Florence

 

We arrived by train at the Stazione Centrale di  Santa Maria Novella and were able to recognize the typical Florentine style of the Gothic church adjacent to the train station: we had arrived in Florence.

It is always thrilling to arrive in a new place and we made our way to our hotel on Borgo Pinti, enjoying the new sights, looking forward to finally discover this city...we heard so much about Florence! and here we were! Our apartment was well located, 5 minutes from the Duomo, with great little shops lining up the street.

Soon after the checking in formalities, we made our way to the Duomo. We saw so many pictures of the Duomo that we felt we know it...an experience not unlike the one we had in Rome seeing the Vatican for the first time!  Meandering the streets from Borgo Pinti, we suddenly saw the dome of the cathedral... and were struck by its size and its imposing presence.
And also by the beauty of its structure, namely the varied colours of the wall structures (green, white and red marble) which we believed to be only in black and white ...

If the exterior façade of the duomo is strikingly intricate and sophisticated, its interior is rather sobre and modest with the exception of the mosaic floor and the frescoes decorating the cupola. Ah, this famous cupola: while the construction of the Duomo began in 1296, it stood "domeless" until 1420 before the erection of its cupola was undertaken by Brunelleschi (commissioned by Cosimo de Medici).  It is fascinating to read about the engineering challenges faced by Brunelleschi and how he resolved them. He was to become the foremost architects of the Renaissance.

 

We did not climb the 4000 some stairs leading to the top of the cupola, but some people do and I found this photo taken from the top of the cupola looking down in the cathedral...amazing!

 The frescoes were by Vasari who died before being able to finish the work; this amazing project illustrating the last judgment had to be finished by Zuccari in 1574.

The campanile The bell tower by Giotto remains, together with the huge dome one of the most striking views of the town. The famous painter, Giotto, was in fact also the architect of the project for the bell tower, although by the time of his death (1337) only the lower part had been completed. The works continued under the direction of Andrea Pisano (c. 1290-1349) and Francesco Talenti (not. 1325-1369) who completed the project.

With the exception of the Duomo and its campanile, Dante Alighieri would have felt at home in this medieval part of Florence.  The Badia Fiorentina (church), here on the right, where he caught his first glimpse of his beloved Beatrice,  the Bargello (1255) below and the Baptistery, and even the small streets leading to his native house, all this "décor" has pretty much remained authentic.

Another area of Florence that we liked to explore was San Marco, where the Hospital of the Innocents, the convent San Marco, the university buildings of Earth science and their botanical garden and the Galleria dell'Accademia (oldest Art school in the world) are located.  This part of Florence used to be "outside" the nucleus of Florence and was the location of the Medici "farm, where their elephants, giraffes and lions were kept.

It is in Florence that we celebrated our 40th anniversary.  That day, we booked tickets to visit the Uffizi, build and decoreated by Vasari to accommodate the administration of Florence between 1560 and 1580. Today, it is one of the richest museum of the world.

After this intellectual nourishment, we had to look after our physical needs...food please! We began with a sumptuous pre-dinner celebration with Chianti wine, Parma prosciutto and spicy mortadella, olives and mushrooms, focaccia!  Simple but so delicious... and later on, we made our way to Il Contadino for more Chianti and pasta!

And limoncello, compliments of the restaurant!

(The world is small ! the woman who took our picture was a Canadian, from the Kingston area...visiting Florence!)

 

 

 This evening of April 1 was a beautiful one which we ended by taking a night stroll around the illuminated Duomo.  Buona notte amore!

Our last day in Florence was spent revisiting the Piazza dei Signoria admiring the David of Michelangelo and the fountain of Neptun created by Ammanati in 1575 and decorated with Naiades of Jean de Bologne to commemorate Florence's naval victories.

  

 

We did not tire from strolling along the Arno river and enjoying the sight of Ponte Vecchio.  

We explored the Oltrarno (the other side of the Arno river)... the side with Palazzo Pitti, Santo Spirito church, the Boboli gardens, and quiet neighbourhoods.  One of those little street, Costa San Giorgio, harboured the house in which Galileo Galilei made his first celestial observations...that cost him a great deal of difficulties with the Catholic Church.  His house arrest took place here.

Happy to find places without crowds, we pursued our promenade along gardens and enjoyed the tuscan spring!

Arrivederci Firenze, we will be back...

 

 

Italian holiday 2014 - Venezia

Italian holiday - Venezia

Before we leave, at the end of March, this was the view on Lake Ontario...deep, deep winter.

 

            And then, we flew over the majestic Alps, snow covered...winter up there also.

