Florence, Part 2



Michelangelo's tomb

Vinny has arrived!  Minus some lost luggage, we met up with him at the Hotel Silla and got to begin our adventures here in Tuscany.  While I was with Laryssa for dinner last night, the rest of the gang went up to Piazza Michelangelo for sunset views of the city.  This morning, we began at Santa Croce, the final resting place of Galileo and Michelangelo.  There were also these amazing frescoes by Giotto but they were covered in scaffolding, being restored.  There's always something, right? 

Anyway, Santa Croce was very impressive and I probably could have spent a day there studying all of the tombs. Ghiberti was buried here, an unexpected find, as was Lorenzo Bartolini (see: Letters to Juliet). They had some cool religious artifacts as well, and the Pazzi Chapel, one of Brunelleschi's masterpieces. 

After Santa Croce, we wandered up to the Bargello, a former prison that's now a statue museum.  That sounds so unimpressive, but this is the home to a huge collection of Michelangelos, Cellinis, and Donatello's.  You can't take photos inside, which I actually enjoy sometimes because instead of looking for a great pictures, I can just LOOK at the artwork.  I try really hard to look and not just photograph things, as I see so many tourists doing.  Using my imagination while taking in a piece of art or scenery makes me remember it better than even a picture will.  My grandmother taught me that- she used to look at my pictures and point out things I'd never noticed.  Now I try to look more.

Brunelleschi's tomb

Lunch was at a little hole in the wall with the most amazing wine and olive oil.  It was such a pure green, so extra extra virgin, so awesome.  After lunch, it was up to the Duomo.  We went into the church to study the interior, and to find Brunelleschi's tomb.  The poor man is buried in the gift shop!
After, Joanne and Judy climbed bell tower, and Anne and I went into the baptisery to see the medieval mosaics in the ceiling.  We also found an amazing workshop and thanks to Anne's Italian skills, the craftsmen invited us in to see their restoration work.  Very, very cool. 

Be good or the devil will eat you!

We rendezvoused for gelato (tris di chocolate!) and then the group split up for a bit.  I went with Leslie and Joanne to the Musee di Opera del Duomo.  I love this museum best of all, I think, because it's not crowded.  Have you even been alone in a room with a Michelangelo Pieta?  Or a creepy wooden statue carved by Donatello?  If you haven't, add it to your bucket list, because for most of us, it's the closest we'll ever get to truly understanding artistic genius.