Florence is a bit like Rome--there is something to see around every corner. I stayed for nine days, which most tourists scoff at because they don't know what to see after David, the Uffizzi, and the Duomo. But I was content to be here with Santa Croce, Santa Maria Novella, the Ospedale, and about twenty other different churches, palaces, cloisters, and museums.
Slowing down in Florence, I found this scene here at San Ambrogio. Two men and a priest, with a coquettish onlooker, all in their sixties and seventies, were building...something...in front of an altarpiece that was probably 500 years old. It was a wonderful scene of the new being created in company with the old, the cherished. This simpatico between history and the present is seamless, especially here in Florence, and I love being here to see that relationship.
Here are some more pictures of that week. http://sheisasinafieldasilkentent.shutterfly.com/pictures/237
I know I have not been labeling things, and I know that it can be frustrating not knowing what you are looking at. But it takes so long to label everything. So let's have a beer or coffee the next time we see each other and I can explain (no we don't have to look at ALL the pictures).
3 comments:
you're definitely doing the Euro travel thing the way it should be done, Fonda ... it's so great that you've been able to spend so much time in a single area to actually see & experience the place and not simply whiz through in order to be able to say "i've been there." My 6-week trek around Europe seemed like it should have been plenty of time, but we went to so many places that it felt like we were still missing so much at times. We actually had to nix the visit to Florence from the list altogether due to time constraints. Granted, it can be nice to just get to see famous things and places in person, but there is much to be said for lingering in a foreign place that has so much to experience.
Last night I was telling some people that I was in Florence for nine days and they could not imagine what there was to do there for so long. When I said I would be in Venice for 7 days, they laughed. "That's waaaaaaaaaaaay too long." But I have been really glad to take it easy. In Milan, today, I have done nothing but my laundry and some reading. the thought of having to move my bag, which is getting heavier and heavier, every day or two days...yikes.
Steve, you will be back to chill out in Florence and so many other places. Maybe I can go with you :) We should start planning a trip for the next two or three years. I'm open to anything.
Don't listen to anyone who says "that's way too long" b/c that's what everyone always says when they don't know what to do with slowing the pace of life down! Spend a few years living in Italia and you'll begin to truly know what "domani" really means! Enjoy the pace, soak it in, and well if given the chance submerge your entire being in "being" in one of the most deeply rich places historically, artistically and romantically.
Cheers.
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