六月, 2012: 翡冷翠 (aka 佛羅倫薩), 意大利

Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael. They were all here in Florence at one time or the other. And I am  not talking about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This was the city-state where the Renaissance began.

Dante and Macchiavelli called this home.







Florence is not on the Orient Express route. But since this is already my second time in Italy, I hope to at least take in Florence and Rome. Other popular destinations like Pisa and Asissi, I would have to give up. ANyway, the Colosseum is also found to be leaning, so missing Pisa wouldn't be so sayang.

The train leaving Venice had the words "aria condizionata" painted by it side. I wonder if it is possible to travel in this heat without air-conditioning.

I had wanted to use Bologna as my base, but ended up in Milano. On the way to Florence, I finally got to see the Bologna station.

 
To get down south from Northern Italy, we need to cross a mountain range. The highspeed train service do it by going under through tunnels. I wonder if the scenic route of Asissi was above us. The train actually came to a stop and stop for quite a few minutes. There were annoucement from the PA system, but it was in Italian. I asked the plump lady seated beside me what was up. She told me the train had to be stopped because "something ahead dropped off". That doesn't sounds good. Strong earthquake earlier in the year in Italy made the news, and a tunnel is the last place I want to be if the earth decides to shake. Fortunately, whatever was in the way ahead of us was cleared, and we were on our way.

I reached the Firenze station late in the afternoon. Thanks to the long summer day, there were still a few more hours of lights.

Florence main centre of attraction is the D'uomo. To get to it, just follow the crowd moving away from the train station.

Remember, remember! The fifth of November, The Gunpowder treason and plot.....

The plank-man strikes again, right before the D'uomo.

To get to the D'uomo, you run the gauntlet of "souvenir" salemen lining both side of the alley. The trade, it seems, is dominated by Indian men (or Sri Lankan, or Bangadeshi, I can't tell), with a few Chinese ladies thrown in the mix. Their ware place on the street floor, kitschy knik-knaks that you would buy on impulse. Or, if you have a young kid in tow, and he was complaining about the hot weather or that he needs to pee, you would buy something just to shut the kid up. The only item of any value here were the silk (or faux-silk?) scarves, for those visiting the D'uomo without headdress to place over their hair. Or if you in your hotpants or skirt, to cover up your legs.

Compare to the clean facade of the Milan Duomo, this one look more...complicated? Maybe it has something to do with the fact that it was built by Brunelleschi, the architect who invented the science of perspective.

I didn't know perspective was a science waiting to be invented.

http://www.haveyouseenpepe.com

I went looking for the Hard Rock Cafe. Again, as in Venice, it is not too difficult to find. I am beginning to think that's exactly HRC strategy: location, location, location. Just park themselve on prime touristy location, sit back and hear the cash register goes ka-chink. And don't worry about their rent, the inflated price of your buffalo wings probably covers the rent. And the price of my teddy bear, too, I guess.

On my way to the Piazza della Signoria, I was approached by a couple,
He: Hi, you been to the Hard Rock Cafe? Where is it?
Me: Oh, just walk down the alley on your right, facing the Duomo.......you can't miss it.
With their enviromentally-friendly (and un-durable) paper bags, I was practically their walking advertisement.

There should be a parental advisory posted before the Piazzo della Signoria: PG Some Frightening Scenes | Violence & Some Nudity | Some Mature Content & Violence.







There's a statue of David here, and since we live in more enlighten times, there were no fig leave for the cover-up.

Then there are statues of decapitation. A bunch of tourists were trying to polish off their ice-cream amidst these statues when a officer came over to ask them to move on. Apparently, food are not allowed here.
 
And what's that guy going to do with that black thick rod. I hope, for the sack of the other guy by his feet, he was no going to do what the girl with the dragon tattoo did to his case officer while welding a similar apparatus.

 
 
In any case, there were at least one recorded incident of public burning here. It's amazing how the Piazzo today is still recognizable on a painting depicting a scene from 1498. 
The clock looks like a later addition.

The sun was almost setting by the time I headed to the River Arno. On the Ponte Vecchio, the shops selling leatherwork and jewelry by the sides of the bridge were closed for the day. By now, the buskers had taken over the bridge. Tourists sat on the pavement for the performance. A group of women, all dressed in white gown were in celebatory mood, dancing like no one is watching, all toasting each other.

On this stretch, the river Arno runs in a east-west direction. As the sun set in the west, the river catches the rays and shimmers in this last lingering sunlight.

Maybe the arts flourished in Florence because of the wealth of the Medici. Or maybe, it was the sunset.
 
 There were still plenty of time before my train out to Rome. Enough time for dinner and a few scoops of gelato for dessert. I thought about finding a room here in Florence, but decided to move on to Roma tonight so that I could get a headstart the next morning.

I hate long queue, especially on such hot days.