Helloooo, Florence! (slightly revised)

July 20: One last morning on the west patio for breakfast--and yes, we do have photos of that patio, from Cindy's phone:

It was a beautiful spot for starting each day.

And then it was off to the train. We said our goodbyes to Gianna, piled into the taxi, and headed out for our very last European train ride. 🙁🥲

A little aside: A few days before, Cindy was sure she had lost three credit cards and her driver's license in a cab coming back from downtown Pistoia. No luck finding them--and we had our special taxi driver friend looking for them too. We stayed up late that night so that Cindy could cancel the cards. Luckily, she discovered that she had not had the DL with the cards, so that was good news. Anyway, cards were canceled and we went on with life.

As we were waiting for the train to Florence, I got a phone call from Gianna. She had found the credit cards under the bed and was ready to dash to the train station to deliver them. Never mind, we told her, those cards are now dead.

Let that be a lesson: Always look under the bed if you think you've lost something. Actually, always look under the bed before you leave a place anyway; you never know what you might find... 🫤🤗 (Cindy tells me she did look under the bed--but from the wrong side, and the cardholder was very thin...so look thoroughly.)

The train ride was uneventful; in fact it was one of the least interesting of our entire two months of train rides--sort of disappointing for our last train hurrah.

When we arrived, we found a taxi to take all three of us to the Airbnb place Cindy and I were staying at. Our host, Morgana, came down to greet us and show us the ins and outs of getting in and out of the building. Terrie was going to leave her bag at our place because she thought she couldn't get into hers yet. But after negotiating about half of the many stairs to get to Morgana's apartment, Terrie rethought this plan, checked again on her own Airbnb's check-in status and found that she could get in. So Cindy and I dropped our bags and headed back down those many stairs to where Terrie was waiting back at ground level. Found a ride, with some difficulty, to Terrie's little pied-à-terre (pied-à-Terrie??), which fortunately for her was accessible by elevator. Yay! (We were envious.)

From there we walked toward the Medici Chapels. But our first real order of business was finding a place for lunch because we were hungry--and we were in Firenze and wanted to taste good Florentine food!

We found a terrific place, Mattacéna, that was loaded with Italian charm and charming servers. From the ceilings...

...to the walls decorated with quotes from famous Italians...

This quote is from Lorenzo Medici:

"Women and young lovers, long live Bacchus and long live Love!

Everyone plays, dances and sings!

Your heart burns with sweetness!

No effort, no pain!

This must be the case.

Whoever wants to be happy, let him be: there is no certainty about tomorrow."

Those Medicis were such romantics...

And then there's this quote from Cecco Angiolieri:

"All this year I have been whipped of all the vices I used to have;

I have nothing left except to drink, of which I took God to have excused me, because in the morning, when I get up, my body seems to be full of salt; therefore, say: who could be careful not to wet their tongue and palate?

And she won't want anything but Greek and Vernaccia, because Latin wine bothers me more than my wife, when she chases me away.

Well then, let me be the one who first placed the wine, which all makes me feel calm;

I'm not bad at Latin though.

RHYMES - LXV (65)"

These quotes have been translated by Google, so they're probably a bit wonky.

And one quote attributed to Leonardo da Vinci:

"I wandered the countryside looking for answers to things I didn't understand."

That sort of sums up our entire European journey.

I actually can't recall what we ate, but it was delicious and it put us in the Florentine mood for an afternoon exploring the Medici Chapels, which our friend Cokie had urged us to see.

We were almost at the door of the chapels when Terrie realized that she had left her hearing device behind at the restaurant. Cindy ran back to get it--fortunately it was only a couple of blocks, so she returned in record time.

We entered the chapels and checked our bags so we wouldn't have to drag them around in the heat. The entry to these chapels is the ground-floor level of the crypts for all of the principal members of Medici family, adjacent to the Basilica of San Lorenzo, which was that family's parish church, built in the 15th century. The two chapels we visited were built in the 16th and 17th centuries.

