Friday, June 25, 2004
Pork and beans
I spent this day visiting more churches and museums. Tim and I started with the Duomo, a cathedral in the center of town. Its green and pink exterior is unusual. Next we went across the street to the museum of the Duomo. At this worthwhile gallery, one can view sculptures and relics that once were housed within the cathedral but have since been moved away for safekeeping. My favorites were an unfinished Pietà by Michelangelo and Donatello's statue of Mary Magdalene.
 Duomo |
 Dome's interior |
 Pietà |
After our visit, we took a break for lunch at a sandwich shop. I had possibly the best sandwich of my life. It was a simple concoction, porchetta — or thin cuts of roast pork — on a roll, with no fixings nor condiments. Thus the pork had to carry the show, and boy, did it shine. The meat was heavily salted and seasoned, but that flavor was complemented by the fatty, juicy cut.
After lunch, I went to the Galleria dell'Accademia, the home of Michelangelo's David. This statue was well worth the 9.50 € admission. It's enormous, which is hard to realize from pictures. More than anything, I was impressed by its hands. They are disproportionately large and show off bulging veins. The Accademia holds many more works than David, though — far more than can be seen in one hour. The next time I am in Florence I will try to pay the Accademia another visit.
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| My, what huge hands you have! | |
After that, Tim and I went to the Basilica di Santa Maria Novella, a church containing some impressive art, and ended the day's tour with a visit to the Boboli Gardens. This fairly large public space is good for a relaxing stroll, but falls short of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco for variety of sights, or for a fairer comparison, the estate of Versailles for grandeur. We wanted to stay there until dusk, but we were sent off early with a rude farewell. Techno music blared from an outdoor concert space for a God-knows-what kind of rehearsal.
Tuscan countryside
We returned to town for dinner. For the last supper of our trip, we went to Trattoria da Zà-Zà, located near our hostel, and splurged by ordering all three courses of a proper Italian meal. It was late, by the time we finished, but anyway we decided to hang out and soak up the Florentine atmosphere one last time. We went to a couple of piazzas, but compared to Navona and Campo de Fiori in Rome, they were dead.
