. Cellini fed the furnace with
his own household furniture and with 200 pewter dishes, plates, pots, and pans,
successfully restarting the bronze flow.
When the bronze cooled, the statue was finished except for three toes on
the right foot which were added later.
Neptune Fountain
Photo: Ileana 2016
Palazzo Vecchio façade
Photo: Ileana 2016
The Medici lion
Photo: Ileana 2016
On the right
side of David, the Medici family appropriated and placed Bandinelli’s Hercules and Cacus (1534) to demonstrate
their power upon return from exile. A Medici lion and Giambologna’s Rape of the Sabines completes the
statuary of the Loggia. It was carved from an “imperfect block of white marble,
the largest block ever transported to Florence.” The beautiful statue placed in
the Loggia since 1583, can be admired from all sides. The marble pedestal is
also decorated by bronze bas-reliefs with the same theme.
Michelangelo's David outside Palazzo Vecchio
Photo: Ileana 2016
Corner of Palazzo Vecchio Photo: Ileana 2016
Uffizi middle courtyard that separates the two wings
Photo: Ileana 2016
Utterly
exhausted, we trudged our way back to the train station for the 10:45 p.m.
shuttle pick up for Hilton hotel. I will
continue the exploration of Florence after a good night’s rest.
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