So much to see

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We woke to overcast skies. Maybe I shouldn't complain because we had sun in Cinque Terre and it isn't as cold as Venice, but it would be really nice to have some sun. Anyway, we met Alexandra, out guide at Piazza della Republican 9:30. She explained that the area that had once been filled with medieval buildings that had been erased and the area had been rebuilt in the 1890's after the unification of Italy. Florence was one of the two capitals of Italy and the leaders wanted it to look more like other European capitals. The large arch reminds me of Paris, a different scale but similar nonetheless. This renovation was in the tradition of Florence where the citizens and rulers had great self-confidence and embraced modernity. Especially after the start of the Renaissance they always tried to make their city was more impressive than other European cities with buildings that are larger and more elaborate than can be found elsewhere Florentines were willing to undertake projects that they couldn't execute with the expectation that they would be able to solve today's insurmountable problems tomorrow. Such was the case with the Duomo It stood without a dome/roof for 50 years until Brunelleschi figured out how to construct the dome without the use of scaffolding. It's impossible not to be in awe of Brunelleschi's engineering innovations. Even today, architects who study his work aren't really sure how he figured out what to do. Alexandra thinks that rather than having a grand plan, what he did was analyze problems and innovate solutions on the spot. Unlike many architects he was also the chief engineer.

Our next stop was the X church that once upon a time housed the city's granary the grain guild and a church. Over time a cult grew up around the portrait of Mary in the church. A large group would gather daily after work to chant for the portrait and their singing was disruptive to trading. The guild moved and the space for the church was enhanced. The statues around the outside of the building were erected by the various top guilds and were executed by some of the greatest sculptures of the time. They reflect the profound change of the Renaissance in which the figures reflect emotion, unique human physiognomy and perspective. They stood on the exterior of a public building for the edification of all people who passed by. Today's public monuments in the US speak to cultural and historical themes more than religious themes, but in other parts of the world religious themes still dominate.

We spent a lot of time talking about the Medici's who almost single handedly were responsible for much of the Renaissance. What made them unique in my opinion was not that they sponsored incredible art and scientific exploration...anyone with money can provide patronage, but that they emerged themselves in learning and provided access to knowledge to the other citizens. They hired Galileo as a tutor and sponsored public lectures. Maybe there was less to know that enabled them to involve themselves in such a broad range of intellectual challenge, but what they achieved amazes me. While we refer to the "Medici's", actually there were only a handful of men, less than six, who achieved a level of greatness that is pretty much unmatched even today.

After Alexandra took off, Jack and I went to the Boboli Gardens. The gardens were nice, but the view was unbelievable. Tons of people climb he Duomo for the view, but only a handful of people make it to the Gardens, From the top you have a gorgeous view of all of Florence. We had lunch at the top of the gardens and then got lost on the way down. I had asked Alexandra if she could recommend a leather store where the bags were actually made in Italy by Italians. One place she mentioned was Cassini across from the Pitti Palace. We stopped in and the bag I likes which was on the smaller side, was $1,100, more than slightly out of my price range. Our visit to the Pitti Palace was not all I had hoped for. After I visited the exhibition area with items from the Medici and later, we went to go to the Palatine Gallery which is the major part of the museum with the major paintings all displayed the way they have been displayed for 400 years. We didn't have the right ticket. I thought the woman the entrance said we could buy tickets on the third floor so up we hiked. What she actually said was that we could see the costume exhibit on the third floor. What she actually said was that our tickets would get us into the the costume exhibit. By then it was too challenging to go down 3 flights of stairs (each flight at least 2 floors) find the ticket office and then climb up again, so we spent a few minutes in the costume exhibit instead. after that Jack headed back to the apartment and I went exploring. My first stop was to see the Masaccio frescoes in the Branacci Chapel. I had watched an art historian discuss them before coming and there was an excellent audio guide, so I understood what I was seeing. Masaccio was evidently extremely temperamental (this made it for him to get commissions and all art was comissioned) and died at 28, but managed to create some of the first frescos with perspective and figures with individual human visages and emotion. The fresco of Adam and Eve being expelled from the Garden of Eden really enables the viewer to feel their anguish. This neighborhood is less touristy than the other side of the Arno. Walking down one street, I saw a young woman at the back of a shop, Giofre, making clothes and a really cute shirt in the window. When I went in to try it on, I asked if she which of the clothes on display she made and she replied, "I'm Giofre and I make all the clothes." Her stuff was unique and inexpensive so I ended up with the shirt and a dress for less than $100. I also wandered into the Angela Caputi store and ended up with a necklace that is all different colors, totally unusual and can be worn with jeans and a t-shirt. On my way back I stopped for gelato and boy was I glad I did. The raspberry sorbet and yogurt gelato was the best I've had then entire time we've been in Italy.

At 6 we had a pizza and gelato class. I had no expectations that this was going to be a serious cooking class. It was fun to make the pizza, although since it was baked in a real pizza oven, it didn't give me the info I really wanted on how to improve pizza in a home oven other than realizing that a package of pizza dough in the US is twice as much dough as you actually need for a pizza. The gelato that the instructor made wasn't very good especially since I had just had amazing gelato. At our table was a young couple (self-identified as "friends". He had just graduated from college and they were on a three month trip all over Europe. That said it turned out he was actually on a "Birthright" program and had started the trip with two weeks in Israel. His parents had met in Israel and he was waiting to hear if he had gotten a job with the Jewish National Fund in Seattle. His "Friend" was Catholic so she hadn't participated in the Birthright program, but they were heading back to Israel because he had to fly home from there. Sometimes you find connections in the weirdest situations.

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