August 31, 2007 - Our Last Day in Florence!

Our final day in Florence was spent touring the city as a group for one last time before we split up to spend our weekend in different towns before returning to Rome. We met for the last time across the street from Hotel Giada on the steps of San Lorenzo to learn more about the families and popes that held the greatest power and influence in Florence. Throughout our stay in Florence, Lisa kept us all interested in the art and history of the town with stories of intrigue, conspiracies and murder that involved the most influential figures of Florentine history, including Lorenzo de Medici and Savonarola. I was surprised at how many well-known artists and popes originated from Florence and often returned there to contribute their talents to the churches there.

After our final meeting in Florence that morning, we were divided into two groups so that the smaller groups could each tour the Palazzo Vecchio and participate in an olive oil and balsamic vinegar tasting. My group, led by Lisa, quickly headed to the Mercato Centrale near San Lorenzo so that we would not be late for our olive oil and balsamic vinegar tasting with Stefano. I was not sure what to expect at the tasting because drinking olive oil and vinegar did not seem appealing to me at all since my experience with these two substances is usually limited to cooking or salad dressing. After arriving at Stefano’s stall in the market, I was amazed by the array of different olive oils and vinegars. Bottles of different shapes and sizes lined the walls, each containing olive oil or balsamic vinegar from towns throughout Italy with their own unique flavors. We were instructed to line up in front of the counter at the stall and we were each given a small plastic spoon with which to taste each of the samples. To begin, we were given a few drops of an eight-year-old balsamic vinegar. The vinegar was pleasantly sweet and surprisingly thicker than I expected. Next, we tried a ten-year-old vinegar that tasted even sweeter and stronger than the previous sample. I was almost startled by the flavor of this balsamic vinegar because I did not expect to taste a difference between the first and second samples, but there truly is a subtle difference in taste between the various types of balsamic vinegar that can be attributed to difference in ages and the type of barrels in which they are kept. We were also allowed to taste an intensely flavored 12-year-old balsamic vinegar, balsamic vinegar cream flavored with chocolate, two types of olive oil, paté and biscotti with figs. The whole experience was both fun and culturally educational because we all left the market with a greater appreciation for the uniquely Italian art of cultivating the best olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Next, we headed to the Piazza della Signoria for our tour of Palazzo Vecchio. This Palazzo was one of the three palaces owned by the Medici family, arguably the most influential family in Florentine history. We were met at the entrance by our tour guide, Dominizia, who led us through the winding hidden staircases and secret rooms of the palace. First, we climbed our way through a dark, narrow stairwell that led us into the entry of the Studiolo. The Studiolo was a room built for and used exclusively by Francesco de Medici, the son of Cosimo I. The small, treasure chest-shaped room is decorated with paintings of well-known mythological stories and two portraits of Francesco’s parents. Dominizia explained to us that this room was used to store all of Francesco’s most prized possessions. It was also used as his private space to practice alchemy, his favorite science. This was my favorite room in the palace because the paintings on the walls ingeniously disguised the cabinets that held his precious objects. Each painting of a mythological scene held clues to what valuable items were held inside. For example, one painting entitled “Allegory of a dream” was used to hold Francesco’s supply of opium and other drugs. Historians have used these paintings to speculate what was hidden inside the cabinets since the contents of the hidden storage areas have been missing for centuries. Next, we traveled through another hidden staircase into more lavishly decorated rooms that were used as the private refuges of several of the Medicis. Dominizia then led us through the room that seats 500 that was used for government meetings and is decorated with paintings depicting the victory of Florence over Siena and Pisa. We were finally led through one last dark stairwell into an area between the ceiling and roof to see the wooden frames that alternately hold up the room and pull up the ceiling so that they are each supported independently. We were then escorted downstairs and our group wandered through the remaining rooms in the palace to view the art on display throughout the palace.

The tour through Palazzo Vecchio concluded our classes for the day, so our group headed back in the direction of Hotel Giada to have a quick lunch and then to finish our quest assignments. Later that afternoon, our class split up to go our separate ways; I traveled to Venice with six other students as another group left for Siena and two people preferred to travel independently to Pisa and Cortona. My group of seven students traveled by train to Venice and then by bus to our hotel in a residential area in the outskirts of town. After our hectic week in beautiful Florence, we were all ready for a free weekend of exploring a new town on our own!

Date with David!

Bright and early, we met once more at the steps of St. Lorenzo which became our regular morning meeting spot. There, Lisa revealed to us the gripping continuation to the cliff-hanger of the Medici family drama, and, like true fans, we ventured over to the Palazzo Medici Riccardi to explore their premises.
This was no ordinary palace; or rather, it looked too ordinary from the outside. Blended in the corner was the fort-like home of the Godfathers of the Renaissance. It certainly fit the modest Medici's motto, which was to "Always keep out of the public eye – and never display any pride."

*picture: Rustification of the palace walls.

