Location, location, location!

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As I write this, at 5.30pm, the bells from our local church Santa Felicita, about 20 metres away, are ringing, reminding us of how close we are to everything in Florence. Our apartment is hidden away behind a large arched doorway, through a sort of garage housing a Fiat Bambina covered in the Italian flag, and into our private courtyard. It is so quiet we forget about the hustle and bustle of the street outside.

We are well settled in for our nearly 3 week stay. We’ve stocked up from the supermarket just round the corner, the phone has a local SIM card, the bus pass is purchased as are our tickets for the garden festival at Palazzo Corsini al Prato, as well as our Friends of the Uffizzi card which will get us into, at any time, the Uffizi, Pitti Palace, Boboli and Giardino Gardens.

The temperature is much cooler than we anticipated which has necessitated a few purchases culminating in Bev getting a gorgeous pink puffer jacket this morning when it was 11 degrees.

Already we have walked our feet off! Our Skechers are the order of the day as we navigate the narrow uneven footpaths. I am learning that you can’t power walk through the steets of Florence with a zillion other tourists. We walk in single file.

6pm and more bells.

We had a lovely evening last night meeting all the people from Ian’s course, Annie and Robin, the two Australian Printmaking Sisters. Sandy from Tauranga is here while her husband works. Her parents live in Milford. How coincidental is that? This is the third time Dinny has been to the course so she had lots of little hints and tips to share. Annie and Robin’s apartment is over on Piazza Santo Spirito.

After purchasing our Uffizi cards the very pleasant woman who helped us, let us in immediately without having to queue. We hadn’t anticipated it all to happen so quickly so here we were, totally overwhelmed with what was on offer. The Botticelli rooms were the most important ones to find first. So here they were, The Birth of Venus and The Primavera. Botticelli’s self portrait was spotted in the Adoration of the Magi, along with members of the Medici family as the three wise men. How to keep your patrons happy!

That was enough for one day. Next back we’ll go to find the Caravaggios.

Out into daylight again in the Piazza Della Signoria we found the large plaque in the centre commemorating the spot where the fiery priest Savonarola was hanged and burned at the stake. A famous painting of this event was included in the Corsini exhibition last year at the Auckland Art Gallery so this image is etched on my mind as I stand there trying to imagine the event. Actually a bit grim so best not to.

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Photos

Our street
Looking north to the Ponte Vecchio.

The Ponte Vecchio
You can see the Vasarian corridor above the shops. Butchers used to be on the bridge but the Medicis didn’t like the smell so they ordered them out and replaced them with gold merchants.

The Adoration of the Magi
Botticelli is on the right with identifiable members of the Medici family