Gettin' Down with the Medici's

So after our lovely time in Venice we bused out to the Airport and picked up our rental car which we would have for the next week.  We had a bit of an issue finding the desk to pick up the rental which I'm not ashamed to say was my fault so we were a bit delayed in leaving.  But once we got our little silver Lancia Muse packed nice and tightly and had Melba (the GPS is named Melba, blame Dad.  Mom and I tried calling it Flo but Dad refuses to call it anything but Melba and now it's stuck.  At least its only a GPS!)fired up we were ready to venture off into crazy Italian traffic.  And let me tell you it is a little nutty.  But we got the hang of Melba's poor pronunciation of Italian and were able to make it to the Autostrada (aka Freeway).  The majority of the drive was uneventful.  We Ooh'd and Aah'd at the Tuscan scenery and I read all about Florence in our husty trusty Rick Steve's book prepping for the days to come.  We were only going to be in Florence that afternoon and one full day.  So organization was a must.  Of course only after all the reservations were made did I discover that almost everything closes on Monday in Italy, meaning tourist stuff you might actually want to see.  So we had to make some decisions before we arrived and decided to bypass the Uffizi gallery and go to the Accademia to see the statue of David.  Apparently the Uffizi is really hard to get into and since we were arriving Sunday at 2:00 we didn't think we could make it into the Uffizi and it's closed on Mondays like almost everything. So I researched and became the tour guide, Dad was the driver and Mom with the help of Melba was the navigator.  Yes we make quite a team!  And those of you who know my father already know he had a  quirky sense of humor and comes up with the most random and hilarious things.  Driving with him in Italy was no different.  But the stolen "That's Crap" phrase from cousin Eric and baby Liam was converted to "That's Crapiola" by my father and became our favorite bad phrase.  On the way into Florence there is the toll booth you have to go through (they are all over Italy) and it took my Dad several attempts to figure out that you can't put the bills in the drop for the change.  Of course the attempts caused much laughing and I started crying it was so funny.  When we finally made it into the city it was like driving down super tight allies in the states.  Thank the Lord we had Melba for without her we never would have made it to the hotel.  She took us straight there, well almost, with the exception of some backtracking due to many many many one way streets.  But interestingly we went down them all going the right direction!!!  3 Cheers for Melba.  When we got to the hotel on a teeny, tiny side street I ran in and asked about the car.  The concierge called for the parking company to come pick up the car and we unloaded it and left Dad out to man it until the parking guy came while Mom and I checked in.  Of course our room wasn't ready yet so we stored the luggage in the luggage room and waited for Dad.  Once the car was whisked off to a private garage we had a potty break and then headed out for the Academia.

We stopped along the way and got a gelato for lunch, yes for lunch.  But we picked the wrong gelato shop and we asked how much a gelato cone was and they gave us a price then made our cones and said oh no bigger cone more gelato and charged us like 6 euros a person for 2 scoops, the punks.  So much for our 2 euro gelatos in Venice.  After our first Florentine rip off we walked and ate to the Accademia and got in a very very long line.  Mom and I waited while Dad ventured off to make sure it was the right line.  He came back and said it wasn't the line that we had to go to the Piazza right above the museum and get a tickets.  So we got out of line and headed up to the piazza and happened to be passing the door when a guard told some other tourist to go to the piazza to get reserved tickets or wait in line. So Mom and I headed back to wait in line and Dad went to see if he could get a reserved ticket.  After about 10 minutes he returned with reserved tickets for 3:45.  Seeing as we had a free hour we went back up to the Piazza and went to another museum.  Sorry I can't remember the name and don't have my book with me.  But it's famous for it's old frescos.  It was once upon a time a monastery but is now a museum.  We cruised through going more or less hyperspeed to get through the entire thing in an hour.  My favorite part was the room that had some original sketches done by one of the padres that was later made into a giant wall fresco.  So you can see the sketches in the room with the actual fresco.  It was pretty cool.

