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lillibetIt was our last day in Tuscany and we wanted to squeeze in a little bit of everything.
We got an early start, but our regular parking lot was already stacked up. Steve and Trish headed into town on their own once more, while Jason and I waited for a space to free up. Having parked, we walked into town and visited the Bargello Museum.
The Bargello was Florence's first town hall and has served as a court and prison during its long history, but is now a museum specializing in sculpture. Highlights of our visit included Cellini's "Mercury," Giambologna's "Florence Victorious Over Pisa," and a collection of bronze birds (an owl, a turkey, a falcon, a peacock) made by Giambologna for one of the Medici's gardens. Other interesting works included Michelangelo's "Bacchus" and Donatello's oddly androgynous "David," complete with a floppy hat. There are also several rooms of smaller bits and pieces. We were in the room of ornately carved ivory objects when the churchbells began to ring and everyone stopped to observe three minutes of silence in mourning for the events in America. There was a convenient window ledge where we sat, holding hands, and mourned, appreciating this gesture of solidarity and support from the European Union.
The silence ended and we made our way back to the Duomo, where Steve & Trish had climbed the dome. We grabbed huge slices of mediocre, lukewarm pizza at a place along our route, got back to the car and headed northeast to Fiesole.
Fiesole was settled much earlier than Florence and was an important city during the Etruscan and early Roman period. Florence has encroached upon it until it's little more than a hilltop suburb, but one with stunning views of the city below and interesting relics of its earlier days. It was raining as we arrived in the central piazza, so we drove out of town to admire the misty view to the north before parking and getting out the umbrellas. It was a quick walk to the Museo Bardini, where we saw their small collection of terracottas, ivories and Florentine paintings. They have no barriers separating viewers from the works, but a highly sensitive alarm system that wants people to stay at least three feet away from everything. This is very hard, particularly in the corners and we were happy to get away from the constantly bleating announcement asking that we step away in Italian, English and German. We walked around the corner to the Museo Archeologico and were very glad that it had stopped raining so that we could explore the well-preserved Roman amphitheatre. It is still used during the town's opera festival and its accoustics are marvelous. Behind it are ruins of two Etruscan temples, a Roman bath complex and the defensive walls of the town. Perched on the hill above the theatre is the museum, which had some interesting artifacts and explanations of the excavations. One of the most interesting sections detailed the remains that have been identified under existing buildings throughout the center of town using radar and other methods.
Trish wanted to send a fax to their hotel in Rome, so she set off to find an available machine while the rest of us climbed a very steep slope up to the church and monastery of San Francesco. The views of Florence from there were amazing, even in the rain, and the small cloisters were lovely. The tiny church was pretty enough and there were interesting mosaics in the sacristy. Attached to the church is a very odd, old-fashioned museum containing various pieces from China and Egypt--including a pair of mummified hands. That and a small, nondescript chapel made for ten minutes' viewing and when Trish joined us we told her she could skip it.
We walked back down the hill to the piazza, got some gelato and drove back down through the outskirts of Florence to the autostrada and headed back to the villa. Jason dealt with email and paid our bill while the rest of us napped, watched TV and changed for dinner.
This time we had asked Francesco to make reservations for us, so the Osteria dell'Acquolina was pleased to seat us. They have no menus and for our first course they just said "Antipasto for four?" and when we nodded they brought us zucchini sauteed with balsamic vinegar, eggplant with garlic, little croquettes, a shredded beef salad, crostini with pates of mushroom and beef liver, and a plate of pappa al pomodoro. Given some choice as to primi, we order plates of pappardelle with sauces of rabbit and wild boar. The pasta was so fresh and the sauces perfectly savory--the rabbit sauce was my favorite of the entire trip. For our main course I picked a stewed beef dish, while Steve chose the pork slices in balsamic vinegar and Jason had the arrista--pork loin stuffed with garlic. Everything had been so good that we had to try their desserts, so Steve & Trish split a tiramisu, while Jason and I shared the tart filled with berry jam. It was the best meal we had in Tuscany and a fitting farewell to the region, as well as being an early celebration of Trish's birthday and our first anniversary.
We were very glad to be only ten minutes from home, since we all needed to get our stuff packed and have a good night's sleep.