That ground-floor level honored the somewhat lesser Medicis. The women especially, including the last in that line (can't remember her name). Anyway, the most outstanding niche on that level held a simple altar:

The cross there had the distinctive Medici crest: five red balls and one blue ball emblazoned with the symbol of the kings of France--all on a gold shield. This is the version on the altar cross:

And here is one of many colorful versions:

There were many iterations of this crest, since the Medici family was everywhere, it seemed. They were all-powerful, influential in every aspect of the Renaissance period, as well as in several countries. We can be grateful that their wealth made possible some of Europe's greatest art. And these Medici Chapels are strong examples of how they spent their money.

We went up to the first floor, to marvel at Michelangelo's first major commission, the Sagrestia Nuova (New Sacristy), where can be seen his Allegories of Time, the two major tombs he finished (four were originally intended). These are most amazing sculptures.

First, we have Michelangelo's Madonna with Child, flanked by Saint Damiano and Saint Cosmos, sculpted by Montelupo and Montorsoli, both of whom worked with Michelangelo. The marble chest these sculptures are on is the sepulcher where the mortal remains of Lorenzo il Magnifico and Giuliano dei Medici are buried.

Then we come to the Allegories of Time, which are meant to symbolize the triumph of the Medici family over the passing of time. Of course, we know that the Medicis didn't completely triumph over time. They all died in their own time, inevitably--but the art, music, and architecture, along with so many other creations that they sponsored, have in fact withstood the passage of time, and we are all fortunate for that.

So, the Allegories of Time: These are some of Michelangelo's most cherished creations.

Here is Day:

Who is paired with Night:

And they flank a sculpture of Giuliano dei Medici:

Opposite this tomb are the other two Allegories.

Dawn is on the right:

And to her left is Dusk:

And the tomb they highlight is that of Lorenzo il de' Medici:

I guess Lorenzo was so grand and powerful that I wanted only a closeup of him.

All of these sculptures really are breathtaking. We took a long time in that chapel, just pondering the mystery and magic of being in such close proximity to some of Michelangelo's greatest masterpieces. But there was more to see, so we moved on, first coming to a small alcove in which was displayed what is apparently called the "Crowning." I'm adding the label here so I don't have to try to explain it myself.

Also in this same alcove were a couple of sketches by Michelangelo. Wow.

Moving on again, we entered--omigod--the most amazingly stunning chapel we could ever hope to see anywhere, the Cappella dei Principi, or Chapel of the Princes. Cindy and I both audibly gasped when we walked in; it was that overpowering.

This was not a creation by Michelangelo; rather, it was designed by Bernardo Buontalenti (was that a made-up name?--because it translates as "good talent") and Matteo Nigetti, architects who were very happy, apparently, to indulge the Medicis' every desire to show off their wealth. Seemingly every inch of this chapel is covered with various marbles inlaid with precision cut other marbles and precious stones. There can't possibly be anything else like this in the world (well, there probably is; rulers with unlimited wealth were--and are--always trying to outshine those who came before or might come after).

Because I was by this time in the habit of looking up first, this was my first sight:

It was impossible to take in this entire room in a snap, as it was so dazzling (apparently 18th and 19th century visitors disapproved of this shameless display of opulence). So I'll start with the floor:

And there's that Medici crest. But we saw it over and over. For instance, at the niche for Ferdinando I's statue:

Of the niches intended for portrait sculptures of the Medici princes, only two were completed. Ferdinando II (above) wasn't so lucky. Here are the two consummated princes, Ferdinando I and Cosimo II:

(Notice that small figure in the light blue top; that's Terrie...)

The coats of arms of the sixteen Tuscan cities under Medici control are represented; here is the one for "our" Pistoia:

The altar was an astonishing work of art (no adjectives are adequate):

The next images are just a small sampling of the intricate inlay work using precious stones:

Behind the altar was a door to another chamber. Here were many reliquaries of all kinds. You'd think these saints must have had two or three full skeletons when they died, to be able to have so many reliquaries in the world... Here are details of just a few that we saw:

Back to the dragons and dolphins...

So much to see in that one chapel. I'll just leave you with the parting videos:

So we finally left the chapels. We had worn out Terrie, so she headed back to her bnb for a rest.

I didn't get a picture of this, but we had an opportunity to see a stupid/clueless tourist jump over a low chain protecting a sculpture in the piazza next to the Basilica--all just so his girlfriend could take a photo of him grasping the breast of the statue. Lovely. At least he wasn't tagging it or carving his initials there...

