Posted in Culture, Travel

Florence at New Year

Ok, so I am a little behind.  I have been busier than usual since this trip in Florence at the end of 2012, but I am still within almost 1/2 year…

Bee and I decided to spend a few days in Florence and then a few in Chianti right around New Year.  I had just removed my cast and so needed the exercise.

An absolute “must” if you go to Florence is the “Firenze Card”.  You can get one for one or several days and it gives access to many musea, free use of public transport, but best of all, you can cut the lines at most musea and churches as if you had pre-booked your ticket.  A huge time saver.  While visiting the Uffizi Gallery one early morning, we discovered, through a window, this great view of the Ponte Vecchio – difficult to get this vantage point anywhere else.

One evening, I took a night shot from the other side.  Without a tripod, I had to place my camera on the edge of the other bridge and use my remote control to trigger the shot – 2 second exposure!

Still in the Uffizzi Gallery, we found a terrace, with a coffee shop where we had more unusual views of Florence.  The Duomo is so crowded in the middle of other buildings that it is not easy to get an overall view of it.

The Palazzo Vecchio is a different story.  It was so close that even with my wide angle lens, I was not able to get a good shot.  This is none photos stitched together.  The tower looks even thinner and flimsier in this shot, but I really like the whole ensemble.

Our next stop was the Galileo Galilei Museum – a relatively new addition to the Florence scene as I did not recall is from previous visits – however, I since found out that it has changed name, so maybe I had heard of it under the old name, and it did not sound as attractive as Galileo Galilei.  It is a little gem – full of scientific instruments that were developed by Galileo, or in his time and used for astronomical observations of other mathematical functions.  There is a huge collection of telescopes.

In front of the building, there is a large sundial with a “gnomon” on top.  At noon (sun-time) each day the Gnomon casts a shadow along a fixed line.  Where the shadow falls can be used to determine the day of the year, with a longer shadow in winter and a shorter one in summer.  We were there on 28 December, and therefore almost the longest shadow of the year.  Since it was almost noon, we waited.

At exactly noon, the shadow lined up with the bronze line on the pavement and the tip, or gnomon cast a bright image right at the door to the museum.

Enough fun and games, we then headed for the church of Santa Croce, historically used as a Pantheon to the brightest people who lived in Florence.  We arrived there just after a little rain that made the square all shiny.

Inside the church, on the left of the picture, the tomb of the man himself: Galileo Galilei, right by the entrance.  Further in the church there is a beautifully decorated chapel (top right) and tombstones on the floor that are so old that they have almost been worn away by people walking on them – they are now protected with soft barriers.

Palazzo Vecchio as sunset approaches.  Very difficult to deal with the contrast between the part of the building that is lit by the sun, and that already in the shadow.

The next day we headed for Santa Maria Novella where I made one of the greatest discoveries ever in Florence.  It is amazing that even though I have visited this city many times, it can still come up with surprises!  No, the surprise is not the beautifully decorated facade of the church.

The revelation has to be the Chiostro Grande (or Grand Cloister) which is not usually open to the public!  We had to leave our backpacks behind and had to go through metal detectors to go in.  There were military guards and we were told that the Chiostro Grande is normally closed because of military reasons – I did not ask any more details!

The frescoes are absolutely extraordinary! The is a montage of several photos in the Chapter House.  The colours are really well preserved, or very well restored.  The overall impression is really awe inspiring.

There are very nice views of the church from inside the cloisters.

As all cloisters, it is a secluded area of peace and tranquility in the middle of a very busy city.

I had climbed to the top of the Duomo several years ago and the line to do so was very long, so instead we decided to climb to the top of Giotto’s wonderful Campanile.  This gave us another good look at the Duomo, particularly the top of the cupola, already quite full of people at this early hour.  It just occurred to me looking at this photo that the base of the cupola is octagonal, the shape of the early Christian churches.  I will have to research if there was an earlier octagonal church here that might have been used as the basis for this…

We did go insider the Duomo, and discovered that “clockwise” and “anti-clockwise” did not always have such as universal meaning as it has now.  The main clock in the Duomo used to run what would now be called anti-clockwise, with a 24-hour quadrant and midnight at the bottom.  As most clocks we saw in Florence and Tuscany, this one too does not work!

A tribute to one of the greatest artists from Florence – Dante Alighieri.  He was chased away from Florence at the end of his life and died in Ravenna.  He is also buried there; a permanent flame is lit in front of his monument and the oil is provided by the city of Florence, making amends for having chased away such an important person.

The inside of the cupola, highly decorated, but not the best in Florence!

The best in Florence is to be found in the back of San Lorenzo, in the “private” chapels that have been reserved for Florence’s most important family: the De Medici.  Lorenzo de Medici was a wealthy merchant and ruled Florence for many years (several de Medici became Popes, others married the kings of France and Emperor of Austria-Hungary).  Machiavelli wrote his famous book The Prince as a tribute to and in order to justify the rule of Lorenzo.

They did a lot for the city and it was thanks to them that Florence is what it is today and was the ultimate Renaissance City in the 15th and 16th centuries. They were the true to life “Enlightened Despots” that the world has been searching for.

As I said, in the back of San Lorenzo there are the Capelle Medicee where you can see this, absolutely wonderful dome.

It is worth an additional detail

We took advantage of having a car, in preparation for the trip to Castellina in Chianti, for a visit to Piazzale Michelangelo, a place where one has the best views of the city.  It gives me goose bumps every time I think about it as this is my favorite place in my favorite town.  You can see the Arno River, with the Ponte Vecchio, the Palazzo Vecchio and the Duomo and Campanile.

This is the best place to come to for a photo of the Duomo, but you need a good telephoto zoom.

In 1980, I had taken this photo with another Canon camera, and nother telephoto lens … on black and white film as I was a student and could not afford color prints!

Comparing the two photos, there are very few changes – even the angle is almost exactly the same!

We were there close to sunset and the light kept on changing and getting better with every minute.  We had entertainment (there always is some) and so time went by rather easily.

You know that I like sunsets and I am starting to also like the hours before sunset.  A great looking tree and Tuscan scenery is all it takes for a nice photo.

Can there be any doubt that this is in Tuscany?

near Florence

But it is time to leave Florence and head to Castellina in Chianti, not before one more look.

More to come in the next episode.

In case you are interested, here are some links and resources:

We stayed at the Monna Lisa Hotel, right around the corner from the Duomo, located in several old houses that have been very well renovated.  It is a great place to call home for a few days.

Here is their Website: http://www.monnalisa.it/

As I said earlier, the Firenze Card is a must if you want to enjoy Florence.  You can get it in Florence and is well worth whatever you pay for it.

You can get more information here:  http://www.firenzecard.it/index.php?lang=en Not the best looking site in the world, but has good info on what the card does and where to get it.

We discovered several excellent restaurants in Florence.  The best in my mind is a place we went to for lunch twice because we liked it so much the first time.  It is the local arm of the Verrazzano family, yes, the same one that gave its name to the bridge at the entrance to New York Harbour.  They have a castle and winery in the Chianti region and sell their products at the Cantinetta dei Verrazzani in Via dei Tavolini, a small alley not far from Piazza Signoria.

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