Next, the transition: Florence to Venice...
We got an early start, but our regular parking lot was already stacked up. Steve and Trish headed into town on their own once more, while Jason and I waited for a space to free up. Having parked, we walked into town and visited the Bargello Museum.
The Bargello was Florence's first town hall and has served as a court and prison during its long history, but is now a museum specializing in sculpture. Highlights of our visit included Cellini's "Mercury," Giambologna's "Florence Victorious Over Pisa," and a collection of bronze birds (an owl, a turkey, a falcon, a peacock) made by Giambologna for one of the Medici's gardens. Other interesting works included Michelangelo's "Bacchus" and Donatello's oddly androgynous "David," complete with a floppy hat. There are also several rooms of smaller bits and pieces. We were in the room of ornately carved ivory objects when the churchbells began to ring and everyone stopped to observe three minutes of silence in mourning for the events in America. There was a convenient window ledge where we sat, holding hands, and mourned, appreciating this gesture of solidarity and support from the European Union.
The silence ended and we made our way back to the Duomo, where Steve & Trish had climbed the dome. We grabbed huge slices of mediocre, lukewarm pizza at a place along our route, got back to the car and headed northeast to Fiesole.
Fiesole was settled much earlier than Florence and was an important city during the Etruscan and early Roman period. Florence has encroached upon it until it's little more than a hilltop suburb, but one with stunning views of the city below and interesting relics of its earlier days. It was raining as we arrived in the central piazza, so we drove out of town to admire the misty view to the north before parking and getting out the umbrellas. It was a quick walk to the Museo Bardini, where we saw their small collection of terracottas, ivories and Florentine paintings. They have no barriers separating viewers from the works, but a highly sensitive alarm system that wants people to stay at least three feet away from everything. This is very hard, particularly in the corners and we were happy to get away from the constantly bleating announcement asking that we step away in Italian, English and German. We walked around the corner to the Museo Archeologico and were very glad that it had stopped raining so that we could explore the well-preserved Roman amphitheatre. It is still used during the town's opera festival and its accoustics are marvelous. Behind it are ruins of two Etruscan temples, a Roman bath complex and the defensive walls of the town. Perched on the hill above the theatre is the museum, which had some interesting artifacts and explanations of the excavations. One of the most interesting sections detailed the remains that have been identified under existing buildings throughout the center of town using radar and other methods.
Trish wanted to send a fax to their hotel in Rome, so she set off to find an available machine while the rest of us climbed a very steep slope up to the church and monastery of San Francesco. The views of Florence from there were amazing, even in the rain, and the small cloisters were lovely. The tiny church was pretty enough and there were interesting mosaics in the sacristy. Attached to the church is a very odd, old-fashioned museum containing various pieces from China and Egypt--including a pair of mummified hands. That and a small, nondescript chapel made for ten minutes' viewing and when Trish joined us we told her she could skip it.
We walked back down the hill to the piazza, got some gelato and drove back down through the outskirts of Florence to the autostrada and headed back to the villa. Jason dealt with email and paid our bill while the rest of us napped, watched TV and changed for dinner.
This time we had asked Francesco to make reservations for us, so the Osteria dell'Acquolina was pleased to seat us. They have no menus and for our first course they just said "Antipasto for four?" and when we nodded they brought us zucchini sauteed with balsamic vinegar, eggplant with garlic, little croquettes, a shredded beef salad, crostini with pates of mushroom and beef liver, and a plate of pappa al pomodoro. Given some choice as to primi, we order plates of pappardelle with sauces of rabbit and wild boar. The pasta was so fresh and the sauces perfectly savory--the rabbit sauce was my favorite of the entire trip. For our main course I picked a stewed beef dish, while Steve chose the pork slices in balsamic vinegar and Jason had the arrista--pork loin stuffed with garlic. Everything had been so good that we had to try their desserts, so Steve & Trish split a tiramisu, while Jason and I shared the tart filled with berry jam. It was the best meal we had in Tuscany and a fitting farewell to the region, as well as being an early celebration of Trish's birthday and our first anniversary.
We were very glad to be only ten minutes from home, since we all needed to get our stuff packed and have a good night's sleep.
Next, the transition: Florence to Venice...
