Paradigm Shift

After another gorgeous run by the Arno, Josh and I followed Rick Steves('s audioguide) around Florence for an education on the Renaissance.  That famous movement that brought human realism and appreciation of natural beauty back into art is said to have started in Florence in 1401.  Numerous Florentine artists were prominent in the early Renaissance, and masterpieces (usually reproductions now, with the originals protected in museums) decorate the city squares and facades of buildings.  The church of Orsanmichele alone has multiple statues by Donatello that are known to have directly inspired Michaelangelo on its outside walls.  The inside shows the late pre-Renaissance art style, providing good contrast for comparison.  And that is just the tip of the iceberg in Florence.  A reproduction of Michaelangelo's David sits in a public square (the original inside the Accademia museum nearby).  

Fun fact: his arm broke off in a riot, but clearly they fixed it.  In the same square, a fountain of Neptune, with the god modeled after the commissioning patron, rises up above the merely mortal tourists.  On the other side of the David, a cluster of statues shows artists' experimentation with statues of physical confrontation, which allowed them to display a deep understand of anatomy.  In a move that defies the normal pre-med/fine arts divide at colleges today, these artists performed (illegal) dissections of cadavers because it made them better painters of the human form.  And they did it without preservatives.  My hat is off to them.  Anyway, it was a great tour to introduce us to Florence's contribution to the early Renaissance before the movement grew and spread to both the north and south.

The huge and labor ate church accompanying the famous dome.  Beside the dome (the place is called Il Duomo, after all), the cathedral is renowned for it painting off Dante and the Divine Comedy by Domenico Di Michelino.

Ghiberti's magnificent bronze doors for the baptistery

That afternoon, we hiked up to San Miniato al Monte for some of the best views of the city.  We decided to take the scenic route past various gardens and, despite a few wrong turns, made it.  The sun was pounding down; it was so hot that even the men hawking counterfeit bags, cheap painting reproductions, and counterfeit sunglasses couldn't pull themselves out of the shade to harass us.  We admired the views of the city spread out before us.  Since most of Florence is built relatively low, monuments like the Duomo and its belltower stuck up boldly.  The Ponte Vecchio, with its quaint little shops, was easy to pick out.  It was fun testing our knowledge of the city.  We have become experts at learning new subway systems and city layouts.

We meandered back down to the city and returned to a street from our audioguided walking tour that was reported to have great gelato.  It did.  We sat on some steps, admiring the art of the Orsanmichele church as we slurped up mixed berry, passionfruit, and white chocolate gelato.

Wandering back, we packed up our things and decided to go to an early dinner at our local favorite, Gusta Pizza.  Except that it was 6 pm, and they don't even open until 7.  No matter.  Armed with our kindles, we sat on a bench in the square and read, peeking over ever few minutes at our bench neighbor who was sketching the beautiful square.  Around a central fountain, the rectangular square was edged with benches.  A larger concentric rectangle included a pathway around the benches and was edged with shops and restaurants, the tables for which spilled out into the pathway.  In the central square, a group of Rastafarians with their kids stood gossiping and laughing, shaking their dreadlocks over their shoulders.  Just in front of us, in the center of the square, a middle-aged man on a bicycle stopped to talk to a similarly-aged woman dressed up for a Sunday walk.  The woman's small, tan terrier seemed an incongruous companion for her.  She was calm, he couldn't sit still.  She was proper, he sported a cheeky Mohawk.  And yet she clearly loved him, and he wouldn't stray more than a few feet away from her side.  

Around the central fountain, a father with a curly brown beard rode a child's red bicycle as he chased two shrieking toddlers around.  One toddler, laughing so hard he could barely stay on his feet, dragged a black leather leash and hopped every time his father circled close.  Three dogs, perhaps one of them belonging to the toddler's family, frolicked on stoops and down side alleys, chasing each other around and around.  Off to one side, two street musicians played live music, singing along to the nasal hum of the accordion.  It was the perfect way to say goodbye to Italy.  Well, it was perfect once we got our pizza to go with it.

As we were eating, the strangest thing happened.  A friend from school appeared with his two brothers.  In a small square in Florence, the darnedest things happen, don't they?

Spotted: Italian drivers gunning their luxury cars through the hills of Florence, taking the narrow stone streets like a personal highway.

Spotted #2: Boat clubs.  We found two along the Arno!  Josh tried to go and talk to them at the first one, which seemed to be rowing-only, but it was a members-only club. Most of the members appeared to be beginners, though.  We found the second one further east on the Arno on the outskirts of the city.  This community boat club had crew boats but seemed to focus more on canoeing and kayaking.