Charlene and Luke left a little after 9 to go to the Campanile. They wanted to climb those steps and see the Duomo from up on high. That’s the great thing about having both those venues – while climbing the duomo gets you an excellent view of the city from up top, along with the trip from within the walls between the inner and outer domes, going up the belltower is the only place where you can get the up close and personal view of the Duomo. Was that convoluted?
I went down and met up with them at the piazza, miraculously at the same time they were exiting the tower. I’m so psychic… We walked through the streets down to the river and made a left toward Santa Croce. I ended up second-guessing myself about where to turn from the riverbank and we overshot the route by a few blocks. Walked into the square from a side entrance I am not familiar with, but we made the destination nonetheness. It was chilly outside. I didn’t have my hat and gloves, but thankfully had my scarf wrapped tight and my heavy ankle-length coat on.
Santa Croce is the church that has most of the tombs and monuments for the great Florentines, except for the Medicis themselves. They are mostly in the Medici chapels of San Lorenzo, up the street from our house. But at Santa Croce you can find Michelangeo, Galileo, Dante, Enrico Fermi and Marconi among the notables. His was also the church that sustained heavy damage from the flood of 1966. I showed Luke and Charlene the water marks in the back of the church and pointed out where Giotto’s cross had been mounted when the mud and water came barreling through. When we went outside and crossed the piazza I showed them the plaque marking the flood waters from both 1557 and higher up, 1966. It’s incredible that the river flooded quite that much in a matter of hours. Having seen the tsunamis in Indonesia and witnessing the devastation of Katrina via television in recent years, it brings it home to me how completely powerless we are in most natural disasters. My first trips here to Florence I knew about the flood markers and had stood under them for photos, and although I was amazed at the height of the markers, I had no idea what it must have been like. I couldn’t relate it to anything, In the years since, after Banda Aceh and New Orleans I have a much better idea of what sorrow and heartbreak these people must have experienced. Yes, the artwork and artifacts lost were a travesty, but the lives lost and the work to be done to restore and carry on were monumental.
We walked to the Oltrarno to find a restaurant that had been recommended to Luke. We slogged through the streets with the bitterly cold wind pelting our faces for blocks until we reached the place a bit after 12 noon. The restaurant is “Il Santo Bevetore” on Via Santo Spirito. It looked like a wine bar with all of the racks and displays, but the wooden tables were widely spaced and not cramped for comfortable dining. The gentleman at the door and I had a very disjointed conversation. We went from being told it wasn’t open to being told they would open early for us, but when I began to set foot inside, I realized I was mistaken in the conversation and he was offering to let us in at 12:30 when they opened, with a reservation. Huh? We said we’d come back at 12:30. Thanks and see you in 20 minutes!
We spent the next 20 minutes around the corner in a spot of sunshine against the Ponte Trinita staring across the street into a gelateria. Charlene and I took photos of a bunch of cars with boots on the wheels. The Florentine traffic cops do not put up with illegal parking. There were three cars booted and immovable on that corner. Since Charlene’s nickname is Boot (yep, she had some ticket issues working in San Francisco, another overzealous parking infraction society) she posed with a boot for posterity.
Finally it was time to head back for lunch. After standing in the cold while the hostess finished her cigarette, we were finally allowed in and to a table. Oh my, was it worth it go there!!! I hope to meet Luke’s friend who recommended the place, because I want to kiss him. While the menu was simple, three appetizers, three primi and three secondi choices are offered on a daily basis, all were fantastic. First Luke opted to get a cheese plate for us to share. I thought I was going to be ordering more than enough food for me to be full for the meal so I thought I wouldn’t need an appetizer to start me off. That doesn’t matter – when I took a small bite to try the cheese I knew I was a goner. These three cheese were sublime. The first had a garlicky taste, the second was reminiscent of apples and the third was definitely aged but not so strong it knocked you out. There was a small thimble of lime-pepper jelly to spread on as well. We demolished that appetizer. So so good.
For the primi Charlene and I had a serving of the artichioke risotto, which was done to perfection. Little arborio rice pillows of love….mmmm! Luke had vegetable minestrone that he said was the best soup he had ever had. I protested that he liked my soup that morning, but hey, I’m okay with it that my soup takes a backseat to this place. For our main entree Luke & Charlene had curry chicken medallions with a bed of cardomom-cinnamon lentils. Mine was branzino (sea bass) stuffed with sundried tomatoes on sauteed spinach. Phenomenal meal! We topped it off with tiramisu and rolled out of there stuffed to the gills. Bravo, Il Santo Bevetore!!!!
