11/7 - Florence
Camping was surprisingly comfortable. We'd plumped for a 2 bed "room", but as the comments on the website had warned us, this wasn't a "room" but rather a small house tent with 2 beds (and room for scarcely more). I was thinking that we'd bake to death, but surprisingly it was very cool at night - so cool, in fact, that we had to use blankets. It hadn't been that cool at night in Naples and Rome - probably the camping site's position near the Piazalle Michelangelo helped a lot (the wind could blow freely without being trapped/blocked by buildings), as did ours being in an actual tent instead of a building.
In Florence it is prohibited to:
- "Lie down, camp or behave in a indecent way"
-" Walk on the flower beds or damage the grass" (so one can walk on the grass if one doesn't damage it?)
Seen at newstands in Florence:
- "Le ore gay"
- "Super maschio"
- Dodgy-looking DVDs from "Donne & Coppie Cercano"
East door of the Baptistry of St John
North door panels
Entrance to Duomo (Cathedral)
Portal to Duomo
It being still (relatively) early and thus (relatively) cool, I decided to scale the duomo.
Statues in storage on way up
View from the top of the Dome
Me at the top. Witness the healthy glow on my face.
Painting on the dome
Campanile (Bell tower). Another €6 was charged to scale this. Uhh.
Duomo
The next stop was the Duomo museum, where all the stuff that used to be in/on it is now.
Tino di Cammino. Cristo benedicente e testa di San Giovanni Battista. c. 1320.
Baptism of Christ, original. Used to be over the Baptistry doors.
Creation of Adam and Eve. 1443-52, Ghiberti. Original panel (the ones on the baptistry are copies).
Michelangelo, Pieta (uncomplete)
This is a very good picture, if I do say so myself. Though it's quite freaky for a Pieta.
An IBM booth with information on the Pieta had the following language options (in order): "English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish". Tsk! But then I guess if you pay for things you get to do what you want.
Donatello - Abraham & Isaac. 1421.
Luca della Robbia Cantoria. 1431-8. Celebrating children.
They had a section on the evolution of liturgical vestments. Interestingly, they were modified from Roman garb. The bishop's staff (crosier) alludes to his role as shepherd, and there was something on the significance of colours - green is the colour of hope and violet is the penitential colour for the masses for the dead.
Donatello - Maddalena. c. 1455.
Arte Bizantina. Le Dodici Festivita Cristiane, 14th c.
About this point, I noticed I had a cut in my right heel, probably from walking around too much in unenclosed footwear. It was very irritating.
There were signs saying "no flash" in some areas of the museum, but not in others. Did that mean that flash was permitted in some areas? Actually plain sculpture isn't damaged by flash, so maybe.
Luca Della Robbia Astrologia. 1437-9.
The museum had a "secure shelter for the disabled" on the top floor. Essentially they had a rectangular shaped room, but at one corner of the rectangle, a smaller rectangle had been attached to it - a narrow mini-corridor had been formed for wheelchairs to be wheeled. Maybe it's for earthquakes - if they can't get out in time they'll wheel in and wait in the corridor.
Lippo d'andrea - Testa di Sant'andrea. 1436.
If it could be conceived of, Florence was even more packed with tourists than Rome, not because of absolute numbers but because of its smaller area, resulting in a higher density. The heat was also worse than in Rome because there were very few fountains, and cold water was not to be had, unlike in Rome and Naples; in Naples, I was in the toilet when a drop of cold water fell on my head. At first I thought the toilet reservoir was leaking, but on looking up I saw a lot of condensation on it. Italy may be hot in Summer, but at least the water stored underground or from the mountains is cold.
It must be an act of collective insanity that possesses people to induce them to visit Italy en-masse in July - only the stupid or the desperate would do such a thing, visiting a place that could pass for a level of Dante's inferno. I almost wished I'd flown back.
There was a gelato and granita place called "Very Good". Gah.
Piazza della Signoria
Next was the Palazzo Vecchio, the former Medici palace.
Palazzo Vecchio
There was a huge crowd outside, so I almost didn't go in. Luckily, I discovered that it was not the queue to get inside, but just tourists milling about aimlessly. Strangely, the queue to get in wasn't actually that long. My guidebook recommended the Guided Tour and the Secret Routes (€1 each only on top of the admission price); though there were still places I wanted to go to I signed up for those because it was cooler and less mad inside than the rest of Florence. Anyhow the Medici were one of the most important parts of Florence (to me, anyway).
While queueing to get in, I used my umbrella for about 5 minutes when the sun was shining on me. A British man said, "Very good", and I replied, "I'm already suffering enough as it is. I don't see why I should bake for a few more minutes!"
Entrance courtyard
Ceiling in entrance courtyard
Salone dei Cinquecento or The Big Room (that's what the guide called it) - War against Pisa. Grand Duke Cosimo I commissioned paintings showing how the Republic's wars paled compared to his - the Republic took 9 years for one war, while he took 9 months.
Big Room ceiling
The Big Room. In the centre is Leo X, the first Medici pope
Cosimo I dedicated each room on the first floor to 1 member of the Medici family. The nerve.
Clement VII room - Francis II marries Catharine Medici
The Medici palace was nice, but truly, nothing can compare to Versailles.
Eleonara's Chapel. There were Old Testament scenes - with Cosimo as Moses!
Good fresco in the audience hall
Bad fresco in the audience hall
Salviati hated Cosimo but was under contract, so what he did was paint on dry plaster, not wet. The fresco only started fading after one century.
There were various terminals in the palace with IBM-presented terminals with information on the Medici era, made for the 2000 jubilee. There was an incredible amount of information, but I wonder who looks at even half of it. The only reason I was even using them was because I was tired, resting my feet and waiting for the next tour.
Travel tips:
- If you don't go to Italy during Summer, it's easier to follow the dress code most churches have