Leaving on a fast train...

Last Saturday was our last day in Florence & our last day with Patrizia.  In the morning she guided us through the Ufffizi with a wonderful art history lesson.  We saw beautiful artwork by Masaccio, Michelangelo, da Vinci and the famous Primavera and Birth of Venus by Boticelli.  For me it was fascinating but for the boys it was little tedious.  Both of them decided that if they were Boticelli they would have painted Venus with more clothes on!  I have to say that they did very well spending 3 hours in an art gallery.  Maybe keeping their eyes on the prize of an afternoon at the park helped....

On our second trip to Cascine park there was more soccer playing but also fun at a Medieval festival. There was jousting, archery, drummers, flaggers- the whole works- a great finale for our time in Florence.

The next morning- a goodbye breakfast with Federico and the Frecciarossa (literal translation: red line but practical translation: fast) train to Venice-  Nash's very first train ride!

Frederico!!

The boys favorite sculpture in the loggia at Piazza Signoria-
they said it reminded them of The Chronicles of Narnia.

Arrivederici  to Patrizia

Rubbing the bronze boar- "Il Porcellino" for good fortune

Ross's turn...

Guess his luck ran out... now he's in the stocks!
(at the Medieval festival in the park)

They are asking Matt how much am I worth!

Nash trying his hand at archery-

Flag throwers

Meal with a friend
(who happens to be an apartment manager AND a martial artist!)

Hard to say Good bye...

Till we see you again!

Next stop- Venice!

Florence Finale-

We are 7 hours ahead but today I am officially 7 days behind on the blog!  Our time has been very full so making time to blog has been more difficult that I imagined...
Since I last posted, we completed our last few days in Florence and visited Venice.  Today we took the train back to Florence, picked up our rental car and drove about 40 minutes to a little hill town in Tuscany that will be our home for the next 12 days.  We are staying at a small family owned agriturismo  that is an olive farm.  It has a lovely garden on a terraced hillside overlooking the olive grove that I am taking advantage of to write this post (while the boys are running around and exploring)!

So... back to Florence.

On Thursday Matt & I made it to 2 more palace museums before he took the bus up to Fiesole to have lunch with a friend and I had a little time to myself... The morning visit to yet another Medici palace (their 3rd on in the city) allowed us to view a fantastic collection of Renaissance art comparing the two Florentine artists- Pontormo and Rosso but my favorite residence was the Palazzo Davanzati.  This family home was a cross between a palace and a medieval tower.  Exploring these 5 stories  satisfied my craving to feel what it was really like to practically live during this time in history (versus how royalty lived).   There was even a cookbook in the kitchen with medieval recipes!

The boys spent this day working on their theatrical production of the story of Pinocchio which they performed for parents on Friday.


Friday was another Italian holiday (Liberation Day- celebrating Italy's freedom after WWII) with parades and crowds.  This was also the boys last day of Arte al Sole.  The kids entertained us with a short  original rendition of Pinocchio and proudly exhibited the art they worked on all week. It was bittersweet as they had to say good-bye to new friends and their instructors (who were both named Shannon).  We spent the afternoon in the beauty of the Boboli and Bardini gardens behind the Palazzo Pitti.

The Courtyard of Palazzo Davanzati

Medieval bathroom complete with bathtub

Liberation Day

Nash's Secret Agent Fresco

Ross with his Duomo dome original

Favorite friend from Holland

Boys with the "Shannons"

Palazzo Pitti backyard- Boboli Gardens

Admiring the spring flowers

Up the hill- Wisteria walkway at Bardini Gardens

Steps, Steps & more Steps-

This past Wednesday, Matt and I began and ended our touring day with climbing stairs.  Without exaggeration I think it was close to 2,000 steps!  I guess you could say we were counterbalancing the calories the boys were consuming as their day was spent in a pizza and gelato making class at the cooking school just a few doors down from our apartment.

First stop, the Palazzo Vecchio or Old Palace which was the Town Hall for Florence in the 1300's (when it was a Republic) until the 1530's when the Medici Cosimo I took over and turned it into his personal palace.  It is filled with Renaissance art and an impressive Grand Hall but the highlight for Matt was the top of the bell tower with another beautiful vista of the city.   It was a windy but sunny morning and he was able to capture some great photos.

We then visited the Medici Chapel where the ruling family members are buried.  The star here for me was the Sacrestia Nuova (New Sacristy)- room and monuments/tombs completely designed by Michelangelo.

The Church of Santa Novella (1400's) which has great "groundbreaking" early Renaissance art featuring the first 3-D paintings by Masaccio, Giotto and Ghirlandaio was also on our list for the day (before the Firenze card expires!) and lastly before picking up the boys we walked through the Mercanto Centrale  which is Florence's grand version of a farmer's market selling luscious looking produce, cheeses, olives, wine and also meat, organs and fish.  It really made me wish that I was a better cook...maybe I should have taken the cooking class instead of the boys!