After finding yet another Medici crest at the base of a statue of Ludovico de' Medici, also known as Giovanni delle Bande Nere...

...Cindy and I found some ice cream nearby in a little shop where we could sit in front of a fan (yes, it was really hot) and then wandered down to the Florence Cathedral:

Again, there's that beautiful effect created by the polychrome marble facade. And as almost always, there's some scaffolding. But no matter: the scaffolding seems barely noticeable when there is still so much of the rest of that cathedral to see.

We went back to our bnb room to cool down and get ready for the evening. I discovered that the open courtyard in the center of our building was surrounded by beautiful vaulted ceilings:

We were meeting Terrie at Caffe Gilli, Florence's oldest caffe, established in 1733 when the Medici were still in charge. Our mission: to drink Negronis (and maybe something else too) and have dinner--and do some people watching. We sat outside so that we had a good view of what was happening in the Piazza della Repubblica.

What was most interesting in this short video was the wedding couple, who seemingly had just married somewhere and were now simply enjoying the evening. To find them, just enlarge the video and look into the middle of the crowd listening to the musicians.

Caffe Gilli was beautiful, and it had a really enticing pasticceria and bar upon entering the building:

When Terrie joined us, she had a sad tale to tell of tripping over a scooter on her way back to her room after she had left the Medici Chapels. She was trying to follow her phone directions to an Uber ride and just didn't see the scooter. She fell hard and had some abrasions and felt pretty banged up. Fortunately, the Airbnb place she was in had a good first aid kit and she was able to patch herself up and still join us after a good rest. She needed some paracetamol, which we agreed would be something to pick up at a farmacia the next day.

After drinks and dinner, Terrie made an early departure, and Cindy and I decided we would go back to gaze upon the Florence Cathedral in the evening light, and perhaps find some ice cream on our way back to our room.

I had a chance to get closer to the cathedral since the crowds had thinned by this time. That cathedral, which was begun in 1296 and completed in 1436, had one of the most striking exteriors we'd seen in our two months of looking at cathedrals and churches throughout Europe.

First, the baptistery:

But that was quite simple compared to the cathedral itself. What an imposing structure!

Butvyou know how much I like the details:

Amazing...all those niches, each one with a separate sculpture.

And that view along the side of the building:

We could hardly tear ourselves away, but we felt a need to get some rest in preparation for the next day, which was going to be very full with museum visits (and who knew what else?).

So we strolled the streets in the general direction of our place, with a few highlights. This might be one of the more imposing ticket offices in the world (for the cathedral).

And here's the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore, the museum associated with the cathedral:

Right behind the cathedral was a square where a band had set up to entertain passersby:

I loved traversing these streets.

And here's an interesting thing:

These wine windows can be found throughout Florence. From Wikipedia:

"Buchette del vino, or wine windows, are a peculiar feature of Florence. They are little windows with inscriptions on the walls of some local nobles’ palaces. They have been used for hundreds of years to sell wine in a fiasco (glass bottle) without having to open a shop and avoid paying taxes.

These wine windows also posed a useful anti-contagion way to sell wine during the epidemic of 1630-1633. And more recently, during the days of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions ... When restaurants, bars, and gelateria began reusing these ancient buchette del vino to sell their products, just like 400 years ago."

And here was one of those wine windows on the street where we were staying! Sadly it wasn't open for business.

Closer to our place, we encountered an impressive pair of door knockers:

By the time we returned to where we were staying, the big doors at the entrance were closed. The keys Morgana had given us in the morning didn't seem to fit the lock, and we were stumped. How the heck were we supposed to get into the building? I texted Morgana, but no response; then I remembered she was likely at work. Sigh. We finally realized that those big doors would open just enough for Cindy and me to slide through them.

The next morning, Morgana got up early (she apparently worked very late into the wee morning hours) to once again show us how those doors worked. The key was for an electronic switch that would open the doors...oh right...of course I had forgotten all of her careful instructions. What a dunce. At least we now knew we wouldn't have that problem again.

It had been quite a full half-day introduction to Firenze. We loved every moment.

Coming next: the Galleria dell'Accademia and the Uffizi Gallery--all in one day! Would it wipe us out entirely? Could we really do that? Stay tuned for the next exciting chapter!

We never did get our ice cream that evening. 🫤