Day 6 - June 19 - Last Day in Florence

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Because my husband and I plan our life in such detail, people think we are very organized and very together. Ha! We strive to be but often fail. As we did this morning in Florence. We had 9:30 reservations at the Academia, and timed it just right to arrive at the museum about 9:18.

Except I forgot our reservation code.

I had that reservation code in three separate places: our daily tour itinerary, my list of important numbers and in a notebook that I usually carried with me. Somehow that morning, all three had been left behind.

Poor Sam literally ran back to our hotel, and then back again to the Academia, and had returned, code in hand, at 9:37. I was worried we’d missed our opening, but they let us in.

You walk into the Academia and take about ten steps before you see Michaelangelo’s David. I had seen the David last trip and its magnificence had stayed with me for seven years. I had tried to explain to Sam how much different it is to see the statue in person. As soon as Sam saw the David he was awestruck. “I see,” he said. “It is different.” Seeing the David this second time, I was once again struck by the look on his face - a look of confidence combined with arrogance combined with innocence and just a touch of fear. The look of someone with something to prove, and his whole life ahead of him.

We ogled the David from every angle for about twenty minutes, admiring the detail like the veins in his legs, the nails on his fingers. I heard a few snips from different tour guides, including the wisdom that the disproportionate size of the David’s hands and feet suggest a youth who is not yet fully grown.

I was annoyed, as I had been at many other places, at the number of people sneaking pictures of the David despite the clear “no photo” rule in the museum. I do not understand how so many people can disrespect the rules and the art in this way. But as I have so often said, you can’t control anyone’s actions but your own. I am proud to say we did not once in a month in Italy breach a “no pictures” rule, and made a point - where pictures were permitted in churches - of making a small donation for each picture taken. I’d challenge anyone else interested in preserving the marvellous art in this country to take the same approach.

We spend the next couple of hours touring the museum. I had detailed notes about all of the pieces I liked - but alas, that notebook disappeared at some point during our trip. I do remember wondering how people could come, look at the David and ignore everything else in this wonderful little museum. It is well worth your time.

We were starving and hot when we left the Academia, so opted for a nice, long, air-conditioned lunch somewhere. We ended up at Antico Fattor on via Lanbertesca 1/3 r, not far from the Duomo. A pleasant atmosphere with excellent service, and the gnocci with truffle sauce was excellent, as was the crème brule (we needed a break from the traditional gelato finish). The price was reasonable with $10 primis and $20-$25euro secondis. Wine, an appetizer, two pastas and one desert brought us in under $60euro. More importantly: we had a nice cool break.

Earlier in the week we had stopped by Palazzo Vecchio, and heard about their secret passage and rooftop tours. As future a mayor of Halifax (or at least councilman - it’s in the plan 😉) Sam was keen to hear about the building and how the city had been run. So we had booked the secret passage tour. It was awesome. I have loved stories about secret passages and hidden rooms since I was little - and here I was, in a real building, with real secret passages and hidden rooms! Our guide was great, telling us the stories of Duke of Athens, Cosimo I, who hid all the treasure in coves in his secret room - art, and ingredients for his alchemy practice, gold and other treasures he had or pilfered. He had an escape route through the secret passages and out the back, because he was convinced there would be assassination attempts on his life (and there were!). The way the tour guide told the stories, it was living in an adventure fairytale for about an hour.

We also got to tour the gigantic ball room/assembly room and the bell tower. The bell tower is as old as the town hall (built 1299) and had been fortified several times, in part so that the ceiling would not collapse in. The building claims its assembly room is the biggest room in Italy (though we heard that a lot ).

We toured city hall with another couple and a Canadian family from Alberta, my home province. There were three “kids” in the Canadian Family - two boys and a girl, who looked to be somewhere between the ages of 16 and 21. They were really nice and the kids were defiantly the right age and maturity for touring, because they seemed really interested in what they were seeing, despite some obvious teenage attitude. I had a good chuckle because mom, dad, the girl and one boy were all decked out in the clothes my research had indicated were the best touring clothes: Columbia zip-off pants, Patagonia hiking shoes or Chaco walking sandals, button down 100% cotton travel shirts, and MEC knapsacks or shoulder bags. The other boy, however, wore jeans, a t-shirt with a band on it, long hair, and Van running shoes without laces. I could just imagine the arguments that had taken place packing those bags.

We had booked a second tour of city hall, but the first one was almost two hours and it being our last night in Florence, we decided we really should check out Piazza Michaelangelo. We told the administrators that we would not be joining the second tour so they could let someone else into it if there was interest - this seemed to confuse them, one lady kept saying “but you already paid!”. Yes, but we had a different priority and felt we’d seen the place. The extra $2 euro we’d paid wasn’t enough to keep us there.

Rain began to threaten again as we headed to Piazza Michaelangelo. It was about a 25 minute walk from City Hall, but even during the climb the views were fantastic. Unfortunately, the dark sky and threatening rain made photography difficult. We tried anyway, from many positions and many angles and with many lenses. Eventually I just gave up and enjoyed the views.

It was a Saturday, so it was not surprising that there were two wedding parties doing pictures on the Piazza. Italian brides really go all out for their weddings. The dresses, the shows, the hair and make up - exquisite. I hope those professional photographers got some great shots of those two beautiful brides! I was also pleased to see that all the tourists in the area were courteous and respectful, moving aside so that the wedding parties could take the pictures with the best views. It was nice to see.

It started to drizzle slightly. It was dark and cloudy and you couldn’t really see the sun, let alone watch it set. Nevertheless, dozens of couples sat on the stairs that every guidebook tells you to find to watch the sun go down, snuggling and making out and generally being romantically revolting. Sam and I looked at this, looked at each other, and didn’t have to say anything - we started walking back to the hotel. The impression I had was that these couples were “forcing” the romance by fitting into someone else’s notion of what was romantic. Our walk hand-in-hald back along the Arno, sharing an umbrella, followed by sitting under the covered part of the terrace - dry and warm while the pouring rain surrounding us - privately enjoying our never ending supply of good food and good wine - was more our style of romance.

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Photos

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Sam on PIazza Michelangelo

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Piazza Michaelangelo

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Piazza Michealangelo

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City Hall

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Tower by PIazza Michaelangelo