Eighth Day - Florence

September 27th, 2008

We had another super day of sightseeing on our last day in Florence. Once again the weather was terrific.

Our first stop was the Bargello. This art museum is loaded with famous sculptures. You are not allowed to take pictures inside the museum, but Donatello's statue of David is inside, as is the famous Mercury by Giambolgna, Bacchus by Michelangelo, and Ghiberti's Sacrifice of Isaac. Ghiberti was the artist who was commissioned to create the famous Gates of Paradise bronze doors for the Florence Baptistry, we saw those panels on display in the Duomo Museum later this same day.

The Bargello once was a prison; it has a central courtyard where executions once took place. Today the central courtyard is an open-to-the sky museum full of sculptures, and you CAN take pictures here. You may also take photographs on the loggia - which is the balcony above the courtyard. We toured the inside of the museum, and saw the courtyard and loggia. I took a picture of the sign next to most of the statues, so I believe my identifications of these art pieces is accurate.

Because Sept 24th was an anniversary of European Union Day (?) all museum admissions were free! I was surprised the Bargello wasn't more crowded. The museum wasn't deserted, but it was empty enough that I stood all alone in the Donatello room looking at his statue of David. (I was secretly tempted to sneak a photograph, but I did not.) Everyone flocks to the Accademia (to see Michelangelo's David) and the Uffizi (to see a zillion famous paintings) but the treasures in the Bargello are also must see. This was a pretty neat museum, I am glad we were able to see it. We spent most of the morning inside, it isn't as huge as the Uffizi, so we could see everything in a few hours.

After a leisurely but thorough viewing of the Bargello, the four of us walked south. We went through the square in front of Santa Croce church (if we had another day in Florence, I would have liked to see the interior of that building, because of the artwork and famous tombs inside.) We bought bus tickets from a tobacco shop - these tickets allow you to get on and off the bus as many times as you like - but they expire 70 minutes after their first use. In other words, if you first use the bus ticket at 12:00 PM, you can continue to use that same ticket to get on and off buses until 1:10 PM. On the south bank of the Arno, we boarded the #13 bus for a ride up to Michelangelo's Plaza. (The Rough Guide map is extraordinarily useful, it includes all the bus route numbers so we had no problem figuring out which bus to board.)

Michelangelo's Plaza is deservedly famous for its sweeping view of Florence. It is located high above the south bank of the Arno River. From the Plaza, you can see all the landmarks: the Ponte Vecchio bridge, the palace of the Medici, the Duomo, the Bell Tower and Santa Croce. There is a large bronze replica of the statue of David here. Many photographs were taken. Without feeling rushed, we saw the plaza and took our pictures in about an hour. That meant we still had 10 minutes left on our bus passes - Mom and Rose boarded the bus which took them to the side entrance of the Boboli Gardens - if you are planning a trip to Florence, please note that the Boboli Gardens have multiple entrances, you don't have to go through the main entrance at the Pitti Palace, which had an enormous line on this day (My mom and sister saw the giant line when they exited. There was no line at all at the side entrance!

Melanie and walked higher up the hill to the basilica San Miniato al Monte. This vantage point is higher than the famous view at Michelangelo's Plaza, but alas! my batteries were dying and I was without a spare set. There a large number of tombs and masoleums surrounding this church, and it has an nice interior. But the best part is the view of Florence. It was so nice that there was a wedding party taking pictures on the church steps. It is also completely uncrowded. The bus does not take you right up to this basilica, but if you are fit enough to walk half a mile up hill, the view will certainly reward you!

Melanie walked back down the hill, back through Michelangelo's Plaza (where I paid too much for another set of batteries) and kept going down hill until we walked past the fountain at Porta San Niccolo - this is one of the original gates of Florence's medieval city walls, it was the Gate of Saint Nicholas.

After we crossed the Arno, we headed north through Florence. We briefly stopped again at Piazza della Signoria to admire the statues in the bright afternoon sunshine. We grabbed some pizza and gelato and went to the Duomo Musuem (Museo dell'Opera del Duomo). The Duomo Museum has some significant art work on display - a pieta by Michelangelo, an eerie statue of Mary Magdalene by Donatello, but the most famous pieces on display are the original Gates of Paradise door panels created by Ghiberti for the Baptistry. This site seems to have a thorough index of the Museum's treasures. Much of the art on display originally was mounted on the interior or exterior of the Duomo, but due to various changes, the art has been removed and is now preserved in the museum. You may take pictures inside this museum, so I have a bunch. On the upper floor is a display of proposals for decorating the Duomo -there are alternate color schemes and patterns that show how various artists suggesting how the Duomo ought to look. These drawings look so different it is hard to believe they all depict the same building.

While I was upstairs looking at the alternate facades, I heard a lot of crowd noise outside, so I moved to a window and looked out. Down below, on the street, there was a parade of people marching by wearing full Renaissance costumes!

After we departed the Duomo Museum, we found that an hour still remained before the Medici Chapel closed for the day (it is nice that a lot of the attractions in Florence seemed to have late hours.) My sister and Mom had visited the Chapel while we were in Siena, and they reported that it was a stupendous site and not to be missed. So we went in.

Here is my opinion: the Medici Chapel is indeed a stupendous sight and not to be missed! It is an ostentatious display of wealth - the Chapel of Princes is bursting with beautiful carvings, sculpture and marble. Alas, this is another site that does not allow photography, so I can not show you any pictures of the grandiose interior. I have looked around a bit on the Internet for pictures of the interior, but I can not find any Click here for some Medici Chapel shots. . There are lot of links to the statues of Dawn, Dusk, Night and Day in the New Sacristy, carved by Michelangelo. The two rooms are so different - the Chapel of Princes with its astounding architecture and colorful marble, and the New Sacristy, with it white colors and unadorned walls. We stayed until closing time. I should have bought postcards since I had no photographs. I guess I will have to go back!

After the Medici Chapel, we walked back to the apartment for a late dinner. Wow, there is a lot to see in Florence. I think we saw as much as possible in our two and half days of visiting. Florence is impressive, no wonder so many tourists stop to visit!