Walking back, I realized I needed to do my souvenir shopping. I don’t get to Florence nearly as often as Venice and it was time to stock up on scarves and pashminas. I split up with them at the market and told them I’d meet back with them at the house in time for us to leave for the Uffizi. I am very pleased with my selections and can’t wait to start wearing them as soon as possible.
We made our way down to the Uffizi for our reservation at 4:45 pm. Even though it is winter and doesn’t appear that there are lines into any of the museums, the Uffizi still has a sign up saying “No same day visits.” That’s pretty hardcore for people coming to town in winter to avoid the lines and crowds of summer. In this day and age I guess reservations online or by phone are the only way to go. I‘ve watched people almost pass out in lines that are three hours long in 100 degree heat, so now are they worried about people getting frostbite in winter? I don’t really think that’s the case here.
I took them through the museum at not quite breakneck speed, but it was an abbreviated “Art history 101 by Kris” with the highlights of the changes in technique and methods over the middle ages and renaissance eras. While I could sit and stare at a painting for hours, I don’t think we had the stamina or the inclination for that right now. I didn’t want their eyes glazing over while I droned on overly long. We stopped at the café for coffees and water. The Uffizi café overlooks the rooftop and you are just beneath the Palazzo Vecchio’s tower next door. We stepped out and took some photos before leaving the museum. It was getting late and the announcements overhead began intoning their end of the day messages, so we began looking for an exit. I remembered there was an exit at one point, but I didn’t see very good signage or flashing lights telling me exactly where it was locate, and we ended up walking to the entrance staircase where we had come in. The museum worker wouldn’t let us exit there and we were turned around and told to go “just past the caravaggios” which meant absolutely nothing to me. If I missed the exit sign once, why wouldn’t I miss it again?
We made our way down to the Uffizi for our reservation at 4:45 pm. Even though it is winter and doesn’t appear that there are lines into any of the museums, the Uffizi still has a sign up saying “No same day visits.” That’s pretty hardcore for people coming to town in winter to avoid the lines and crowds of summer. In this day and age I guess reservations online or by phone are the only way to go. I‘ve watched people almost pass out in lines that are three hours long in 100 degree heat, so now are they worried about people getting frostbite in winter? I don’t really think that’s the case here.
I took them through the museum at not quite breakneck speed, but it was an abbreviated “Art history 101 by Kris” with the highlights of the changes in technique and methods over the middle ages and renaissance eras. While I could sit and stare at a painting for hours, I don’t think we had the stamina or the inclination for that right now. I didn’t want their eyes glazing over while I droned on overly long. We stopped at the café for coffees and water. The Uffizi café overlooks the rooftop and you are just beneath the Palazzo Vecchio’s tower next door. We stepped out and took some photos before leaving the museum. It was getting late and the announcements overhead began intoning their end of the day messages, so we began looking for an exit. I remembered there was an exit at one point, but I didn’t see very good signage or flashing lights telling me exactly where it was locate, and we ended up walking to the entrance staircase where we had come in. The museum worker wouldn’t let us exit there and we were turned around and told to go “just past the caravaggios” which meant absolutely nothing to me. If I missed the exit sign once, why wouldn’t I miss it again?
This began the segment of the day that was pretty much “the Amazing Race.” Our task was to get out of the damned museum before they shut us all in for the night. See the sign, walk into a the room – no apparent staircase, but go throught three more rooms in succession, boom! There’s the way out. Down three flights of stairs, round two corners, down a hallway or five – all dimly lit and built up to hide the restauration and construction behind. Making our way past these darkened rooms, with their eery lighting Charlene stated we were in the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland. I felt like we were in a Rod Serling “Night Gallery” episoide. Down another two flights of stairs, round more corners and voila! We were on the ground floor. I told them I was heading for the toilet. They should have gone with me – I descended another two levels, walked about another mile and a half and ended up in the newly renovated basement lavatories. Hurrah! They are so new that the signage isn’t very large and I almost walked into the mens's room– but then again the old signage isn’t much to speak of, hence trouble that we’d had been trying to get out of the joint for about thirty minutes now!
Finally, as we made our way into the cold early evening air we all breathed an audible sigh of relief – and walked back home. Luke & Char went on a last minute run to the San Lorenzo market for souvenirs while I climbed up the 72 steps to the apartment with my lame achilles tendonitis-ridden left foot. I went to bed very early, taking some meds to help repair my damage for a good day tomorrow. Luke & Char headed out late in the evening to check out the nightlife and I understand Luke came very close to having an assignation with a dutch student. But that is his tale to tell.
Tomorrow we head back to Venice, where it should be warmer.
No comments:
Post a Comment