A Day in Florence

We met our guide promptly at 9:00 for our walking tour of Florence. Helena was born in Tuscany, studied in Florence, Venice, Paris and traveled extensively across Europe studying art and art history. At a young age, she has a Doctorate in Art and enjoys, most times, taking people on tours of the historic art treasures of Florence.

We started on the Ponte Vecchico Bridge and Helena talked about the history of the bridge and the private walkway constructed on the east side, above the shops. This was for Lorenzo Medici and his advisors so they could easily move from the Pitti Palace to Palazzo Vecchio and the Uffizi in case of attack or just going to work, away from the commonfolk. A statue of Cellini stands in the middle of the bridge – he was the first master goldsmith in Florence and there are a lot of small jewelry stores along the bridge.
We then walked along the Via Por Santa Maria to the Piazza della Repubblica – the old Florence city square, where the early Romans constructed the original city – in 45BC, under Julius Caesar. It was a 4 block area that was bounded by high buildings, acting as fort. Today, this is the center of the shopping district. Major fashion stores line the outside of the center – along with restaurants and a Merry-Go-Round for children.

From there we walked to the Santa Maria di Fiore (the Duomo completed by Berlesscui) with the Battistero (Bapistry) in front. Non-Christians could not enter the Cathedral without being baptized – so they would go through the Battistero first and then into the Cathedral. The church existed for many years without a dome in its roof. The technology did not exist to create a large enough dome to span the opening – but a local architect, Filippo Brunelleschi had a plan and created the first Renaissance dome for all others to follow.

From the Duomo we walked west a few blocks to the Galleria della Accademia – the art academy that houses rare art of the middle ages as well as Michelangelo’s best know “DAVID”. There are also a number of his unfinished works including Prisioners and St. Mathew. The Accademia also houses a vast collection of musical instruments including violins, violas and cellos by Stradivarius.

We then retraced our steps back towards the Ponte Vecchio and spent several hours walking through the Uffizi Gallery that contained more Middle Ages art as well as some of the early Italian Renaissance art. It was remarkable to see the transformation from art created on plaster which covered wood to art created on early canvas. The beginnings of the understanding of perspective was also evident in early Italian Renaissance art. The collection included works by Giotti, Leonardo, Raphael, Rubens, Botticellis and Michelangelo. It probably features more early Middle Ages and Italian Renaissance art than any museum outside the Louvre.
Then, back to the Piazza del Repubblica for some shopping, a large gelato for sugar and the hotel for a short nap.

Refreshed from a nap, we were off to the south side of the Arno river and the Pitti Palace. This was the home of the Medici family – while they ruled Florence for more than 400 years, and sponsored all the great artists in Italy during the time. We continued to walk on the south side of the river for a mile or so, passing the massive Santo Spirito Church built by Brunelleschi and features a wonderful crucifix by Michelangelo.

Of course we wound up back at Harry’s Bar for a lively discussion with Leo (52 years as Bartender, mostly at Harry’s). Leo had all the stories of Harry as he opened his restaurants in Venice, Florence, Milan, Rome, Paris and Frankfurt. AND the Harry’s Bar in New York city is a knock-off and NOT part of the Harry’s group. Leo brought out his memorabilia collection of pictures and signed autographs that included Elizabeth Taylor, James Stewart, Paul Newman and Mariel Hemmingway, among others. What a wonderful life. We were able to go down memory lane with Leo and thoroughly enjoyed it. Once again, you can see that Jackie conversed with Leo as if they were old friends, leaving with a hug and kiss on each cheek. Dinner was at a small café and we headed back to the Hotel to pack for our drive to Siena, tomorrow.