At 3:30 we left and walked back to the Accademia to make sure we would get in and made it through security.  I was wearing my jean jacket and the buttons are all metal so when I went through the metal detector I beeped of course.  Then one of the guards wanded me while 4 others looked on laughing as the wanded beeped up and down my torso.  I felt like saying "No, I do not wear a metal bra".  But honestly didn't to care all that much other then laugh at me.  So we got in and opted to get an audio guide.  Being the clever girl I am I took the head phones from my MP3 player and hooked it up to the audio guide so dad had the telephone thing and Mom and I each had an earpiece.  In theory it would have worked well except for the fact that it was really crowded and 3 people moving in a pack didn't work so well.  And my Dad really like to wonder off so he would start to walk off and I would lose my earpiece and miss half the blurb.  But we made it through and had a jolly time admiring lots of pre Renaissance and Renaissance paintings and also the sculptures.  Obviously, David.  Hello, male perfection!!!  Standing at 17 feet tall and naked it was quite a view to take in.  I needed a moment.  Thank you Michelangelo, you da man!  We also saw Michelangelo "prisoners" which were 4 unfinished marble sculptures of guys.  It really looked like they were actively trying to break out of the marble that was still holding them.  It was eerie and beautiful all at the same time.  I liked the David but there was something about the bondage of the prisoners that evoked so much more emotion.  We also toured the famous plaster room, which holds a bunch of plaster sculptures by to famous Italian sculptors (sorry can't remember their names either).  But the famous guys would do the plaster then guys in there school would carve it in the marble and they would come in at the end and do the the finishing touches.  So the actual marble sculptures are who knows where but the Accademia's got a bunch of great plasters.  Then we headed over to the special exhibit on musical instruments.  It was amazing to see the number of beautiful instruments that were covered in inlays and carvings.  The instruments were art in and of themselves and didn't even need to be played.  Marjorie, Mom and I were thinking about you when we saw the most harp with a cherub carved into the top of it and inlaid with ivory.  It was exquisite.  After our visit to the Accademia was complete and the audio guide returned we headed back to the hotel but not before realizing after we got out that there was a second floor to the museum.  Oops!

We went back to the hotel and moved our stuff up into our actual room then took a break.  I journaled because I was a little behind while Mom and Dad napped.  Then we went to dinner and opted to try yet another Rick Steve's recommendation figuring they couldn't all be bad and headed to Paolo's.  It was by far my favorite meal in Italy.  It was jam packed and we got a tight table next to a british couple.  We deciphered the menu enough to figure out what we wanted to eat and ordered with our waiter Rolando (Yes, I kid you not, Rolando was our waiters name. PS: for those of you who don't know my Dad's name is Roland which is uncommon to say the least.  As soon as we ordered we got the command to "close the book" meaning the menu.  It was entertaining just watching the waiters hustle and bustle around the restaurant.  We had a fabulous meal, Dad and I ate a fried veal cutlet parmigiana style and a side of spaghetti marinara and Mom had a veal picatta with a side of fries.  It was all sooooooo yummy. It was by far my favorite meal in Italy.  We also sprung for dessert and had this really thick chocolate sauce with cream puffs in it and a side of fresh strawberries.  Okay, I know the chocolate thing sounds odd but it was really good.

After dinner we went strolling around old down Florence and saw a little bit of some benefit dinner that was going on.  Then we walked down to the Piazza by the Uffizi. I want to say its Piazza Santa Margharita but I'm not sure.  In any case we walked around the piazza and over to the area where they have a bunch of bronze and marble statues.  The replica David, as well as two rape scenes.  It doesn't sound good but the sculptures were very interesting.  We sat and listened to some guy sing Simon and Garfunkle songs then headed back across the Piazza and to the hotel were we cleaned up and went to bed.

