Life In Marble: A Weekend In Florence #1

On the weekend of April fifth and sixth, we made a weekend trip to Florence. 

There are many ways to get to Florence: train, bus, car, plane and many more. I, as a lover of art didn't care too much about how we got there. I was excited to just get there. To find our method of travel, we walked down to the train station. But it wasn't a train we got on. No, it was a car that would be the noble steed that would carry us to Florence. 

The trip to Florence by car was only slightly lengthy, being roughly four hours in length, but if you could have only seen it!( I have no pictures on the account that we were driving) After we were out of the suburb area surrounding Torino, and moved towards the coast, the views became increasingly gorgeous. Driving along a road running along a ledge facing sloping valleys and the ocean you could see layers of stone and emerald grass (when I say emerald I mean it. The grass was a very rich color. If you would have seen it you would understand that I am not over-exagerating) stacked up like a cake with chickens,  brightly painted stuccoed houses, and people as the decor. Worming through these colossal confections were long, winding tunnels. I really am starting to believe that Italians are trying to set the world record for 'most tunnels in succession' because once we started counting (and this was after quite a few tunnels) and ended up with a grand total of one hundred and six.

The whole drive, we didn't encounter any places to buy food until near the end. It was McDonalds. Blech. It's gross, but I was starving, so I didn't care what it was as long as it was food.

Here's lunch!

 I could see some of the city in the distance, but first we had to go see where we would be living. 

We drove through a couple of small Tuscan towns and up through a beautiful countryside road (more emerald grass) until we came to a driveway. We came to a cute farmhouse and were greeted by a teenage girl (the daughter of the woman who was letting us stay) who directed us to a small but quaint little guesthouse.

After exploring our temporary home, we set out to explore Florence (there was a train from the small town we were staying in that went to Florence). On the list to see that day: The Duomo. 

It wasn't that hard to find. After coming out of the station and passing a huge cluster of people selling useless nonsense (crying babies, toy cars, flimsy sunglasses, ugly jewelry, etc) and went through a small tunnel, I could see the golden cross shining from the top of Brunelleschi's dome. This we followed through the touristy streets of Florence towards the famous dome in the birthplace of the renaissance. The church was truly a sight to behold. The outside was definitely built to impress, astound, and belittle the viewer. It was all different colors of marble, pinks, greens, creams and little snippets of all the colors in between. covering the front back and sides of the church were window curls looking like marble pasta, various saints, and huge doors. 

Wow. Isn't it beautiful?

Mary and friends decorate the space above the door

But the doors of the church aren't the more well known doors. Those belong to the baptistry. The gold doors on the octagonal buildings show reliefs of Bible stories. Along the sides are assorted heads, one of them being the door's creator, Ghiberti. Dad is always talking about rubbing the head. The doors, unfortunately enough though were obviously a no-touching zone. There was a large metal grate around it. Dad eventually, though, did find a head to rub on the streets of Florence.

The doors!

Ghiberti is the one on the left

Church (left) baptistry (right)

Dad found a head to scratch!

We then ventured inside the church. Although not as intricate and lush as the outside I enjoyed the church's marble floors and the simply gorgeous painting on the inside of the dome. Sean said this was nothing compared to the one in Milan (The others had gone to Milan while Mom and I were sick) but I loved the gothic structure of the place.

The inside of the church

The inside of the dome

After visiting the church, we went to the academia to see the famous David by Michelangelo. There was a no pictures policy, so I will have to describe him to you. We all know very well what David looks like- his sling draped across his body, his arm relaxed by his side holds a stone and his serious eyes size up the nonexistent Goliath. But truly, it was coming up close to the hero and seeing the thick veining on his seemingly gargantuan hands that was the spectacle. His hands and arms were so large because he was meant to be viewed from below, from the top of a church. But the public liked David so much that they had him put in their main square, where all the citizens of Florence could see him when they pleased. 

Besides David, the academia held a very nice collection of medieval paintings, a few minor Renaissance paintings, a fine collection of busts, and Michelangelo's prisoners, figures emerging as if from water out of the marble. They were rough and raw but their emerging bodies spoke for them. 

After the academia, we were all rather hungry. We searched the area around the church and eventually came to a square filled with restaurants that had enclosed and heated outdoor spaces. All of the waiter-dudes were making a competition of getting customers. One waiter offered mom and dad free champagne. So, we went to that restaurant. Since I was just recently un-sicked (or so I thought at the time) I ate little, but what I did eat tasted fantastic. I ordered spaghetti carbonara. And enjoyed my meal until Griffin got picky and refused to swallow his bite of lasagne on account of the vegetables in it. Since all Italians seem to love Griffin, despite all of that, he was offered a free carousel ride which he took. Sean and I were offered ones as well. I agreed but Sean, refusing an amazing opportunity 'politely refused' (I think that's how he put it in his post). After riding on the horses, it was time to head home to our little cottage.

The entrance to the square where we had dinner

My dinner

That's all I have for this date. I will keep trying to catch up to real time in my posts. Until my next post,
Ciao!
-Hailey