Florence

Good Evening Friends and Family:
It's a really amazing to wake up and think, "Today we are driving to Florence! We are returning to the Uffizi Art Gallery to see some of the greatest masterpieces in the world. We have a reservation booked for 12:00 noon and we both looked forward to this day. We have both always enjoyed art and have a great interest in it and in fact we met in Art & Design at the Red Deer College about 37 years ago. We used to sit beside one another in Art History before we really even knew each other.
Now, just a few facts about Florence...Firenze (Florence) is the capital city in the region of Tuscany. It's famous for its history - a centre of medieval trade and finance. Florence is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance. It has an absolutely amazing artistic and architectural heritage. It is incredible to think that around 1500, two great men, Michelangelo (age 250 and Leonardo (about age 48), would have met. Both men were working in Florence during this time and in January 1504 Leonardo is recorded as being present with dignitaries deciding the best location for Michelangelo's masterpiece "David".
After a perfect breakfast, and another small discussion with our delightful British friends, we discovered they were going to drive to the Chianti region and "just get lost", and hopefully before it got too dark, they would "find themselves" and carry on to their proper destination (San Vincenzo, south of Livorno).
Of course, Ron had to get busy and figure out how to drive into Florence, park, and be as close to the Pizzale Michelangelo as possible. On a previous visit, we caught a bus from San Casciano into Florence but after after speaking to a Croatian gentleman at breakfast, we were convinced, "It was easy and we must not take the bus after all! Of course you have to have a map to show where are you!", he exclaimed.
We left the Villa to walk to the Fiat, which was parked under an olive tree. It was windy and chilly again, but at least there were a few patches of sunlight!
We drove in and I was given the map to hold on my lap just like always and expected to read all signs and follow along. We drove along roads with beautiful names like Via Cassia, Via Senese, Viale Evangelista Torricelli, Viale Galileo. I think of these beautiful names in comparison with what we have at home - Glenmore Trail, Deerfoot Trail, McLeod Trail, etc. At last we reached our destination where we would park free all day. A beautiful bronze replica of Michelangelo's "David" overlooked the parking lot and the city. I should mention that the view of the city of Florence from this vantage point is spectacular.
We walked quite a ways to get onto Lungarno Serristori which is along the Arno, and would take us toward the Uffizi. We walked along, all the while looking down at the Arno River. This river is quite unattractive, in that it's a dull, brownish, tan color. Just before crossing the Ponte Vecchio, we stopped for cappuccino and tiramisu to share, at Bar Pontevecchio. This was a small, lively place with giant, colorful, dollops of flavored gelato. The waiter placed our order in front of us, we said, "Grazie" - he said, " Prego".
We finished our lovely snack and walked across the medieval stone bridge - the Ponte Vecchio. Originally, this bridge was the site of shops and merchants, mostly butchers. In 1593, the Medici's prohibited butchers from further selling at that location. Gold merchants moved in, and remain to this day. You can walk along this bridge, and that's all you see - jewellery shops selling gold, silver and Rolex watches. One or two lone artist sit along the way painting watercolours.
So, after crossing the bridge, we came onto Piazzale degli Uffizi. We were a bit early, so we walked around the Piazza Della Signoria admiring great sculptures. There is a stunning sculpture of Neptune, which takes your breath away. Sadly, there were giant tour groups which suddenly appeared in great clumps, and then disappeared as quickly as they came. Gypsies in colourful clothing were busy circulating through the crowds with the plastic cups. Our time came to enter the Uffizi, and we were stunned again at works of art by Rembrandt, Carravagio, Peter Paul Ruebens, Leonardo Da Vinci, Albert Duerr, Michelangelo, Sandro Botticelli. This Gallery houses "The Birth of Venus" (by Botticelli). After 3 hours of wandering around, we decided it was time to move along, so off we went to Caffe Castelvecchi on Piazza del Signoria for bruschetta.
We left there and had to stop in the Duomo. There were lots of people in the cathedral. A loud voice came over the speakers, commanding, "Seelance, Seelance!..Silence. Ssshhhhhh!"
Leaving the Duomo, we walked back across the Ponte Vecchio. This time, there were several people lining the bridge selling squishy toys. There were huge numbers of people everywhere, and this gets very tiring, but when you're tired you can always take a break, by stopping back at the Bar Pontevecchio for chocolate, hazlenut and pistachio gelato. And while sitting there, you'll most likely see a pigeon fly through or something silly like people trying on elephant hats (complete with trunk and tusks).
At least by this time, it was brilliantly sunny. We could hear the most beautiful classical music filling the air - the music of Andrea Bocelli. A man sat playing guitar, and many people stood mesmerized by this music.
On the way back to the car, we could hear the bells of Basilica of Santa Croce clanging away. Santa Croce is the burial place of Michelangelo and Galileo. Fortunately, we had visited this Basilica once before, so we did not return this time. A lady drove by on a bicycle wearing high heels. Weary tourists passed us, looking depressed before they even got to their destination.
Finally, we reached our car, feet aching once again. We've decided we love looking at cobblestone, but don't really like walking on it. We could hear a lady singing, "I Don't Know How to Love Him!" while paying guitar in the parking lot.
As we drove out of Florence, we both said, what a gorgeous city it is, especially when you are out of the busy, touristy areas. Its a city full of elegance and lush beauty. The word that will always come to my mind when I think about Florence? Elegance.