The next morning we got up and dressed and headed out after breakfast.  We went to the Medici Chapel first.  But not before walking down the alley of leather stales and having a little look around.  For those of you who don't know who the Medici's are they were a wealthy family that started as pharmacist then got into the clothe trade making them really wealthy and then they took over control of Florence, Moffia style.  They controlled Florence through the majority of the Renaissance and pretty much until the city state of Florence became part of Italy in the 1870s.  So we went to the Medici Chapel, which yes is the personal chapel of the Medici's.  So we entered and went downstairs to see some of the headstones as well as a lot of relics.  You know church relics, they pretty much are random body parts of saints or important religious people.  It's kinda gross but apparently they were like the ruby slippers of medieval europe, and could fix everything and anything.  After that lovely little tour we actually made it into the chapel proper which was beautiful.  Floor to ceiling marble columns, carvings, inlaid marble floors all in different color of marble from Tuscany.  There was some restoration going on in the chapel so you couldn't see everything.  But it was still spectacular.  We went through one of the side rooms and saw a small chapel containing several Michelangelo sculptures.  All Beautiful, but two of them (both men) didn't look finished and I wasn't sure why but it bothered me.  When we finally left he Chapel and headed to the Medici Palace via leather ally.  We made a few stops.  Mom bought a purse, dad bought a wallet and belt, I bought yet another journal as my other one was getting full already.  It was quite fun.  I was eyeing a leather jacket but opted not to get one and to wait and look for some nice Italian shoes.  You know me and my shoes.  Consequently, I bought 2 pairs in Rome.  When we left the alley we walked back to the hotel and dropped our purchases off then went to the snack shop across from our hotel and got lunch.  We ate our panini's sitting on the church steps next door and people watching.  When we finished lunch we were ready to move on.

We headed to the Medici Palace and toured around.  Upstairs was the banquet room which was great.  It had paintings all over the walls and ceilings.  There were big mirrors on one side and one of the artist had painted over parts of each mirror.  our favorite was of some cherubs hoisting a gilt frame up to hang a "mirror".  Then we walked over to see the famous Chapel of the Magi.  It is a teeny tiny personal chapel that is frescoed floor to ceiling with the procession of the Magi which wraps around 3 of the walls the 4th being the alter wall with a painting of Madonna and child by another famous artist.  The chapel was amazing as was the detail in the painting.  After admiring the beauty of the room we went downstairs and found this interactive thing that told us all about the painting.  Like the Medici's that commissioned the chapel were painted in one of the processions in the place of honor behind the magi.  The Pope was painted in grimacing because he apparently was miffed with the Medici's for not having as big a celebration when he came as when a young prince from another area came.  Of course the young prince was in the picture as well as the artist.  The interactive thing was really cool.  Not long after that we headed to the Duomo.

The Duomo of Florence has a beautiful marble facade that was added long after its original construction.  But it is beautiful on the outside.  The inside is beautiful too but it's weird to go into a church and not have any pews.  Pretty much the church is nothing but a tourist attraction which to me is really disappointing.  But it is famous for having the first Renaissance dome built.  They had lost the Roman technology during the dark ages and originally built the church and left a big gaping whole where to the dome now sits.  It was open air for like 100 years before Breneschelli (sorry spelling?) figured it out and was able to build the dome.  So we toured the inside of the church and by the time we got out we were all a little tired but decided to do one more site.  So we decided on the a church and headed that way.  Sorry my brain is fried and I don't have my book and I can't remember the name of the church or why it was important.  But we walked there and saw it.  I think the only reason I remember it is because when we were there a german school choir came into the church and started singing old hymns.  It just was so perfect.  We sat for a while and just listened to the music and enjoyed the atmosphere it created in a church.  I wish they had music in all the churches you visit.  It makes it so much more welcoming.

After our church visits we went back to the hotel for our afternoon relax.  Which consisted of my parents napping and me writing.  We were deciding were to go for dinner and watched a crazy Japanese show called Takashi's hour.  Which was a bunch of high school students trying to do all these really odd physical challenges.  I was laughing so hard I was crying during the majority of show.  We finally left and walked towards the Uffizi thinking we would try to go to another Rick Steve's recommendation but got side tracked and found a restaurant that looked good.  I had pesto pasta and a salad and fried mozzarella.   Mom had fried chicken and veggies and Dad had fried rabbit and onions.  He wasn't overly happy with it because it was fried in a tempura type batter (you know really light no spices) and didn't come with any sauce.  My Dad really likes his sauces.  After dinner we walked back towards the hotel and stopped off at a Cafe and bought a pastry for dessert as Dad couldn't do any more gelato.  We went back to the hotel ate and went to bed early so we could get up early to head out to Assisi.

Overall Florence was fun but not as great as I remember it.  Maybe it's just me looking at things differently now that I'm older.  But regardless it was still a good time and we saw lots of amazing art.  We got up early the next morning had breakfast, checked out, got the car back, loaded up and headed out to Assisi.