Inside the palace walls, however, was a different story. The entrance led to a beautiful courtyard which once contained Michelangelo's David and now overlooks the garden, where half the group waited to take turns to enter the Capella dei Magi, a private chapel inside the Palace.

The beautifully frescoed room revealed a clear message to all those who entered it: if you are our friend, we will protect you and feature you in our paintings. If you are not, you will be hunted down by leopards and left to fend for yourself in the Hobbesian state of nature. The Medici were displayed as the three magi on the private frescoes by Gozzoli, elevating their status to those of Biblical characters and in the process, personalizing the story of Christ.

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On our way to the Academia for our date with David, we stopped by the Ospedale degli Innocenti (Hospital of the Innocents). The hospital was a children's orphanage built by Brunelleschi, who designed an elegant pattern of triangles and semi-circles throughout the piazza.

There is a revolving window near the entrance where babies could be dropped off anonymously to be cared for by the orphanage. We contemplated donating our smallest classmate but the window was unfortunately blocked off:

According to hearsay, there was a strike in the morning which delayed our entrance to the Academia for a few minutes. Meanwhile, the shop in the front struck gold that day with students flocking to get the ten postcards for a euro deal.

Once inside the Academia, the architecture of the place directed us straight to the main attraction. With its powerful hands, the piercing look of determination and the left arm calmly holding the sling, David looked ready to strike a giant. At his feet, we were the ones looking up at a giant: was this the young underdog that slay Goliath, and was to become a powerful symbol of Florence?

The adonis that Michelangelo freed from a slab of marble represented not only a gracious display of the male physique but a symbol for the Florentines in their fight against France and, later, a marker of the triumphant comeback of the Medici, among other meanings it has taken on over the years.

Unfortunately for photography enthusiasts, no pictures were allowed inside. Only our memories would capture the essence of David… (or this David to the left, on the side of the bus)

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The group split up for lunch and some of us picnicked at the footsteps of the Duomo. For the remainder of the day, we were busy completing our next Quest and exploring the city (and exercising our poor Italian skills) on a scavenger hunt.
What was the animal featured on the far side of the Mercato Nuovo? This beaming boar encircled by these lovely ladies:

We were also led to the church of Santa Maria Novella to investigate Masaccio's the Trinity. The patrons were depicted in the fresco praying alongside the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in perfect symmetry. Although a bit faded with time, Masaccio's piece represented a hallmark of Renaissance art with its elegant use of perspective inside the personal atmosphere of the Renaissance home.

To prevent photo bleaching, no pictures were allowed inside once more. Instead, I am about to leave you with a picture of Honors students scribbling away in their journals and taking over the hotel's breakfast room, putting down in words what cameras were not allowed to do in pictures this day… but as we are limited to 4 pictures per entry, this too, I shall leave to your imagination.

You'll just have to trust our word: we're hard at work.

Medici Rise and Rivalries

After a well-spent evening inventing new eating customs at Za-Za’s, we set out to learn about the Medici family and their rise to power. We enjoy the surprisingly cool and dry air as we discuss Lorenzo il Magnifico who cemented the Medici reputation for patronage of art and science. It was Lorenzo who discovered the 13-year old Michelangelo and brought the boy into the Medici home as another son; here, he developed his talents as an artist and sculptor, like many other Medici artists. Other interesting topics of discussion arise--the various rival families in Florence at the time, the sometimes violent power struggles that erupted, and devious plots that were hatched.

To place the history in context, we troop to the Santa Croce Complex to view the artwork and tombs within the church and its grounds. Inside the church, lies tombs of many well-known Italians, including Galileo, Machiavelli, Dante, and Michelangelo. Of course, we are introduced to the art and architectural history aspect of the building--we decide that the design of the building is Gothic (based on the pointed arches and longitudinal extension we learned about yesterday), we look at frescoes painted by Giotto and his assistants, and some of Donatello's early works including painted terracotta ceilings.

We then retreat to the cloister (designed by Brunelleschi) and discuss the Pazzi conspiracy, which Pope Sixtus IV accidentally supported. In an attempt to remove the Medici from power, the Pazzi family plotted to kill Lorenzo and his brother Giuliano on Easter Sunday, in a church; they manage to kill only Giuliano which led to a manhunt by both Lorenzo and the public, leading to the exile/killing of Pazzi family and friends. We then head to the Piazza della Signoria to admire the statues while discussing Savonarola, a priest who rose to power in the same time frame. Savonarola preached against the extravagant Renaissance lifestyle of the Medici, and specifically against Lorenzo. The priest gathered support through the overwhelming fear and guilt of the public, but is eventually condemned to death by burning in the center of the square. Despite his end, his preachings had far-reaching effects and when Lorenzo died, his son Pietro, known for being particularly immoral and tyrannical was run out of the city.

