Firenze!

First off my apologies for being so behind in posts – Florence was marvelous and between enjoying the city and enjoying the company of Mother, I had very little down time during which to write.  We are now already back in Rome – having spent time in Florence and Cinque Terre!  I will do my best to bring some reflection to bear on those places, seen in the light of my Mom’s new eyes as well as my personal experiences. 

Mom touched down in Rome a bit later than expected, having been delayed by weather in NY.  I found my way to the Roman airport later than expected because of a local transportation strike in the city that morning.  Paolo, my most gracious host, actually offered me his car for the cross city trip to the airport but I was able to catch the last bus of the morning to the Termini station for a quick jaunt out to the airport.  To touch off a dicey pick-up, the customs exit dropped Mom at a different terminal, so we spent the better part of an hour looking for each other – I being worried that her checked bags did not make it off the plane because of ANOTHER strike.  She wisely did not check bags, found me, and we were on our merry way into town. 

It was a joyful and somewhat teary reunion for both of us – she talked often about how big of a deal my journey was, of how her friends all shared her excitement to get her hands on me.  For my part it was a first real feeling of being home after my seven month trek.  Spending time with Corinne has always grounded me, but seeing one’s mother after being away is something special and I appreciated all the more her trip overseas.  We shared many hugs before she conked out on the train.

 

View from our window!

Our place in Florence, after we got in the door, was pretty great – we staying at San Giovanni hotel on the Duomo piazza – we could see the Cathedral from our window.  Florence is mostly known as a city of renaissance art, and we wasted no time visiting the Ufuzzi and the Academie the next day.  While we didn’t quite distinguish all of our Littis from our Giottos, we saw an amazing arc of western art culminating in Titians and Michaelangelos that were truly breathtaking. 

There he is!

The other notable mark of Florence is its picturesque cityscape.  We spent many hours wandering (sometimes lost) around the north and south bank of the Arno river, enjoying the Florentine architecture, Florentines and of course the ubiquitous tourist.  We stopped into a number of churches – some of them housing the final resting place of the renaissance artists like Galileo and Michaelangelo.  We found a number of lovely dinner spots and enjoyed our fair share of Tuscan fare and wine.  Florence was pretty magical for me – a smaller version of Rome which condensed both the sights and the tourists.  Here are a few images from our various haunts around the city.

St Anthony?  Did we find St Anthony?  

Michaelangelo's tomb - with the muses of painting, sculpture and architechture

 

We also, at the recommendation of Mom’s former student, visited the nearby town of Siena, home of her patron Saint Catherine, whose head was on display (along with a thumb) at the church of St Dominic’s in Siena.  There is a dimension of iconography that deepened my already profound confusion at the intricacies of Catholic doctrine.  I had some difficulty experiencing anything other than that confusion as we witnessed this 13^th century head preserved and on display on an altar.  Siena was a nice little day trip for us, a comfy train ride, a comfy city, and a lovely lunch with a German couple.  We ate on a hillside café on propped tables, across the street from 17^th century address plates marked in Roman numerals.  A final note of interest in Siena – the town’s colors seemed to be black and white, and the Duomo of Siena (which almost became the biggest church in the world) was layered black and white marble – and even in its ‘unfinished’ state was pretty massive for a town the size of Siena. 

80's Michael Keaton movie?  Anyone?

It was a big church

Surreptitious photo of Mom with her patron Saint

Floor panel - slaughter of the innocents

Leonardo's St John

14th century rose window

Siena!

Siena and Florence gave us great flavors of the Tuscan area (if its somewhat well traveled parts), and I was sad to leave them, even for the beauty of the Mediterranean coast and the villages of Cinque Terre (5 lands).  Cinque Terre is five villages perched on the hillside over the sea, all within a 4 hour walk, all almost entirely boxed by their surroundings for most of the year until the railway came through.  We spent most of our time wandering in Monterrossa and Riomaggiore (where we stayed in a furnished apartment).  Monterrosssa had a lovely beach where we enjoyed the spectacular weather (unusual for Italy at this time of year, 70s and sunny every day), and Mom even took a dip!  Cheers Mom!    

That will have to do it for this entry – we are as I mentioned back in Rome on the final leg of our journey together.  We enjoyed a lovely dinner with William last night and are looking forward to meeting Paolo and Alessandra for a meal in the next day or two.  Thanks for reading!