Firenze

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3 days in Florence.
We have had the most wonderful time in Florence. Firstly the accommodation is fantastic. secondly there is so much to see. Yesterday we went to the musee academie where the statue of David is. Now i have the aesthetic sensibility of a fence post but this was perfection. We reckon it stood about 4 metres high and it was perfect in every detail. No wonder people rave about it. It takes your focus and just holds it. the most spellbinding work of art i have ever seen. One of the things i had never noticed from photographs is that he has a sling and a rock (duh David!!). Did i mention that i don't have a very trong eye for detail as well?
Today we went to the other museum/gallery. Liz will fill you in on the details. We are staying about a km and a half from town and we have walked to and from town each day. Yesterday we caught a train to Pisa to see the leaning tower. They wanted to charge 15 € to go up. We were prepared to pay it but we also had to leave all our bags in the cloak room. No way were we leaving all our documents etc in a cloak room. we passed. What was interesting for me is that the 80 odd km between Firenze and Pisa (and i suspect on to Livorno) is now one huge connurbation with houses and apartment buildings covering the whole trip.
Couple more observations about Italy. I guess if you look hard enough most cultures are a mass of contradictions. But this place is severely mixed up.
1. You have these wonderful works of art from centuries and even millenia ago. It is obvious that Italians take great pride in their history and their art and achievements. They have a great sense of art and aesthetic values. Yet at the same time at each place you see hundreds of stalls selling the most tacky of merchandise from cheap plastic leaning towers of Pisa to Pinochio pencils to plastic swords. Italian television is like Australian morning television 24 hours a day.
2. The place is anarchic in the way it functions yet the police are the most authoritarian and officious i've ever seen.
3. You have such a wonderful sense of history but the place is filthy. Graffiti is everywhere (they should lock those people who encourage graffiti up and throw away the key)

OK some interesting synergies.
we're walking through the markets near the Ponte Vecchio (see how i just threw that in) when we stop at a leather store. The guy at the store says:
- You're from Australia. Where from?
- Newcastle.
- Newcastle? Andrew Johns. He doesn't play any more. My ex girlfriend was in a band that played at Newcastle twice - with AFRO MOSES!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Afro Moses? He rehearses at the place i work.
- Well tell him Aiden from Firenze said to say hello.

So all you at the Loft pass on that message.
We taught him the Newcastle Football chant: NEW-CASTLE, NEW-CASTLE
As we left he was screaming it out at the top of his lungs.

We climbed the dome at Duomo. 90 metres. 463 steps. i got vertigo at the top. but what a view. We're standing on the roof of Firenze and started talking with this family from Boston whose daughter is studying in Firenze. It was like the city disappeared and the conversation took over. Must have been half an hour.
Tomorrow we head to Siena. Did i tell you that Liz is a genius at pciking accommodation. Well she's outdone herself this time. We will be staying at Lake Trasimene. Lake Trasimene is the sight of Hannibal's first major victory against the Romans. The Romans were chasing him around the lake and he his troops hid up in the hills which run down to the water and as the romans passed they attacked them from the side. 2 whole legions were slaughtered. It is said the water ran red with the blood. I am so looking forward to visiting this place. It looks like we will not be able to visit Cannae scene of his greatest victory where 60'000 romans were slaughtered in the one day, still the greatest loss of life in a single day of warfare in history.

For those of you interested in theatre two small synergies while we have been here in Firenze.
1. In Pisa there is a street named after Antonio Gramsci. In the 70s and 80s when Marxism was looking to try and find a relevance in modern 20th century life the work of Gramsci with his concept of Hegemony inspired a whole raft of neo- gramscian writers. During the 80s you couldn't go to a theatre conference without hearing how theatre needed to take a Gramsvcian "oppositional" approach.
2. In the street last night we were handed a flyer for a political talk on saturday. Dario Fo and Fraca Rame will be introducing a senate candidate for the elections to be held on Monday. DF and FR, husband and wife, were the leading political playwrights of the 70s and 80s in Italy. Their work even spread to Australia. DF's most famous play is WE WON'T PAY WE CAN'T PAY.

Over to Liz

The "other gallery" is the Uffizi,which is an art gallery down near the river. It houses many Caraveggio, Giotto, Goya, Raffael (apparently the other turtles are in other museums!) and Botticelli paintings, amongst many others. Must have walked miles. Then to Ponte Vecchio, the shop-lined bridge over the Arno. All very expensive jewellry (spelling?) so didn't buy!
The walk to the top of the Duomo has been a highlight. we had been walking for about 6 hours before we started the steps, so imagine how our legs felt by the time we got to the top! Wouldn't have missed the view for anything!
Looking forward to Siena - more walking - and then some luxury at a resort on the lake for a night.
Have to go get dinner now; eating after 7:30 has become a routine.
love to all

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Comments

[Paul]

Failed blog
Barney, your blog from Firenze has failed. It ceased after "we had the most ...".