Here the saga of the Medici family was put on hold, as we were sent on our Quest for the day. The most difficult question: which gelateria had the best gelato? It took many of us several days to figure this one out. In the midafternoon, we reconvene at the Uffizi Gallery, in a building that served as the administrative offices ("uffizi") of Cosimo I, a few generations after Lorenzo. We consider Botticelli's La Primavera and The Birth of Venus, and how its patronage dictated both the content and the hidden symbols of the Medici family. We meander through the rest of the Uffizi, seeing works we have only seen reproduced in books, but now, we see the emotion and words encased in the brushstrokes over the centuries.

Afterwards, everyone proceeds to separate activities, all intent on discovering the city whether through shopping, or just wandering. Most of the class goes with Lisa to meet her special leather contact in Florence, and I venture off to climb to the top of Brunelleschi's dome just before it closes. I wind up the 463 steps on the inside of the dome, and emerge, completely disoriented at the top. The view was amazing--a sense of ownership combined with estrangement from the city, and an invitation to follow the curvature of the dome outwards. On the way down, the church is empty as well, a stark contrast to the bustling crowds and camera flashes of the previous day.

Ciao, Firenze!

We have all heard countless times that we ought to treasure the journey rather than the destination, but when the destination is a free dinner in Florence, by all means, forget the journey.

But don't forget everything. Our journey to Florence (Firenze in Italian) began at 7:45 am sharp outside the UWRC, with a week's worth of luggage and half a night's sleep. After a quick headcount, we piled onto a rolling oven (I think they call it a bus) and perspired our way to Termini Station, very ready to be greeted by the spacious and air conditioned Eurostar train waiting for us. Boarding the train, we initiated the battle between course reading packets, journals, and sleep. I think sleep won in most of us, until Florence took control.

You don't just know it, you feel it, you sense it, you reflect it. Florence is not Rome. The oppressive humidity is the first thing missing when you step out of the train station, and second, the barely controlled chaos that is the heartbeat of Rome. Florence has a different rhythm, and with each stroke a little more of Rome drifts out. And then you experience Florence.

Once in Florence we immediately checked into Hotel Giada and, after dropping off our luggage, we prepared for our first tour of the city. We made our first stop in the Piazza Della Republica, and after being temporarily loosed upon Florence to find our choice of sustenance for the upcoming day we gathered in the center of the Piazza for our first taste of the Medici family. This family's wealth funded the Florentine Renaissance, and their influence would prove to be visible in almost all the sites we would be visiting in Florence. However, our second destination was an example of art and architecture that preceded the Medici's rise: the Orsanmichele church.

Orsanmichele looks like a massive stone jack-in-the-box, a very cubic edifice wrapped in Gothic decor that leads your eyes upward along pointed arches to the distant roof where the virgin Mary ought to appear if you could find the right lever. In fourteen niches built into the exterior wall just above eye-level stands a treasure trove of sculpture, including works by Donatello and Ghiberti. The interior of the Orsanmichele church is a colorful display of Gothic architecture and fresco at its finest. On the ornate altar lies a copy of the miraculous image of the virgin Mary that had appeared on the outside of the church. The altar's design makes it look as though it is already attempting to leap through the church's ceiling. Unfortunately, the caretakers of Orsanmichele do not allow pictures nor lever-pulling inside so that the art may be preserved.

After leaving Orsanmichele we found ourselves in front of the Duomo, approaching the Baptistery for a look at the three sets of bronze doors that adorn it. First, Pisano's doors: mostly Gothic with a chance of Renaissance. Then on the opposite side, Ghiberti's first contribution: using the same layout as Pisano's doors but including scenes that more effectively display the traits of Renaissance art. Finally, Ghiberti's second set of doors: the Gates of Paradise, a triumph of the Renaissance embodied in gilded bronze. These doors consumed 27 years of Ghiberti's life, and even Michelangelo considered them the epitome of sculpture in bronze (and it was he who gave them the name "Gates of Paradise").

Pulling away from the brilliantly golden surface of the doors, we weaved our way to the entrance of the Duomo, but some manner of trouble left the line at a complete standstill, so we were once again loosed upon Florence, this time to engage in the first installment of "The Quest," a series of questions that led us on several excursions around Florence and around our memories of the day's study.

But as promised, the day ended with a free dinner (free for the students, at least) at Zaza's restaurant, where we used our cunning honors honed minds by combining each of our allotted 20 Euros to purchase as many dishes as possible. Our first course (including appetizers) was more than a full plate of salad and pasta for each of us, already a stretch from our typical penny-pinching meals in Rome. Then came he second course, including more pasta and several meat dishes, which easily filled our plates again with fantastic flavors. We finished nearly every dish we ordered, though one, being slightly less satisfying, was shared with our classmates at the next table so that we could save room for dessert. Five desserts, actually, shared in a mostly civilized free-for-all. In the end, we had each sampled about ten exquisite Italian dishes, not including dessert, a good follow-up to the homemade dishes we had been treated to the night before in Rome, and an impeccable conclusion to our first day as Florentines.

Italian Cooking 101