Florence, Page 4 ..

June hasn't arrived, and Florence's tourist season is in full swing. We thought we were coming early enough to avoid the crowds, but it wasn't early enough this year. 

Ever-present are the tour groups. You can spot them because they huddle together in tight little bands, speaking only to one another, looking where they are told, and following the leaders umbrella, always held high where they can spot it.

Florence’s main square is Piazza della Signoria. For centuries, it has been the seat of government and public life.

  Palazzo Vecchio, the old palace, is the home of the local government. It was once the residence of the powerful Medici family, the wealthy patrons of the arts responsible for suppoting many famous artists in order that they might work without the stress of wondering how they would eat.

This bronze statue, which stands in the Piazza, is of one of the Medicis, Cosimo, and was done by one of the beneficiaries of his generosity.  

The statue Neptune and the Nymphs by Amannati, also on the Piazza, didn’t impress everyone. Michelangelo, for one, made fun of it.  

We didn’t see the original statue of David by Michelangelo this time. We’ve seen it many times, and trying to fight the long lines to see it again just didn’t make sense. He carved the statue in his twenties, using a block of marble another artist had already discarded as unworkable, and it is impressive. It used to stand in the piazza, but was moved to the Academy for protection. This copy stands now in the piazza, where the original was first placed.  

The fanatic monk, Savonarola, wanted to stem the tide of the Renaissance, and tried in vain to do so by burning books and paintings here in the Piazza. His “Bonfire of the Vanities” ultimately led to his death at the hands of the Florentines, on the same spot where he had burned their books and art. This is the site.  

Must digress and tell you a story. When we realized we couldn’t make it to Capri, we tried to book extra nights in Rome. No way. Then we decided to try Florence. Thanks to our wonderful Uli at Dolphin Travel in Athens, we found the Novotel could take us. It’s a 20 minute taxi ride from the center of  Florence, but with conventions in town, we were lucky to find it. It’s a nice, very modern hotel, with all the amenities.

Best of all, it could get our laundry done. We ran out of Woolite and clean clothes at about the same time, and were wondering how we could venture out in polite company, when we landed here and discovered they could solve our problem and return our clothes the same day.

Dick went down to the desk to ask for a laundry bag, and I went in to take a bath. Just as I was emerging from the bath room, a young man burst in our door. What happened next reminded me of that scene from the movie E. T., where the little girl and the alien first come face to face. I shrieked. He shrieked. I began yelling “No, No!.” He retreated. Poor guy was just trying to deliver a laundry bag, but how was I to know.?

Getting back to our tour...