Palazzo Vechio, who knew?

Today was just going to be a day for wandering around. No agenda no plan.

After class I went back to the suggested pizza place for a delicious caprese pizza. It was the best pizza I think I have ever had. I tried not to eat it all but I couldn’t help myself. I just ordered a second glass of wine and enjoyed my break.

From there I just headed out to wander town. Sadly, I soon had to go to the bathroom. That can be difficult in florence. I

considered a bar but I probably didn’t need another glass of wine so I decided on the Palazzo Vechio. I had passed through it earlier and knew the bathrooms were conveniently located. Not wanting to hunt down another option and since I had never gone in I decided to spend the 10€ for the ticket (surprisingly it was not included in my pass). Sometimes a bathroom is worth ten bucks.

After Climbing 3 flights of stairs I was really hoping that there would be something to see. I was pleasantly surprised. It was beautiful. Every bit as elaborate as the Piti Palace but in a different style. The ceilings were done in the separate frame style of the Vatican museum with a different theme for each room. The Medici’s were the famous residents and each room referenced one of the men. (One of them became a cardinal at 13 and went on to become Pope.His room referenced his intellectual propensities.) The frescos were beautiful. The Renaissance had clearly began when they worked on these paintings. The women were beautiful very serene and angelic. Of course they seldom had on shirts so they were showed in all their glory. However, it wasn’t far into the Renaissance, the men were a little oddly shaped with all their muscles. The painters weren’t quite to the point where they showed restraint. But none the less they were as impressive as most I have seen and there was room after room of them.

They also had this elaborate map room. Again similar to the Vatican but on a smaller scale. It was a square room with a big metal globe in the middle with maps framed along the walls. The colors of the maps really made it for me. They were mostly pinks, light greens, browns and blues.

From there you entered an unfinished room. Supposedly everyone (the helper bees) was supposed to return from working on the Sistine chapel to paint one wall. Only one guy showed so the rest was done in the florentine fluer d’ lise of blue and gold. However this is where they showcased a Donetella sculpture of Judith slaying her attacker. Donetella is the creator of the girly David in the Bargello and
this is along those lines.

All in all I am glad I needed to go to the bathroom. Palazzo Vechio is getting a bad rap in the tour books. It is well worth the money.

I spent much longer in the palazzo than I thought and didn’t have much time for wandering before it got dark. I did try on some boots (damn my fat calves) but no luck for the ones I wanted and was willing to pay the primo price for. I guess it is probably for the best.

I did stumble on a women handing out flyers for a girls choir concert in one of the small churches. Having wandered enough I decided to check it out. I stayed for the whole concert. The girls were amazing. I forget how high young girl can sing and the stone church had amazing acoustics. There was one young girl on the front row that held my attention. Everyone was really serious but her. She couldn’t stand still. She played with her song book, picked at her nails, scratches her hair – pretty much just squirmed constantly. The teacher was right beside her but it didn’t help. During one of the sopranos solos she was playing with her shirt and she was never on the right page. It would be time for the choir to come in and she would be peeking at her neighbor for what page she should be on. Krisse, she reminded me of you. My pictures are not great but maybe you can pick her out.

As if I hadn’t eaten enough today I decided to stay out and have dinner. I wanted to stay in a relatively crowded section so I picked a place by the Duomo. Once there I decided to go big with the truffle pasta and florentine steak. They were both delicious. It was a splurge but since last night I had a 2€ slice of pizza I didn’t feel too bad about it. For a restaurant right off the main street to the Duomo, Giannino’s was really good.

Another great day in Florence.

 

 

Today was just going to be a day