June 4, Florence

            Today I stopped at an internet café close to the hotel and wrote the family then.  I can’t seem to get onto the hotel internet nor to FSC e-mail even at the internet café.  I think the firewalls are too strong.  However it was wonderful to get notes from Dave and Sarah on gmail and to catch them all up on what we’ve (I’ve) been doing.

             We left a bit late on Wednesday for Florence, more like 8:00 than 7:30.  We stopped at an Auto Grill near Bologna (where I think I stopped not 2 weeks earlier, so I bought the same bad things again…Coke light and M&Ms for an outrageous price.  However, the latter lasted through the trip to Rome yesterday, so it was worth it.)

            I think we arrived in Florence sometime after 11:30, and the bus driver had a heck of a time zeroing in on our hotel with those twisting, narrow and one-way streets.  So we ended up walking the last few blocks.   Our hotel was in a fabulous location, between the Duomo and Piazza Signorie and the Uffizi.  But it wasn’t exactly totally accessible for Alex (several steps here and there) and the bathrooms were interesting to say the least: a half-shower curtain separating shower from the rest of the tiny bathroom, with the bidet in the shower half.  The lobby looked good on the internet and was a comfortable place for us all to meet.  Breakfast was also good.

            After settling in at the hotel, we had time for a quick bite at the “self-service” restaurant across the street.  My ravioli was decent for 8 Euro, but others thought it a bit expensive.  However, we had food in our stomach and marched off for the Accademia.  On the way, we did a small bypass and saw the Ospedale degli Innocenti by Brunelleschi. Some remembered having discussed it in class but mis-guessed which side of that piazza it was. 

            The Accademia had no line when we got there, and Alessia was allowed in for a discount as an Italian student, and Alex and her companion got in for free.  The same thing happened at the Uffizi, so we saved the money for another museum.  They all loved the David, and, as usual, I also loved the slaves.  The Mapplethorpe show of nudes was also interesting, with a drawing by Michelangelo here and there.  I really liked the drawing of a centrally planned church of San Giovanni for Florence, but I restrained myself from taking a slide of it.  We saw a few other things there and then headed off for the Duomo.

            We first got a group shot of us on the only plain side of the Baptistry and headed for the doors.  Several were up for paying 4 Euro for admission inside the Baptistry, and Alex and Joel got in for free again.  (They took down the turnstile completely so that Alex could get in.)  We saw the copies of Ghiberti’s Gates of Paradise on the East Doors and entered the Duomo (something that we did not do with previous tours).  The students really liked it, and my students were especially good at noticing the kinds of vaults rising above our heads.  The vaults were in fact so high that it was almost hard to see if they were groin or rib vaults.

            After visiting the inside of the Duomo, several students wanted to climb up the steps to the dome.  I had run out of that kind of energy, so I volunteered to go to the train station to get tickets for Rome and back to Verona for all the students who wanted them.  The ones climbing the dome were quite grateful, and Theresa, Joel, Rachel, Jonathan and I went off to the stazione.

            As it happens, J, we had to pass Santa Maria Novella on the way, so I decided that I had to see its interior.  This cost 2.50 Euro, and the students were not up for that, so they waited quietly outside for Terri and I to visit the church.  I was pleased that we had made it by 4:20, since the church closed at 4:30.  (A few other students, Amy and Alessia and Alex went to Santa Croce at this time….they found the tombs they sought but missed the Pazzi Chapel by Brunelleschi, alas…)

            Inside Santa Maria Novella, I was pleased to see Masaccio’s Trinity again, and it really seemed to hover there in that low light.  The skeleton looked really real, and the trompe l-oeil of the architecture was very nicely done.  Then I realized that some frescoes I had been wanting to see were in fact right there behind the altar: Ghirlandaio’s series on the Virgin and St.John, with Giovanni Tornabuoni in attendance.  They were beautiful!

            Had to wait in line a while at the train station to get the tickets to Rome and, for a few of us, a return trip to Verona, so we thought it was well worth the time so that we would not be nervous tomorrow.  (As it happened, the train for Rome was one hour late on Thursday, so we could have waited in line then after all.) 

            After that, we split off again into groups, and Terri and I took the bus over to the Ponte Vecchio, walked over it, and searched for a spot for a drink and some dinner.  The most interesting restaurants were not open at 6:00, so we opted for a seat in the Piazza Signorie, which Terri really enjoyed.  The food wasn’t great, but we had a pleasant time and got to bed pretty early.  I had not slept well the night before the departure, so I did sleep well that night.

            Thursday the students all made breakfast on time and were ready to check out before nine.  We left our luggage on the shelves in their luggage room to pick up later and set off for the Piazza Signorie.  We made our 9:15 date at the Uffizi on time, although Alessia and I had to walk all over just to find the group ticket door.  I thought we would be through by 10:30, but we actually needed until 11:00.  Some students stayed with me some of the time, and I talked about various pieces briefly as we went by. Later on, we would meet up with other students and I would repeat some of the information.  I think they all got something out of it without it being too tedious.  Many were very excited to see the Botticellis.

            The next part was a bit tricky, because I still wanted to show them San Lorenzo (all four parts: church, Old and New Sacristy, and the Laurentian Library steps).  The library steps closed at 1:00.  Some students had to leave a bit early anyway and split from the Uffizi to catch the train to Pisa (as it turned out, they did make it to some of San Lorenzo).  I kept trying to keep an eye out for all the students following me, but when we made it to San Lorenzo, we were down to five of us: Jonathan, Rachel, Ashley and Kirsten, ironically Jonathan and the only three who are not taking my Art and Architecture of Italy class. 

            We went to see the stairs first, and they were all pleasantly surprised.  There was also a book and codex exhibition beyond the library, so Jonathan was really pleased about that.  Then we all four entered the church, and by the end it was only Jonathan and I who were in the Old Sacristy (as the others left to shop in the leather market right outside).  John and I had a very nice luncheon nearby, at which time it was close to 1:00, and not even I had the energy to see more of Michelangelo’s work at the New Sacristy.  Jonathan left to try the internet at the hotel before we all met at 2:00.  I found an ATM and did just a little shopping.

            Overall, btw, the students liked seeing Florence but felt the only thing they really had to see in Florence was the Duomo.  They acknowledged that it was a big and beautiful cathedral, but they missed Verona a great deal, perhaps because of the more colorful architecture there as well as the less touristy streets.  Perhaps Verona has also become their home now.  It is really such a nice area to live in and get to know it as a quasi-resident rather than a tourist quickly passing through.

            So after waiting an hour for our train in the Florence stazione, the Eurostar did go quickly to Rome.  The seven students played cards, tried to tune Marco’s new blue guitar, tried on their beautiful new leather jackets, dozed….and it all went very quickly.  We were in Rome at by 6:30.  Marco and Joel went off to try the metro to get to their hotel (instead of a 30 Euro taxi ride); the others went to their hostel on the west side of the train station, and I set off for the Hotel Canada.  I had a nice little dinner nearby then and will try another restaurant tomorrow night.