Yesterday on my way back from the gym, I noticed that the Signoria was again cordoned off for some function. I made note to wander around early, to check it out. After dinner when I went out there was a sound-check being made so I just went off walking. A few hours later when I came back I realized that it was just a City Hall Rally (the Palazzo Vecchio is the City Hall). This attracted a different crowd, so people-watching was even more interesting. There were a few of long-winded firebrands that spiced up the action but I was clueless so I went home. On my way back I noticed that the huge clock on the Vecchio was repaired. The time was accurate. It was just before eleven. As I entered the apartment the bell was striking eleven. Now that the clock was fixed so, I imagine, was the bell that I am hearing now for the first time. It is a very loud bell. The sound is rather high pitched, as though the walls of the bell were thin. I had a snack, played on the computer and went to bed.
At one in the morning I was about to fall asleep when the bell rang. But then it went on…two…three….four. I figured that perhaps Quasimodo was sleeping on the job and pushed the wrong button. Five…six…seven well they didn’t do a good job fixing it, did they. Eight….nine…..ten. Ok, perhaps I didn’t hear the chimes correctly earlier. The time is just off. Eleven…twelve….thirteen…..fourteen. Quasimodo must be drinking or the repairman really screwed up.
This went on and on.
After about five minutes I gave up trying to sleep. Bells are wonderful. They add such a colorful charm. They are romantic. They evoke nostalgia and a great sense of history. They are a pain in the ass when they run amuck. And remember this is a sharp sounding bell that is 100 feet away. Soon, I hoped, someone would go to the tower and shoot Quasimodo.
This went on for eight minutes. When it stopped there was cheering and the sound of trumpets. They did this on purpose! They were probably standing out there in their costumes. The set-up in the piazza and the speakers were probably all part of some dedication ceremony for the repaired clock. And I blamed poor Quasimodo.
It has been quite warm so I had hoped to get up early to go to the Pitti Palace but slept in to recover from the charm of the chiming last night.
The Pitti Palace is beautiful and the grounds are called the Giardino di Boboli (Boboli Gardens). This is all located in the Oltrarno, which means “the other side of the Arno.” It is just a short walk down the street from me and over the Ponte Vecchio.
I didn’t do it all today. There is just too much.
There is an extensive Galleria del Costume with wide ranging examples from the 17th century to the present with accompanying jewelry and footwear. My favorite in this area was the adjoining museum of buttons. There were also a number of galleries featuring the Medici tapestries. Impressive but rather…brown.
I must take time out to voice my concern. It is a shame to become famous or rich. They always dig you up. Housed in a darkened set of rooms of the Costume Museum are the clothing remains of Cosimo I and his wife Eleanor of Toledo. They were dug up three times poor sods. No rest for the wealthy. Their body-fluid stained clothes were laid out for all of us to see. How embarrassing. And poor Cosimo had such a little cod-piece.
Moving along.
The best of the museums for today was yet to come (as the royal apartments will be done another day and of course the Art Museum at the Pitti).
Tucked off to the far side of the courtyard is the entrance to the Treasures Museum. Unless you have to pee or want to visit the third gift shop one would not even know it was there. It was virtually deserted ( until…and fortunately just as I was leaving…a huge gaggle of Asian tourists took root at the entrance).
The “piano terra” (ground floor) is a beautifully frescoed space from floor to ceiling and houses the scientific collection of the Medici. The frescos are frequently scientific rather than religious. There is a substantial amount of gold leafing used in the body of the fresco work, not just at the borders as in other rooms throughout the city. This is a great space. There are some interesting portraits. One is of Cosimo III who’s lips stick out so far it looks like they got caught in some Medici experimental vacuum device. Poor unfortunate fellow…to be rich in a time when there weren’t gifted cosmetic surgeons around.
Down the hall there is a dull-brown inconspicuous sign (that says something that I forget) at the foot of a small set of stairs. It is a long journey that only two others took, when they saw me go up. The walk was well worth it. Housed on the upper floors are the silver and gold dining utensils and the jewelry. The jewelry collection spans the mid-fifteen hundreds to the present. As with the costume collection it is nice to see the span of change rather than just the artifacts of a particular era.
There is also a porcelain collection housed in the Treasures Museum (also part of the private areas of the Medici). It has the pieces that the original Medici used (rather than a general cross-sectional display of porcelain at the top of the Boboli hill). There were also many crystal pieces.
I was most interested to see (I suppose I should admit…I was thrilled to see) the wall-mounted mixed-media display containing the death mask of Lorenzo the Magnificent (Brunelesschi’s death mask is in the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo). The mask was my favorite thing to see today.
Next was my favorite collection.
Bowls, glasses, serving pieces and every sort of bric-a-brac carved from rock crystal. Oh, yes. Of course. There were even rock-crystal carved reliquaries (naturally…more of that sequoia-sized cross). Some of the serving pieces were of the most fanciful creatures and amazingly intricate. I wouldn’t want to be the scullery-maid washing those after dinner. Interspersed were huge serving pieces carved of lapis lazuli. The rock crystal was superb.
And on the way out there were three enormous period display cabinets filled with carved amber of any imaginable shape.
Next the Boboli hill.
I hiked to the top of that hill.
It is a very high hill.
Today was “molto caldo (very hot).”
However, an impressive collection of porcelain (from the mid-18th century to the contemporary) waits in the building at the top of the hill. Marianne would be impressed, especially with the Sevres. There is a large peony garden in full fragrant bloom at the entrance of the Museo delle Procellane with a crenellated castle on the distant hill. There was a cool breeze and the fragrance took me back to the peonies of my childhood. The rest of the gardens are a great relaxing experience. They are an expansive green-space but with few flowering plants.
On my way up the hill I was stopped by four schoolgirls who wanted to know where I was from. That led to more questions and before I knew it there were twenty 14 year-olds from the same Florence field trip wanting to know everything from my favorite football team (although they meant soccer team) to the latest plot twist on One Tree Hill (which I have never seen). It was a fun diversion half way up the hill…and some time to catch my breath.
I didn’t even do the entire museum on this trip and it took more than four hours. I was exhausted and dehydrated so I went home. It was a good thing I grabbed a “portare via” (take-away) on my way or I wouldn’t have had the energy to get back home.
More pasta. A nap and a walk.
Your pictures are all from the Palazzo Pitti: a fountain in the courtyard, view of the Palace, a tree on the grounds (Boboli), view from the top of the hill and a sculpture just before leaving the Treasures Museum.
