ItalyPage10

Page10 Fiesole, Florence

JUNE 1, 2001 FRIDAY

We got up and had a leisurely morning. Packed up and paid the bill and started out on our bikes about 10:30 am. We went up the back road to Upper Chiusi, and then down again to the train station. We caught the train to Florence, and started off on a new leg of our journey.

When we got on the train it was a bit of a production, because we had to load our bikes and trailers, and you never know if the baggage car is at the back or front of the train. We were hanging out down the track towards where the back of the train would be. So, of course, the baggage was at the front of the train this time. It was a very long train, so we had to rush our bikes through the throngs of people getting off and getting on, around barriers, support poles, stairs to the underpass, water fountains, luggage, etc. off to the front of the train. Don broke all the rules, riding his bike on the platform, weaving around passengers and the other obstacles. Once we got our bikes and trailers loaded, Don pulled out his train operators card and went into the cab to visit with the Italian train operators. They even let Don get into the driver’s

seat and jokingly indicated that he could take over and drive. They all had a good chat and laugh with each other.

The train ride was fine, pretty countryside. But, we made the same mistake we have made many times before. I don’t know why we don’t learn! We rode the train into the main station, Santa Maria Novella, in Florence. This is a huge, busy station, right in the middle of the city. Of course, Don wanted to set off on our bikes, through the old city center, cobblestones, traffic, etc. Of course, I resisted. We should learn—get off at a suburban station, set up your lodging, and then go into the city center.

Well, after some arguing, we set off to check out the Sofitel Hotel, which was advertised in the train station. They wanted $300/night, so we decided to argue some more about what direction was north, and where we wanted to go. While we were arguing we met a nice couple from New Zealand. The husband owns a BikeFriday too, and he took a picture of our setup. Finally we turned our bikes around and headed out in the opposite direction in which we had started. Over the cobbles, through the throngs of people, we went, dodging and weaving, trying to stay out of holes where the cobbles were missing, avoiding nasty curbs. The good thing was the area is restricted for general traffic, so the only vehicles were taxis, buses, and motor scooters. It really wasn’t so bad.

We were headed for a town that Don had read about on the Rick Steves site, Fiesole. We got out of the old section, and made it through the city streets, and pretty soon we were headed out of town—up, of course. It was a hot Friday afternoon. We went up and up, and then we went up and up. I looked up about 750 feet and saw houses up there, but thought, “No way he is going to push me all the way up there!”

Well, he did. We rode 4 miles up to the top of a mountain, but at least we were out of the masses of people. We checked in to the Aurora Hotel and showered and changed. Then we felt better able to cope with the world. It is quite a culture shock after a month in sparsely populated countryside, to hit a big, touristy city.

That evening we strolled around the town, enjoying the views from both sides of the ridge—one of Florence and another of the mountains and valleys to the north. Then we stopped for dinner at an Indian restaurant. The food was excellent, but it took real assertiveness to get the bill.

Back in the room we went online and did a search for apartment rentals in Fiesole. I found some, and emailed one and took down some numbers to call the next day. Don was starting to get obsessive about finding someplace for Saturday night, because our hotel was booked and we had to move the next morning.

JUNE 2, 2001 SATURDAY

Today was a surprise holiday. The stores were closed and a lot of people were off work. Even half of the Italians didn’t realize it was a holiday until they tried to go to the grocery store and found it closed. Fiesole is a great location to stay because it is away from the crowded downtown, but there is frequent bus service right to the SMN station. We decided we wanted to try to find some kind of lodging in this town.

In the morning we had breakfast and then went out around the town looking for apartment rent signs and checking out the location of the campground, where there are some bungalows for rent.

When we got back we had a message from Suzi, the person I had emailed about an apartment. It turns out that she is an agent, specializing in Fiesole rentals. She is very enthusiastic and helpful and fun to talk to. She had a small studio available now, and a larger apartment available on Tuesday, so we made an appointment with her to go look at them.

The studio is small, but has everything we need. We decided to take it for Sat-Monday and then move to the larger unit on Tuesday. The couple who are renting to us, Fillipo and Manuella, are the sweetest people. They set up our room with eggs and milk and bread for toast and a bottle of wine. They have been very helpful and caring.

We happily moved in, ate lunch and then took the bus down to check out Firenze (Florence). The bus service is great and cheap and let us off right at the Duomo. There must have been 5000 people in the square, looking at the church, taking pictures, etc. We took our requisite photos and then strolled along the road to Ponte Vecchio, weaving our way through thousands of other tourists. It was a very busy Saturday afternoon.

In the evening we had a very dramatic thunder and lightening storm. Huge claps of thunder and bright lightening bursting through the skies, all around our mountain hideaway.

MAY 3, 2001 SUNDAY

After a good night’s sleep we ate breakfast and I ran down to the grocery store to get my shopping in before the hoards. This is a little, tiny Coop, with two aisles, one of which usually holds the line to the checkout. I remembered my bustas and got my shopping done without mishap. I wanted to buy some ham for dinner, and some salami for lunch. I asked for pezzi of each, but the deli man at this store is enamoured of his slicer, so he gave me thin-shaved slices of each. Oh, well, we will still eat it, no problem.