      And then, there was spring in Venice...ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! We were excited, thrilled, to have this instant change from deep winter to a light green and grass smelling world.  We had arrived!

Last time we were in Venice was in the summer of 1978.  And here we were again, in la Serenissima , thrilled to spend the next 4 days exploring her streets, and canals...or should we rather say fundamente, rios, sotoportegi, and corte???

We had purchased a 72 hours vaporetto pass and were looking forward to enjoy its waterways! this enabled us to really see the many faces of Venice, capture beautiful views and hop on and off when we felt the need to continue our explorations on foot.

Our hotel Ca del Dose was located in the Castello sestiere (quarter), very close to San Marco, on a quiet Campo (Piazza) and adjacent to the church San Giovanni in Bragora where Antonio Vivaldi (yes, yes, he as a Venitian) was baptised. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Giovanni_in_Bragora .
I entered the door to our apartment in red...

When entering, his music filled the space. It was touching to know that this great musician and his family had lived on this very same Campo. And so the days and nights continued to be filled with such amazing moments.

To get in the mood visit:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgaOVV4JQHA

Of course, with several millions of tourists visiting every year, we were not alone. It felt like ALL students from across Europe decided to visit Italy at the end of March...here is what Piazza San Marco looked like!

Ah, but this crowd and all other merchants selling plastic junk just did not take away the beauty!

 

 

 

We spent time in each sestiere or quarter of Venice. Dorsoduro, Santa Croce, Cannaregio, San Marco, and Arsenale.

In Dorsoduro, we liked walking along the canals, enjoying an apperitive or a beer, watching the traffic...

And, in this Dorsoduro, we also discovered the wonderful church of San Nicolo dei Mendicoli (Saint Nicholas of the Beggars) where it is said that in times of high water, the priest had to use a small boat to get to his church...This area of Dorsoduro is very modest, and so is the façade of the church. The interior, however....

And then we stumbled on the Campo Santa Margherita...actually, we did look for it because it was written up as an excellent place in Dorsoduro to sit down for a drink, look at the crowd and enjoy one of those "Venitian moment"  surrounded by houses from the XIV and XV century.  Indeed, it was a very lovely piazza...

In the sestiere Cannaregio, there is also the Jewish Quarter with its synagogue, its kosher stores, great bakeries and a very lively piazza or Campo di Gheto Novo.

Back to San Marco...to get a glimpse of the the Basilica with its impressive mosaic covered walls and ceilings; if only, some money was being used for its renovation....has Venice not enough money for its renovation?%$???

Unless you took a picture of the famous Rialto bridge from the water, the crowd made it impossible from land....

We were also impressed by the majestic Santa Maria della Salute, erected on more than 1 millions wooden frames to support its impressive structure. One of the plague-churches, Santa Maria stands on a narrow finger of land between Grand Canal and the Bassin of San Marco thus making itself visible when entering the Piazza San Marco from the water. Its is beautiful from the outside and remarquable from the inside.

Another side of Venice that we particularly savour is the "nautical life" taking place...for us, boaters, we can appreciate how life can be dong everything by boat..shopping, moving furniture, ambulance service..and so we enjoyed taking pictures of Venice's nautical features!

Parking...

  Moving...

 Traffic ...

 Sport...

 Shopping...

 

 

We did not miss the Rialto market, however!

 

 

As mentioned before, our Vaporetto pass enabled us to explore the islands of the Venitian lagoon. 

We enjoyed Murano...definitely THE glass capital of the world; even its churches are decorated with glass...

 

We sailed by the cemetery island of San Michele but did not stop to visit...  Heiner was surprised because I usually convince him to tag along those green and peaceful resting places, no matter where in the world. But San Michele will be for next time.. it has an interesting history: until the early 19th century, Venetians usually buried their dead under paving stones within the central city (!) not a healthy practice, particularly in times of pestilence. With the Austrian occupation in 1837 San Michele became the only possible burial ground for most Venetians. (A Jewish cemetery dating from the 14th century is on the Lido.). Nowaday, Venitians must be buried on the mainland.

 

 

And, seduced by the elegant silhouette of its church and campanile, we wanted to stop on the small island of San Giorgio Maggiore; except for the boating club yard, everything was gated and not accessible. The church was unremarkable...by that time, we had seen so many wonderful ones!!! and so, we prefer the look of San Giorgio from the lagoon rather than up close...

After 4 days of meandering through the waters and sestiere of this truly unique city, it was time to leave...with the Freccio Argente from Trenitalia to Florence!