Seeing Florence again after 20 years is a treat.
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| View of the Ponte Vecchio from the Uffizi Gallery |
Meeting old friends and making new acquaintances are always fun.
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| With Charlie and Jackie looking at Arno River |
What makes it special was to revisit the places that i don't quite remember. And my current perception of the city shifted dramatically vs my early 20s.
San Lorenzo Market
After an early 6am flight (note to self, let's not fly out this early again), I was hangry and in serious need for caffeine after i touch down Florence.
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| View of the Duomo along my way |
With a map in hand, I decide to head out for something local and realized quickly all the places around me are tourist traps.
So i headed out to the central market and stumbled upon Narbonne and got a roast beef sandwich and a very nice coffee at one of the old stalls in the market.
https://www.yelp.com/biz/da-nerbone-firenze
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Narbonne with their traditional sandwiches
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Substantially fortified, I was game to keep going into the shopping district and was astounded by the amount of high end leather goods store agglomeration in a very small area. Prada, Gucci, Balenciaga, LV.. the list goes on..
After meeting Jackie and Charlie with their adventurous luggage and car drop-off experience, we head off towards the Michaelangelo Piazza and was rewarded with a view of Florence.
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| Skyline of Florence from Michelangelo Piazza |
Along the way we stop at this artist workshop who seems to specialize in metal jewellery.
http://www.alessandrodari.com/
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| Art work that caught my eye with the energy |
Climbing up further, we saw the church with an even better view!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Miniato_al_Monte
It's also a beautiful church with marble interior etc
After seeing the church, we head off to see the Pitti Palace by cutting across the Belvedere Gardens
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| Garden de Boboli connected to the Belvedere Fort |
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| A miniature amphitheater in the garden? |
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| View of the Pitti Palace from the back (and yes, more atractive than the front) |
Of course, we need an ice cream stop!
http://www.gelateriasantatrinita.it/index_ita.html
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| Yummy Tiramisu and Ice cream |
Uffizi Gallery
Visiting the gallery 20 years apart and looking at Venus again!
Jackie arranged for a guide Elena and Michael and Scott from New York joined us in the visit. It was fun and informative.
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| Our group visiting Uffizi with Elena (on the left) |
Elena is very knowledgeable and so dynamic/passionate about the artwork and history that it's a lot of fun & joy learning Florence history through her.
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| The Tribunal room, featuring the 4 elements (Fire for red wall, Earth for white marble floor, wind as the open dome on the top, water as the blue on the walls) |
First is I learned the Medici family is key to Florence. The family of bankers who produced 3 popes (1 only lasted 1 week) . They are potentially one of wealthiest family in Europe at one point and commisioned artwork that accumulated in Florence to its current day, especially in Uffizi Gallery and other museums.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Medici
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| Coat of Arms for Medici = 6 balls. Still unclear why they choose it |
The artworks are overwhelming and Elena tried to take us on a journey and explained the evolution of Italian art.
First the early Renawith a lot of the work on Jesus and Mary's notification by angels of her baby.
A lot of these artwork is as important as the frame that it came with, as the frame represents the cathedral
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| Work by Simone Martini that used to be housed in Sienna. Great flow of Mary's dress |
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| Work by Lorenzo Monaco (a monk) The frame is as important as the art |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adoration_of_the_Magi_(Gentile_da_Fabriano)
This next work is an interesting one where the top 3 pictures all depict the 3 kings in some way, before the main story unfolds in the big picture
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| Work by Gentile de Fabriano : where the guy in red turban is the painter staring at you |
This one is Spring (By Botticelli). It is a pair and thought to be painted with Venus at the same time and moved into hiding till found later.
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| Spring accompanied by 4 pagan woman, together with Wind abducting Orithiya |
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| Venus, the only picture that i remembered from 20 years ago! |
This work by Botticelli depicted 3 generations of Medici men. What is interesting is the painter is the guy on the right in red robe, looking at you. The brother who is killed accidentally is depicted as the guy beside the horse, looking at the painter and the painter is looking at you. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uffizi#/media/File:Botticelli,_adorazione_dei_magi_uffizi.jpg
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| This is an important art work that depicted the 3 generations of Medici men |
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| Sleeping Ariana by Arte Romana |
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| Michelangelo painting, where he use contrasting colors to play with highlights. Original frame |
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| Stunning art by Leonardo Da Vinci |
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| Unfinished artwork by Leonardo Da Vinci |
After all the artwork, Michael and Scott brought us to a local Pizzeria where i got a chance to try the Florentine sandwich again Lampredetto aka tripe. yum!
After lunch, we stopped for Vivoli Ice cream
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| Vivoli Ice cream |
Academia
http://www.accademia.org/
The academia is small but renowned for housing David.
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| David is naked for our 1st date =) |
Also, there's 5 statues of unfinished Michelangelo work that's stunning
As i was leaving Florence, i saw a baby seeming fascinated and absorbed by a street artist =)
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| The interaction of ages |
And also an astounding amount of birds flying around the train station!
After lunch, we stopped for Vivoli Ice cream
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