To end the day we took the boys to climb the steps to the top of the Duomo.  It seems that you have not really been a tourist in Florence if you do not tackle the 463 claustrophobic winding steps of this architectural masterpiece.  I must say the view was stunning and it did allow you to marvel at the genius and beauty of the dome.  Ross announced at the top that he was not tired at all and Nash is confident that his count of 540 steps versus the published claim of 463 is the accurate count!

I love this photo by Matt- this shadow of the Palace looming over the Piazza Signoria
 is a perfect depiction of the tyrannical rule of the Medici over the people

Santa Maria Novella's facade

Santa Maria Novella's nave

Just a tiny selection of Mercanto Centrale

Medici Chapel (again, no photos allowed of Michelangelo's work inside)

The boys ready to tackle the stairs of the Duomo

On their way up...

And they made it!

So nice of fellow travelers to take a family pic of us on the outside of the dome

A view of the inside of the dome which of course does not do it justice.

Frescos & Sculpture-

The boys loved school!  When we picked them up Monday afternoon they were brimming with smiles at having made some new friends and tried their hand at an ancient art technique. At the art school in Florence, Marco took the kids through the process of making frescos which is a multi-step, tedious procedure using plaster & gesso that does not allow the artist to go back over his work to correct mistakes.  They were "commissioned" to do a fresco of the Duomo but add their own twist....Nash chose to make his a secret agent hide out and Ross had Puffles (from his favorite video game Club Penguin) visiting the cathedral.   We are so glad they started the week with such a great experience.

Tuesday the boys took their sketchbooks outside of the Pitti Palace for an animal symbol treasure hunt while Matt & I viewed a beautiful collection of frescos by the early Renaissance master Fra Angelico at the  Museo di San Marco. This museum is a 15th century monastery with the "cells" of the monks preserved as they were hundreds of years ago.  Also exciting to see was the cell and study of Girolamo Savonarola, the Dominican priest who overthrew the Medici (for a short time) and was responsible for the Bonfire of the Vanities in 1497.  (Savonarola was later executed supposedly at the exact spot of the bonfire in the Piazza Signoria one year later.) This museum turned out to be at the top of Matt's list of favorites.

Matt & I also visited the Bargello Museum also known as Palazzo del Popolo (Palace of the People) which is a police station turned prison & in 1865 turned sculpture museum.  It is the oldest public building in Florence with contraction beginning in 1255. It houses the David by Donatello which was the first male nude to be sculpted in 1000 years and many works by Michelangelo. I am amazed at these artists who could chip away stone and create something so beautiful, mesmerizing and life-like...For me, viewing these masterpieces only led my thoughts to our wondrous Creator and Savior and the beauty that He is... I could have lingered for hours here but Matt kept us on schedule-

You see, we have a Firenze card which is good for admission to something like 50 museums, monuments, cathedrals, etc for 72 hours and Matt is determined to see as many as possible before our hours expire!
On this day we also visited the Museum of Natural History and the Palazzo Medici- Riccardi before we picked the boys up from school.

Our family outing was to see Michelangelo's David at the Gallerie dell Accademia.  To give an indication of how magnificent this work is, we spent as much time in this one room studying the 5 unfinished "Prisoners" and David as Matt and I had spend at the 3 museums before...

Bargello Museum-Palace of the People 

Bargello Courtyard

Glimpse of bronzes at the Bargello created using "lost wax casting" of the ancients

Museo of San Marco

Fra Angelico's fresco

Hall of monk's cells at San Marco

More art by Fra Angelico

Ceilings at the Medici- Riccardi Palace

Seems like we are always looking up...

Going in to see THE David (sorry, photos inside forbidden)

The "Bridge of Gold" at night- our view on the way home...

Pasquetta

Yes, Easter continues...
Pasquetta or Easter Monday is also a holiday.  In many Tuscan towns there are games, dances or concerts and we learned that typically it is a day that families enjoy picnics with leftovers from their Easter meal.   But in the historic center of Florence it means that lots of museums and shops are closed...
The boys however started their first day at Arte al Sole, an English speaking art school/camp held here at the "palace" as Frederico (our manager) calls it. They were both excited and a little apprehensive but as soon as they saw the other kids it was a "go."

After the boys were settled, Matt & I set out to explore the city-
We have been here 5 days now and have walked the Ponte Vecchio admiring all the goldsmith and silversmith shops many times but on this day we were early- walking across the bridge just as a few of the shops were opening...  it was such a fascinating site for me! All of these glass front shops were enclosed & protected by wooden fortress-like fronts... they were like life sized jewelry boxes being opened up... I imagine it has been like this since these stores were built in 13th century.  I am not sure why this simple daily routine for these merchants struck me so profoundly...anyway it was a good start to another history filled day.

Jewelry boxes waiting to be opened...

Another day's work...

Orsanmichele- a grain market turned church with statue filled niches -
bronzes by Donatello, Verrocchio and Ghiberti

Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise on the Baptistry doors

Our own Pasquetta "picnic"-

Dinner at the apartment

Reading at Piazza Santo Spirito

Ending the day with gelato