Sat May 3 - Bapistry/Duomo, Medici Riccardi Palazzo

Detail - wall of cathedral

Left early to get to the Piazza del Duomo area before the crowds.  Raining a lot.  Long lines for the cathedral (the "Duomo") and the campanile.  We all agreed that we did not want to wait in long lines even though it meant we might not see some of the major sites.





Here's a little video to give you an idea of the total awesomeness of the (outside of the) cathedral and campanile -- a photo just does not do it justice.

ceiling of baptistry

The Baptistry was not crowded so we went in there -- very beautiful inside. The building is round and covered with paintings.

After the baptistry, we went over to the Duomo museum which is currently under construction and not everything is available to see, but we were able to see the original "Gates of Paradise" bronze doors by Ghiberti that used to be on the east side of the baptistry.  (They were removed for safekeeping in 1990 but I remember seeing the original doors when I was in Florence in 1973.)  

I love those doors.  They are magnificent, not really captured in this photo.  There was also an interesting video about how they restored the doors to remove soot and dirt, and how they transported them - had to handle them very carefully as they are so precious.

Ghiberti door - detail

We are mildly disappointed that we won't get to see the inside of the Duomo or climb the tower, but the lines are very very long and we definitely don't want to stand in them.  This is true even for those who, like us, have a combo ticket.  Oh well.


Note:  If you'd like to learn more about the famous Dome that was, and is, an architectural marvel, I highly recommend this PBS documentary that you can view online:   Great Cathedral Mystery.

Next, we walked over to Piazza della Repubblica (the site of a Roman forum and heart of medieval Florence) thinking we could have lunch at the La Rinacente department store which has a restaurant at the top with a nice view.  That wasn't possible because the terrace was closed because of the rain (however see entry for May 5 when we did get up there before we left town).  Had some lunch and poked around the department store.


Then to the train station to get tickets ahead of time for our trip to Lucca, then from Lucca back to Florence, and then Florence to Venice.  That took awhile, figuring out the schedules, the different trains, and the money!   Mission accomplished.  At that point, Toby was ready for a break so we parted ways.  

Marian, Harry and I headed for the Medici Riccardi Palazzo where we would see the frescoes the Dutch professor recommended.  The frescoes are in a little chapel, the Chapel of the Magi, that was used by the family.  The paintings are quite beautiful.  You can see some photos online here.  However i would say that, personally, the most beautiful thing I saw in Florence was the Ghiberti doors - just my opinion.  

The palace is large with many rooms.  One room in particular, the Luca Giordano Hall, was spectacular.  Here's a photo and a detail.   

In the courtyard, there was a special exhibit by contemporary Italian sculptor Innocenzo Vigoroso that I liked a lot.   

Then we headed home, pretty tired.  The rain has stopped so that's nice.  Got home without consulting a map hardly at all!!  Very exciting to be learning our way around, getting familiar with this city.  Turns out (ha ha we just figured this out!) we are only a couple of blocks from the Palacio Vecchio!   Great location.  

Dinner:  Osteria Pepo, Via Rosina 4.   Excellent dinner.  Marian tried the wild boar (so adventurous!) and liked it.  Wild boar is a Tuscan specialty and they even have statuary honoring the beast.  Here Marian is posing with one. :)  

Side note:  This wild boar statue is in the San Lorenzo Market area where, during the day, there are many many stalls mostly selling leather purses and jackets.  These leather stores are ubiquitous in Florence and Venice too.  (I think leather is a tourist attraction in this part of Italy especially).  Very colorful.

After dinner, Marian, Harry and I walked around enjoying the nice evening.  We went across "our" bridge, Ponte Santa Trinita (the one nearest our apartment), through Oltrarno and back over the Ponte Vecchio.  Along the way we saw a bunch of people standing out on the street and wondered what was going on.  Turns out they were watching soccer on a TV inside a bar.  Later, crossing the Ponte Vecchio, we saw another crowd of people listening to a guy playing guitar and singing Sweet Dreams (Eurythmics song) and dancing.  Nice vibe.  

 
Walked back along the river.  Stopped for gelato at the store on our corner.  Another wonderful, busy day.