Then we headed out for Florence again. The man at the tabacchi recognized me when I bought my bus tickets, and he gave me a wonderful map of Florence with all of the bus lines on it, so now we can easily make connections and get all over Florence. I had made a list of the places I wanted to visit and things I wanted to see and carefully checked all of the open and closed days and times, so we could be very efficient about visiting the numerous churches, museums, piazzas and parks. This turned out to be useless, because the days and hours change, and holidays are thrown in when you can think of no reason for a holiday, and so it is impossible to be efficient about sightseeing in Italy. Our visit to Florence is full of trips to churches and museums, only to find then closed. Poor Geralynn, trying to be efficient, just threw up her hands and submitted to the vagaries of Italian timetables. We go where we can find an open door.

We were going to visit the church at Piazza San Croce, which has some frescoes and the tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo and Machiavelli. We took the bus, and everything worked fine. But, when we got to San Croce, it was closed. I guess the Saturday holiday oozes over into Sunday, too, so the open hours are different.

For a backup plan we visited the Piazza della Signora to admire the many fine sculptures and bronze castings there. There is a huge statue/fountain of Neptune, a replica of the David and a bronze of Perseus holding up Medusa’s gory head. Unfortunately the famous depiction of the Rabe of the Sabine Women by Giambologna was being restored and was behind a barrier, so we couldn’t see it.

We strolled back towards the Duomo, and then over to the Santa Maria Novella church, which was just opening. We got in right away, and were able to enjoy the interesting frescoes around the sanctuary. One reason I found these paintings so interesting is that the artist created various Bible scenes using the family of his patron as models. So, the patron, Giovanni Tornabuoni, and his wife, are depicted on each side of the stained glass windows, as themselves in prayer. His daughter is supposedly one of the renditions of the Virgin Mary, and his two daughters-in-law are also represented in different panels as women with babies. All of these women died in childbirth—one of them at the ripe old age of 15!

Also at this church we saw other well-known and interesting religious art, including a famous painting of the Trinity and a very different picture of Jesus on the cross by Brunelleschi. That was enough religious art for the day.

We headed back up the hill to meet our bicycling friends that we met in Todi, and again on the road near Castiglione del Lago, Susan and Len Short. We had no trouble finding each other at the bus dropoff, and went into one of the many little restaurants for a late lunch. Len and Susan had had enough of Italy and had booked a train to Munich, leaving at midnight. There they will bicycle south through Austria to Venice. From there the were reserved on the Orient Express to Paris.

We enjoyed swapping stories a comparing thoughts on all of the places we had visited in Italy. We also talked skiing at Tahoe, and cycling in other areas. We spent about 2 ½ hours at lunch, and the poor waiter was itching to go, so we called it an afternoon at about 4:30. As we strolled out of the restaurant the rain started, and Don and I just made it up to our apartment before it really started to pour, and then hail. We looked out the front door and water was roaring down our little alley like it was a river. We hid out for the evening.

MAY 4, 2001 MONDAY

I had planned this day to do the Duomo, as most museums are closed on Monday. We got there easily and went into the main church first. I guess I didn’t take the time to describe this building earlier. This is one of the most enormous churches I have ever seen. I believe it covers an entire city block. The exterior is very impressive, made of green and white marble slabs. The façade is very elaborate, with many carvings and mosaics. Looking down on Florence from Fiesole, the Duomo dominates the city. When you are in the city, the Duomo is the landmark from which everything radiates.

The inside of the church seems sparse by comparison to the exterior, and also in comparison to some of the other churches we have visited. The dome is quite beautiful, and we planned to go up to the gallery to view it better, but

access was from outside, so we postponed that. The rose window is also very beautiful. When we went outside to go up the stairs to see the dome better, we saw a huge, long line, so we decided to return early another the morning to try again.

Then we walked over to the Baptistery to look at the famous bronze doors. Each panel of these huge doors depicts a scene from the Old Testament: the creation, Cain and Abel, Noah, Esau and Jacob, Moses, David. These bronze castings are quite beautiful. Don was more enthralled by the many little bronze heads which stick out at each corner of the panels.

Going into the Baptistery, we spent quite awhile viewing the wonderful mosaics in the dome. Of the two buildings, the Baptistery is the more interesting to see. The scenes portrayed in the mosaics of the dome are easy to see, recognize and interpret. The colors and designs are bright and colorful.

We were finished up by 2pm and caught the bus back to Fiesole. There we visited the large archeological did in the town. There is a very complete Roman theater, baths, temple to Minerva. Also there are Etruscan tombs and a very extensive museum of artifacts discovered in the dig. We ended up spending about 2 hours there before we made our way back to the apartment for lunch.

Pictures of Fiesole, looking down on Firenze