Florence Day 6
Slight change of plans today. Tomorrow is a National Holiday in Italy, and I guess everywhere else in the world. So the museums will all be closed for the next 2 days.I was supposed to go to see the walled city of Lucca but I had to postpone it to tomorrow so I could see the Bargello (best sculptures), the Uffizi (best paintings), the Accademia (David) and the Duomo / Battistero and Campanile di Giotto, before I leave for Rome.
Walking through the Bargello, aside from appreciating the different styles of the masters such as Donatello and Michelangelo, I couldn't help but notice that most of the nudes they sculpted are of the male body. And that the 1st piece that gets chipped off, damaged or that falls off is not the outstretched hand or the extended leg. It's always the penis.
You could have a perfectly good sculpture in all respects, except for the empty scarred space between the legs. Not that I kept looking. I wonder if that's by chance, nature or the product of the prudish puritanical age that followed the Renaissance. Did people go around chopping off penises from statues? They've been known to do stranger things.
I guess the fig leaves on some of the sculptures served a dual purpose of covering and protecting privates. Ok, enough about that.
The Duomo, Battistero and Campanile are just right beside each other and was the next stop before the Uffizi. I won't bore you with stuff from guidebooks but Brunelleschi's dome is the highlight - the huge red structure was THE architectural engineering wonder of its age, and it's still astounding today. The commissioning of it signaled the start of the Renaissance - that's how good it is.
The inside of the actual Duomo or Sta Maria del Fiore is just ok - most of the important works are in the museum across the street, so good thing the Church entrance was free. The museum is worth going to for the original Ghiberti Battistero doors (the ones outside are just replicas) and Michelangelo's unfinished Pieta - one of his last works that was meant for his own tomb. It's unfinished because for some reason, he attacked it in a fit of rage with his own hammer and chisel, cutting off Christ's left leg and Mary's arm.
I skipped climbing the cupola and the campanile - my legs still haven't recovered from yesterday and I feared a mutiny with still a week to go to my trip.
Here's a tip for anyone coming to Florence - RESERVE tickets a few days in advance for the Uffizi. Since I don't have an itinerary, I didn't do that and the waiting time to get in can take up to 5 hours!!
I met Dana and her husband at 2pm and they were in line since 10. Of course, her husband did most of the waiting while she went shopping. How I came to be at the front of the line is another story. But traveling alone and being shameless have more than a little something to do with it.
The wait is worth it (though avoid it like the plague). The Uffizi has the single biggest collection of Renaissance art, amassed by the Medici family over a couple of centuries and 19 villas. It houses the only painting of Michelangelo that we know (not counting his frescoes in the Sistine Chapel), Botticelli's 2 masterpieces, works by Raphaello, Veronese, Titian, Tintoretto... There's even Rubens and Rembrandt and 16th century Caravaggio. The audio guide is worth paying for but much better to go with a local guide - they know all the juicy stuff.
I wasn't planning on seeing David but I had time so I made my way to the Accademia. The lines here can get pretty long also so if they do, come back about an hour before closing. There's hardly anyone and besides, there's really only about 5 things worth seeing inside though the entrance fee is the most expensive!
To make the entrance ticket pay for itself, I stared at David for an hour, willing him to come alive. I think my new friend, Tim, had the same idea. He's an exchange student from Milwaukee to Ireland. I felt like his mother / tour guide. It became a little exhausting so I left - plus my stomach was hankering for more of my new discovery... cornetto della nutella. The Pen's chocolate croissant has nothing against this one - croissant filled all over inside with nutella. Drool drool.
I enjoyed mine at the Piazza della Republicca as musicians played the violin, and the sun was setting behind me, casting a warm glow all over the Arno. Sigh...
posted by moan @ 3:00 AM
2 Comments:
hi achi! miss you na super duper...im so so so so so so so so jealous! haha if u want, next time i can go with you and we can dorm together hehehe! we'll introduce those europeans to the concept of the shower curtain! miss you na super ach! love you!
sama ako sama akooooo :P
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home