Florence - 5/28/09

It was decided we get a little extra sleep and take a late breakfast this morning - nothing planned until a tour through the Uffizi Gallery at 1PM. We all took advantage of the additional rest, a leisurely breakfast, and another beautiful morning at Il Castelluccio. We loaded up the van and headed for our inevitable battle with the Termini parking garage in Florence. We found our way in and down a winding one-lane ramp to a lower level. Oh-oh - at the bottom of the ramp the van is too tall to fit through the arch - cars behind us - how are we going to get out of this predicament? Somehow Paul got cars to back up, rerouted other vehicles - somehow Manuel backed the van back up the ramp and got it parked. This was just another small miracle in the realm of Roman Catholicism. Of course, it helped to have two ex-seminarians with us.

We headed to the area of Florence that includes the Ponte Vecchio bridge, Uffizi Gallery, and the Loggia dei Lanzi. We strolled the neighborhood and eventually congregated by the Loggia dei Lanzi. The Loggia dei Lanzi is a building on the corner of the Piazza della Signoria, and consists of three wide arches open to the street. The wide arches appealed so much to the Florentines that Michelangelo proposed that the arches should be continued all around the piazza. It looks like Michelangelo got shot down – even he had to deal with bean counters in suits/robes. The Loggia dei Lanzi contains large, beautiful mythological sculptures - Menelaus Supporting the Body of Patroclus, The Rape of the Sabine Women, Perseus, etc. According to a lot of the art I've seen on this trip, the Greeks and Romans liked to fight their wars naked. I guess they did this for an easy transition to rape and pillaging during the after-battle party.

The Uffizi Gallery is one of the most famous museums of paintings and sculpture in the world. Over more than four centuries, the history of the Uffizi collections intersected with that of the Florentine civilization. The building traces its origins back to 1560 when Cosimo I de’ Medici commissioned Giorgio Vasari to plan a large palace with two wings to house the administrative offices of the Tuscan state. Occupying the top floor of the building, the Gallery was created by Grand-duke Francesco I and subsequently populated with art by various members of the Medici family, who were great collectors of paintings and sculpture. “Its collection of primitive and Renaissance paintings comprises several universally acclaimed masterpieces of all time, including works by Giotto, Simone Martini, Piero della Francesca, Fra Angelico, Fillippo Lippi, Botticelli, Mantegna, Correggio, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Caravaggio. German, Dutch, and Flemish masters are also represented with important works by Durer, Rembrandt, and Rubens.” Fantastic!


Tired from a week of non-stop walking, it was time for another Tuscan meal. The group happened upon another excellent Florentine restaurant on a side street off the beaten path. I'll have the usual - pasta, Moretti beer, Tuscan red wine, water (no gas - I have enough already, thank you), and cappuchino. It's been another great day. Time to head back to Il Castelluccio with a stop at our favorite wine store for more wine. By the time Manuel leaves Italy, he and the shop owner will be best friends. On the way back to Barbarino, Manuel needed socks, so we finally stopped at that which we had avoided all week - the outlet mall. The Barbarino Outlet Mall, this lone Tuscan tribute to American culture, was totally at odds with the rest of the region. Maybe in 7 - 8 thousand years it will be viewed as an archaeological rival to Hadrian's villa. Right now it's just a Tuscan bastard sitting off Highway 1-A.

Back at Il Castelluccio, it was a night of wine and leftovers. Wanda prepared a nice bruchetta. Ken, Zac, and I went for a walk to the stream and through the farm situated below the bed and breakfast. We were too tired to mess with the sheep. Most of us hung out at the pool after dark drinking wine and planning that state-of-the-art old folks home that is not far off in the future. A trip like this lulls one into thinking that retirement might not be too bad.