9-28-2018: The Duomo

This morning I learned how to use a Mako, that funny-looking Italian coffee pot.  Espresso is what all Italians drink and the Mako is an espresso maker.  I don’t care for espresso, so I used the flat’s larger Mako to make a less strong version of espresso.  There is only one tea cup in the flat and 4 espresso cups.  Christine gets the tea cup for a larger cup of coffee and I make do with an espresso cup.  I had a rude awakening, though.  I accidentally put salt in my first cup, rather than sugar.  That was a shocker!  But, with Google’s help, I had the Mako down pat and was producing Café Americano in short order.

The Mako and espresso cup

The first little excursion this morning was to find the train station.  Next week we’ll be taking the train from Florence to Venice.  The map indicates that we’re a 15-minute walk away, so we wanted to check that out.  Florence has lots and lots of little, narrow cobblestone streets.  I’m sure there is a pattern in the street layout, but we haven’t figured that out yet.  Just a couple of blocks from our flat what we did figure out is to get to the train station, just follow the crowd clacking their luggage wheels over the rough cobblestone.  It appears that train travel is the preferred method for tourists and everyone else.  Hordes of people were heading to the train station, and you’d better have good, strong wheels on your luggage or else you’re never going to make it to the station.

Inside the station, there is just a cacophony and lots and lots of people.  We stood under the large arrivals and departure board trying to figure out the information.  There are many train platforms outside the main terminal and after studying the board and looking out to the platforms, I’m pretty sure we figured things out.  Although the walk is only 15 minutes to the train station, I don’t think we’ll be clattering our luggage over the cobblestone; we’ll take a taxi right to the front entrance of the station.

After visiting the train station, we set off into the maze of little streets.  I wanted to get to the Basilica, di Duomo.  We walked without knowing where we were headed.  Eventually, we stopped in a bodega and bought a map, but that didn’t help much.  Some of the street names look similar, but you have to know the first name in addition to the last name.  We found Strozzi on the map and then headed in a direction we thought was correct.  Unfortunately, we were on Via Fillipo Strozzi and not Via Degli Strozzi as we thought.  The only reason we figured that out was in looking at some of the side street names.  The map indicated a different grid on the map for the side streets.  And then we realized we were on Via Fillip Strozzi.  Once properly oriented, we found our way to the Basilica.

Duomo di Firenze

The Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower, is the cathedral of Florence, Duomo di Firenze. It is mostly just referred to as the Duomo. It was begun in 1296 in the Gothic style and was structurally completed by 1436, with the dome designed by Filippo Brunelleschi. The exterior of the basilica is faced with polychrome marble panels in various shades of green and pink, bordered by white, and has an elaborate 19th-century Gothic Revival façade.  The brick dome remains the largest brick dome ever constructed and the first ever octagonal shaped dome. Construction of the dome was one of the most impressive projects of the Renaissance because there is no supporting structure holding the dome up.  The cathedral complex, in Piazza del Duomo, includes the Baptistery, a smaller basilica, and the Campanile (bell tower). These three buildings are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site covering the historic center of Florence.

Duomo, Campanile and Baptistery

Your eyes can’t really believe what they are seeing when you look at the Duomo.  The beauty of the marble panels is amazing.  There is constant renovation and cleaning occurring on the exterior and comparing a cleaned portion with a portion not cleaned really shows just how remarkable the pink, green and white marble panels are.  There is detail everywhere in the windows, niches, porticos, eaves, etc.

The Baptistery is an octagonal building that some say is probably the oldest building in the city.  On the location of the building are ruins of Roman defense walls.  The Baptistery has 3 sets of massive bronze doors that are very ornate and the panels are masterworks of art.

Baptistery

However, my favorite building is the gorgeous Campanile.  The Duomo is exceptional, but the Campanile is exquisite.  It is probably the most beautiful structure I have ever seen.

We sat in the Piazza di Duomo for a long time just gazing at the Duomo and the Campanile.  We didn’t go in the Duomo because the line for tickets was long and the line to enter was very, very, very long.  Waiting in the hot sun was not something we wanted to do.  On our next visit to Florence (you never know) we’ll buy “skip the line” tickets and take a look inside.

After our long walk in the morning and our Duomo/Campanile amazement, we were tired and headed back to the flat for lunch and a rest.  It is so nice having the flat so close to the major attractions.

In the mid-afternoon, we decided to go to the Boboli Gardens.  As many of you know, gardens are one of our things so the Boboli Gardens was definitely on our list of things to do.  The Boboli Gardens are behind the Pitti Palace, one of the palaces of the Medicis.   I will say, however, that we were disappointed by the Boboli Gardens.  Maybe because it was so hot, and maybe because a lot of the walking in the gardens is all uphill, and maybe because our expectations were high, but the Bobali was very underwhelming.  Yes, the sights from up the hill are nice, and yes there is lots of statuary, but we didn’t see much in the way of gardens.  At the top of the hill was a bit of a formal garden that needed tending.  This was probably the rose garden, but of course it is long past rose season.  We went in search of the botanical garden section, but never were able to locate it.  We did stroll through some nice shaded areas and we found an area where there were some horticultural experiments with about 50 types of lemon trees all in pots around a large patio.  I never knew there were so many different kinds of lemons.  After that, we were happy to be heading downhill and towards the exit.

We wandered our way to our little market and picked up some things and headed back to the flat for dinner.  We’ve become fond of sitting in front of our window overlooking the Arno River watching dusk and then evening arrive.  It really is magical being in Florence and having such a wonderful view up and down the river.

Dusk falls on Firenze

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *