Marble and Meat

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We left Rome by train. A train we nearly missed. Because of the national holiday (it is the equivilent of the 4th of July in America) all the major roads in Rome were closed to traffic because of a big parade they were having. The taxi driver didn't know how to get to the train station by the back way. She got lost several times, had to turn around in pedestrian areas, and asked for directions several times. But, she got us to the train station with fifteen minutes to spare.
Because it was an express train to Florence, the train ride only took about an hour and a half. We passed the time playing Yahtzee on the iPhone with Joe and Jen, and some Backgammon.
After arriving in Florence and settling in to our hotel, we took a walk around the city. The central part of Florence is fairly small and easily walkable. Above, you can see the original city wall and the giant gate that gave entrance to the city. Today, it is used as another street, but the monument still stands to the way things were. Sometimes, I think the U.S. could learn a thing or two from Europe about how to preserve the country's past.



The Duomo. Every Italian city has a Duomo. The word Duomo translates as "Dome" and it just refers to the roof of the town church. Florence's Duomo is one of the most famous in Italy because of its size and location. All the streets in Florence lead to the Duomo, and if you get lost, all you have to do is keep its bulky mass in sight and you will come back to where you started. It is very easy, and safe, to walk around Florence.


Fortune Doors. These doors are on the building directly in front of the Duomo. I am not exactly sure of the date, but some time during the Renaissance, the city of Florence held a competition for all of the sculpters and metalworkers in the area to each create a panel for a door on the church. Artists from all over Italy came and made panels to be judged. Back then, when the Medici family ran Florence, Art was the main focus of society and it was considered a very big deal. The winner was a man named Ghimberti, and he was commissioned to create all twelve panels to finish the door. Because of the crowds, I could only get eight of them in the picture above, but they are beautifully done.
From the Duomo, with Gelato in hand, we walked down to the Ponte Vecchio.


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Ponte litterally means bridge. The Ponte Vecchio is the main bridge in Florence. If you have ever seen photos of Florence, you have probably seen it. It is a pedestrian bridge that is lined with shops. Originally, there were butchers and fishmongers lining the bridge, but the smell and local crime kept many people away. The city decided to clean up the area, put some high end jewelry stores on the bridge and turn it into an upscale shopping area. The jewelry shops are still there, but are far too expensive to actually consider buying anything from them. The view, however, is great, and it is nice to walk across and gaze off of. You can see some other views below.



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Us on the Ponte Vecchio.



Another view of the Ponte Vecchio.

One of the gold shops on the Ponte Vecchio.

View from the Ponte Vecchio.

After walking around for a couple of hours, we returned to our hotel. In the stairway, there were these lamps that had a very odd look to them. The supports looked like vines and leaves, and the lamps themselves seemed like some kind of strange bud. They looked like they were going to attack and scream "FEED ME SEYMOUR!!"

The picture really doesn't do them justice.

The following day, we went to the Ufizzi Art Gallery. It is a museum full of marble sculptures and paintings. Botticelli's "Venus" and "Primavera" are there. They are beautiful close up, and rather large. There are also some amazing sculpture. It is interesting to me that artists were able to have such an understanding of the human body before modern medicine really described how muscles and bone work. Michaelangelo and others were said to have exhumed dead bodies to examine and gain a better understanding of how the body's musculature and bones interacted and moved under the skin. It is certainly evident in their work.

Things you can't do at the Uffizzi Art Gallery. No guitar? What about Banjos? Popular guesses for the last one: "Don't turn off the lights", "Choose your own forbidden action", or maybe "No black clothing before Labor Day", take your pick.

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Street art...Literally.

The great thing about Florence, is that art is still very much alive and well. Street artists, musicians and mimes (much to Jen's chagrin) are all over the city. The trick, though, is to pick out the real artists from the fakes just trying to make a buck off an ignorant tourist. The people above were obviously the real deal. Would you believe that is all done with Chalk!?

Central square at night. Florence is great for walking around in at night. Everyone is out, enjoying the sites, and all of the buildings are lit up.

Nero D'Avola. Our favorite type of wine. The best winery for this, though, is Regaleali, in Sicily.

We met up with Fabio, who works for Joe in Italy. He took us to this great restaurant where there was more meat on the menu than pasta. This steak was the speciality of the house. (It was also as big as the house - this is what's left AFTER Scott was halfway finished eating. - Anna) Fabio ordered for us all, and the server brought several courses. The steak above may look huge, but the table next to us got a couple of the steaks designed for two people, and they were twice as big! It looked like the chef had thrown an entire side of beef onto the grill and let it simmer.

At any rate, it was an excellent dinner, and when we were done, we had an after dinner drink. The name of it eludes me, but it was made from herbs and was very strong. The consistency was similar to Jagermeister. It was a bit much at first, but I slowly got used to it (or maybe the amount of alcohol dimmed my taste buds).

Anna and I had both been craving some protein after eating so much pasta in the last week. We got our wish, and then some. - Scott