November 12 - Florence, Italy

We are back to the port of Livorno and this time we will spend our day in Florence, Italy.

"Florence is Europe's cultural capital.  As the home of the Renaissance and the birthplace of the modern world, Florence practiced the art of civilized living back when the rest of Europe was rural and crude.  Democracy, science, and literature, as well as painting, sculpture, and architecture, were all championed by the proud and energetic Florentines of the 1400s."  Florence is home to the greatest concentration of Renaissance art and architecture in the world.

We are in a group of 7 from the ship traveling the 1.5 hour drive to Florence in a very comfortable Mercedes van through the company Tau Touring arranged by Vickie and Bernie.  It is simply transportation to and from Florence; once we arrive, we are on our own to explore.

We were up and off the ship very early, leaving the port at 7:15 and arriving in Florence at 9:00 am.  There was a lot of traffic due to rush hour when we reached Florence.  Our driver, Gaetano, dropped us off just a short block from the Duomo Cathedral with the plan to pick us up again at 3:00 pm.

Off we went with a little time to spare before our timed ticket entry to see the famous statue of David in the Accademia Gallery.  While in the vicinity of the Duomo, we took advantage of few crowds and snapped photos of the Duomo buildings.

With minimal crowds so early in the day, I was able to get a clear shot of the Baptistery's bronze doors.

These are actually copies as the real ones are in the Duomo Museum.  Michelango said these doors were fit to be the "Gates of Paradise".  Lorenzo Ghiberti spent 27 years working on the bronze panels depicting the life of Christ in the New Testament.

A closeup view of one panel...

Then it was off to find the Accademia Gallery.  It was just a few blocks away.  We joined the line for reserved tickets and waited only a few minutes before gaining entry to the museum.

We were surprised to see a sign that indicated it was okay to take photos, without flash.   All of the guidebooks had noted no photos allowed.

Our first sculpture was the Rape of the Sabine women.  It actually portrays the practice of the first generation of Romans in 750 BC when they would acquire wives of the neighboring Sabine women by abducting them.

But we were anxious to see Michelangelo's David so we moved through the door into a long hall where we saw our first glimpse of the famous statue at the far end under a halo-like dome.  It was amazing.

Michelangelo was 26 years old in 1501 when he was commissioned to carve a large-scale work for the Duomo's roof.  It is a 17-foot tall symbol of divine victory over evil.

The figure comes from the Bible story of David fighting the giant, Goliath.  The statue captures David as he is sizing up the enemy, armed only with a sling shot.

 His right hand is over sized but that is meant to show that the hand of a man with the strength of God could defeat the enemy.

David's head may seem a bit out of proportion to the body.  That's because Michelangelo designed it to be seen "correctly" from far below the rooftop of the church.

During the three years it took to sculpt David, it was decided that it should be placed guarding the entrance of the town hall in the Palazzo Vecchio.  It stood there for 350 years.  In 1873, to protect the masterpiece, the statue was replaced with a copy and the original moved inside the Accademia.

Also in the hall were the unfinished figures by Michelanngelo named the Prisoners, which seem to be fighting to free themselves from the stone.  It is believed that is how Michelangelo worked his magic with the marble as he fought to create the image he saw in his mind and free it from the slab of marble.

 Unlike most sculptors who built a model and then marked up a block of marble to know where to chip, Michelangelo always worked freehand, starting from the front and working back.

Look close...you can see Michelangelo's chisel marks...

In the unfinished Pieta, the figures struggle to hold up the sagging body of Christ.

Of course, the Michaelangelo statues were the highlight of the Accademia.  We wandered through the rest of the museum and saw a bronze bust of Michelangelo.

and a room with plaster statues and busts that were the 'final exams' of the Academy Art students.

Finished in the Accademia, we headed back toward the Duomo where we set out to climb the 463 steps to the top of the dome.  It seems that where there is a dome, we must climb it!

Architect Filippo Brunelleschi engineered the innovative Gothic dome gracing the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, aka the Duomo.  The church was built in the Middle Ages, but left unfinished, needing a grand dome to finish it but nobody knew how.  In the 1400s Brunelleschi took on the challenge and designed a tall, self-supporting dome by creating a dome within a dome.

We climbed the 463 steps, pausing midway where we had a view of the inside of the dome before making the final push to the top of the dome.

Then we headed up to the top of the dome.

And were rewarded with a glorious view of Florence.

Next, we stopped by the Baptistery and stepped inside to view the magnificent mosaics decorating the ceiling, depicting the Judgment Day where Jesus is giving the thumbs up or thumbs down.

One hand is thumb up...the other, thumb down.

Then it was off to the Uffizi Gallery courtyard to view the statues adorning the outside of the museum.  A tour of the museum, which has the greatest overall collection anywhere of Italian paintings, was just not possible to squeeze in on this day.

Statues of famous Florentines line the courtyard outside the Uffizi Gallery.  Here are just a couple...

We stopped by the Arno River to view the Ponte Vecchio Bridge before walking over it.

 The bridge is filled with stores,

A view from the bridge over the Arno River.

For lunch we picked a restaurant with outdoor seating in the Palazzo Vecchio.  We enjoyed bruschetta, ravioli with truffle cream, and some chianti.

We then headed up toward the Duomo again, doing a little window shopping along the way, and stopping for the best gelato of the trip at Grom, recommended by Rick Steves.

Since we had a little time left before meeting our group, we tackled the climb of the Campanile, the 270 foot bell tower for the Duomo.

As we climbed we had spectacular views of the dome.

Hi everybody over there on the dome.

Then it was time to meet up with our group at the Piazza della Repubblica and our driver.  Our driver had suggested the 30-minute earlier pickup time so that he could drive us to an overview of the entire city before making our way back to the port.

At this overview, we took the group photo.

The view was wonderful...

 But then Terry spotted a view of his dream car....

We only had a total of 6 hours in Florence.....not nearly enough time.  It was such a full day and there is still so much to see and experience here.  Hopefully we will return some day and be able to stay for 2 or 3 days...and that is my dream!

Next port....Toulon, France