Siena and Florence Reflection

We have arrived in Siena from Florence, before we head to Rome. We had an amazing time in Florence. We stayed for 4 nights and hit all the major stops. Our hostel was sub-par. The guy who ran it was unfriendly and unhelpful, he sat in the front room all day staring at the computer and chain smoking cigs. The kitchen was filthy. We scrubbed it down since we would be using it for 4 days. We cooked some great meals, it is really expensive to eat out in Florence. Our room was big and clean to begin with, but an army of mosquitos attacked every night, leaving us covered in bites. Luckily Florence is so awesome that we didnt have to spend too much time in the hostel.

The first day we went to see the Duomo, Ghibertis bronze doors of the Baptistry, and went into the Duomo Museum. I have written pages and pages describing and reflecting on what we have seen, but I will spare you my own opinions for the sake of time and interest. In the Duomo museum, the highlights were Donatellos wooden carving of Mary Magdelene matted in her hair. It is a grotesque rendition that Im still pondering. My favorite was Michelangelos Pieta, originally meant to go on top of his own tomb, with Nicodemus carrying the face of Mich, while holding the limp body of Christ. The angst and compassion in Nicodemus face, sums up Michelangelos conflicted life and his struggles with religion up until his death. After the museum, we climbed the Campanile, for amazing panoramic views of the city and a close up, unreal sight of the mammoth Duomo. We lost our map, so we decided to just wander. Florence is a great, and safe city to get lost in. We walked through the Uffizi Courtyard and the main Piazza del Signoria, where the fake David towers among other notable statues available to gaze and walk around.

Next day we had reservations to visit the Uffizi Gallery at 8 15am. We got in no problem, ahead of the crowd, with fresh, alert minds. We wandered slowly through the Gallery, literally in awe. It is the largest collection of Italian Renaissance art, in one place, on Earth. You could spend weeks and weeks going through each room, reading each description, and analyzing each painting. I admire anyone who actually would, (or want to for that matter). We spent a little over 3 hrs and it was exhausting. It is a whirlwind of frescoes, Madonna and Childs, Jesus on the Cross, etc... Our favorites were the Boticelli room with Alleghory of Springtime, Birth of Venus, and I particularly like Slander, showing how the political and religious tides in Florence changed as Savonarola came blazing through town with his speeches of damnation. Complete contrast to Springtime, showing ashamed Florentines all in accusation of each other, the classical statues looking down in disgust from their niches in the walls, and Venus pleading to the heavens, asking what had become of the human race. The Renaissance, like everything, had to end...or just shift elsewhere. We liked Rapheal, and works from the Venetian Renaissance, all they way up to art from the late 17th and early 18th century, leaning towards impressionism. We loved it, if I had the energy I would have turned around and done it again...but we will just have to come back!

We went to the Bargello and toured a great collection of Michelangelo and Donatello statues, as well as artifacts from 1000 plus years ago. There was too much to talk about in there. We were both really into the statues, especially after seeing endless Madonnas with gold backgrounds.
The next day we did Accademia at 815 again, ahead of the crowds!! It was great! We saw Michelangelos David, the original one, looking more like Goliath than a lowly shepards boy with a slingshot. Its hard to put into words, its just huge and perfect, and amazing. Equally, if not more interesting, were his Prisoner statues. A collection of unfinished pieces that really show the tedious struggle of sculpturing. As Mich viewed the art and rock, the figures and bodies are literally struggling to be revealed, just as the human soul struggles to emerge from whatever rock that binds it. There was a temporary exhibit of the works of famous American photographer, Robert Mapplethorpe. It was interesting how they parralleled his work to the statues of Michelangelo. He was a tortured artist as well, trying to reveal the beauty through a different type of medium. He died early, from AIDS, at age 43.

Last night we climbed to Piazzale Michelangelo with a bottle of wine and watched the sun go down over the city and the Ponte Vecchio. Florence is beautiful at night, as well. There is nowhere that I have been (yet), where the past and present mingle so closely together. Only in Florence can you listen to a man sing Paul Simon and the Beatles to a crowd of 15o under the marble eyes of Machiavelli, Donatello, Dante, and Leo the Magnificent in the Uffizi Courtyard. Only in Florence can you gaze into the eyes of David as he sizes up Goliath, turn the corner and drool over a Prada or Gucchi purse youll never own. Only in Florence can you walk under the Medicis secret passageway over the Ponte Vecchio and see a man get thrown from his bike after being hit by a lost tourist in a speeding Peugot (yes, really happened, he was ok, we helped him get his bike out of the street). And only in Italy, will you throw away your clothes to make room for the best pesto, cheese, bread, and balsamic. Then again we are heading for Rome!