Our last day in Florence, and we are on our own for the day. Ann and Florence decide that they want to visit the Boboli Gardens, but there are a few more museums I want to see, so we split up and agree to meet up later.
I head out early, determined to beat the worst of the crowds. My first stop is the Bargello Museum, known for its collection of sculpture. The Bargello was once a prison, and its interior courtyard was the site of many executions.
The sculptures are beautiful, and the collection includes several by Michelangelo and Donatello. I recognize Donatello’s David from my one-and-only art history course in college. He is so unbelievably beautiful in real life; I’m awe-struck by the artistry and skill it took to create the wonderful pieces.
From there, it’s a short walk over to the Palazzo Vecchio; I’ve walked past it almost every day this week but haven’t yet had the chance to go inside. There’s a long line at the entrance because the security is being especially thorough. All the museums have x-ray machines and metal detectors, but here it looks like actual police, rather than just museum guards, are also hand searching people’s bags. It seems that there must be some special event going on, because there are many people dressed up in party clothes—obviously not the tourist crowd.
As I’m standing in line, I hear a couple behind me asking someone about entrance fees. I start chatting with them, and it turns out that they are from Seattle (this brings on a very short discussion about Mike Holmgren); they are on a cruise ship and have a shore excursion to Florence for several hours. They ask me about some good places to see, and I mark some things on their map, like the Duomo. Ultimately, I say, they’d probably enjoy just walking around and seeing the streets and buildings. They suggest that I’d make an excellent tour guide (darn the luck that my Italian isn’t fluent; I would LOVE that!).
The Palazzo Vecchio isn’t a complete disappointment, but after the lavish museums I’ve been in, it’s a little more minimalist. The rooms are gorgeous and the frescos (more frescos!) are outstanding, but there isn’t much else to see. As I’m walking down a staircase, I round the corner and find a group of men, sitting in a window seat, all dressed in Renaissance costume. They are obviously part of the event that’s going on, and they look fantastic. I wish I had been brave enough to take their photograph!
After that, it’s a quick walk over to the Mercato Nuovo for some last-minute souvenir shopping. I make the mistake of stopping to look at a leather backpack (love those backpacks for some reason) and the stall vendor starts her spiel on me. For me, a special price, it’s her last one. Just for me? Really? Well, it is beautiful and beautifully made and the price isn’t outrageous. Why not? I decide to splurge.
I do a little more shopping, stopping in at a local department store and a fancy grocery store to pick up some chocolate and panforte. Outside the store, I stop to reorganize my bags; I take a little too long and I can see some gypsies headed my way to panhandle. Whoops! Time to move on.
I head back to the hotel to drop off my purchases and eat a panino I purchase on the way back. Then it’s over to Santa Maria Novella to see inside the church that was closed yesterday. I walk around the church, pausing to look in the chapels and see various artworks here and there. In front of one, Masaccio’s Holy Trinity, there are two American women standing. The one woman, obviously an art lover, is explaining to her friend how this fresco is so important because it pioneered the use of perspective. “This painting is the whole reason I came to Florence,” she says. Wow!
I sit in the piazza in front of the church, enjoying the sunshine and the people watching. Suddenly, there’s a lot of clamor in the street, growing louder. It’s some kind of political parade, with banners and drums and police escorts. People are hanging out of their apartment windows to watch, but I can only understand about every 10th word. It’s still fun to see.
From there, I make my way back to the San Lorenzo area. On the way, I run into another parade. This one seems to be celebrating wine and grapes. There are marchers dressed up in peasant costumes, and big white oxen pulling farm wagons full of bottles of wine in straw baskets. Best of all, they seem to be selling the wine right out of the wagons! People run up with money and they hand over bottles. Now this is my kind of parade!
I go into the church of San Lorenzo and look again at another beautiful Renaissance church. It’s interesting to me that some of the churches, Santa Croce, for example, and especially the Duomo, are all clad in marble like fancy wedding cakes. And others, like Santo Spirito and San Lorenzo have the plainest of facades that mask beautiful interiors. I walk through the cloister garden and visit the crypt, but the Laurentian library isn’t open today. Rats! My one chance to visit a library…ah well.
Back to the hotel to meet up with Ann and Florence; we go out for our last dinner together in Florence. We choose the Trattoria da Garibardi, where I have bruschetta and taglieri con tartufe (pasta with truffles). And one more glass of Chianti.
What a fabulous trip this has been. Florence is beautiful, the people are friendly, and the food was delicious. The best trips I go on always leave me wanting to move to that place, and I can definitely imagine living in a little hill town in Tuscany--walking through the fields in the sunshine, selling gelato to tourists--who's with me?
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