Venice flowers and gondolas

I've been lazy, but have a bit of time on this, our last night in Florence, so will post some pictures I wanted to show you.  We've just returned from supper at Quatro 4 Leoni, our favorite restaurant.  We have bookended the trip by eating there on our first and last nights, plus my birthday and another time in the middle.  Because we don't have a phone here, we are not able to make reservations, but have been successful in getting a table by getting there early at 7 or 7:30, often inside because the outside tables are all reserved.  Tonight it was threatening rain and has been dripping off and on all day, but all the indoor tables were reserved.  They warned us that we'd have to leave if it rained; their canopy is not entirely over the outdoor area.  Anyway, we found a mostly-covered spot and had a great supper, sharing their special salad, a pasta with black truffle sauce, and a broiled swordfish fillet with spinach.  Just as John was paying the bill, the rain started, we put on our rain gear, and headed home.  The timing was perfect.

Venice seems to have many more flowers and trees and gardens than Florence.  Lots of window boxes, and walking the tiny streets, you can often peer into beautiful courtyards and gardens.  Our hotel room looked out over such a courtyard, and I enjoyed watching the older gentleman from the across the way walking his beautiful garden paths early in the morning, pulling a few weeds, and making sure everything was perfect.  His wife hung up some laundry, and meanwhile, another woman on the third floor began to clean her windowsills and polish her huge windows.  We don't have a picture of that courtyard, but these are from our walk later that day.

The other scene that was fascinating to watch was the gondola repair yard.  It's one of only three left that builds and repairs gondolas in the old fashioned way.  At the time we arrived, a couple of gondolas needing repair "pulled up", and watching the interactions between the workers, gondoliers, and bosses at the boat yard was quite absorbing.  A virtual soap opera, particularly if you let your imagination run wild.  One of the customers was a stereotypical big-mouth grouch who alienated the first workers he encountered and then had to wait his turn while they pulled another boat out of the water ahead of his.  By the end of our time there, however, they all seemed to be working together, the boss had given estimates on both boat repairs, and the grouch was even smiling once in awhile as he chatted with the workmen. 



Chaio and arrivederci from Italia ! 

Boboli Gardens and a fantastic concert

We got back to the gardens yesterday afternoon. They are vast, and have some interesting spots, but are by and large overgrown. The most attractive sections with flowers are closed to the public (some of those might be open on weekdays, come to think of it).

The hedges are 30+ feet high. The wide avenues are impressive and they are edged by walking paths covered over by espaliered hollies that form shady tunnels.

Down at the far end is a huge pool and fountain; two gated walkways lined with potted fruit trees could be used by the "royals" to go to the island in the middle. You can picture that a hundred years ago or so the trees and shrubs would have been at their best and that the maintenance for such a vast garden space would be no problem.

Last night we went a bit further to a concert in the Orsanmichele church. I just asked John how far that was, and it's a bit hard to estimate because of the curves of the street and the kinks caused by the old Roman wall. He said about a quarter of a mile.  The concert was by the Orchestra Da Camera Fiorentina, the Florence chamber orchestra that supposedly ranks among the best in Europe. It was awesome. They played pieces by Piazzolla, Mozart, Santos and Turina. I particularly enjoyed the Mozart Sinfonia Concerto for Violin and Viola. The soloists were so appreciated by the audience (perhaps 125 people) that they did an encore before continuing with the rest of the program. And that encore-we didn't catch the name of course-contained some of the most amazing string work I've ever heard. And of course if your mind wanders, you can gaze at the ancient frescoes or altarpieces (see John's blog about Orsanmichele). Quite an experience.

Concerts and a Mass

John has gone off to the Uffizi for an hour or so.  It's a glorious day, 77 forecast high.  We have settled on the strategy of opening up the apartment in the morning to the breezes and coolness, then closing it late in the day to prevent stealth mosquito attacks at night.  So far, so good!

Just under one hundred feet away from our door is Santo Stefano Al Ponte, a church started about 1100 and now used by arts organizations for performances.  Thursday and Saturday evenings we went to performances there, first by an oboist and pianist, then by a baritone and pianist.  Quite enjoyable!  In both cases they were fairly young musicians and the audiences numbered only 30 or so.  The acoustics for the baritone singing operatic arias were particularly effective! 

On Friday afternoon we took our first bus ride, up to Piazzale Michelangelo to get that view of the city again, and then walked up to the church of San Miniato Al Monte for their 5:30 mass with Gregorian chant.  Those participating in the service and communion actually sat in the lower level, called the crypt, in back of the altar, but we could hear well while sitting in the altar area.  The church and the service had a very spiritual feeling and we stayed for the entire mass, a very refreshing end to another hot day.

First Gardens and Music

Sunday was in the low 90s and humid. Seeing the Pitti Palace and part of the gardens required quite a bit of hiking, always seeking the shady side of the street or path. The palace was first built in 1458, the Medicis moved in during the mid 1500s when Vasari built them a private overhead walkway to the government center half a mile away across the river, and it was Europe's cultural center for two centuries. It kept growing, and the facade is now more than two football fields long. The place is depressingly big when it is hot. We decided the palace is probably the height of ostentatious affluence until you get to modern America. Absolutely over the top in terms of size, filled with architectural flourishes, decorated ceilings, sculpture, and paintings from floor to ceiling in many rooms. They contain several famous Raphael and Titian paintings that I really like, once you are able to focus on them from among the 50 others in the same room!

From the third level of the palace you are able to exit into the Boboli Gardens, not very impressive in the section we saw yesterday, and not well maintained at the moment. But I'm hoping that the several sections called botanical gardens on the map will be more interesting when we have a cooler day to explore them.

Last evening (at 9 p.m. - the restaurants are still quite busy at 10 p.m.) we went to a free concert of sacred choral music at the Basilica of San Lorenzo. It was given by a group from Derby, England called the Voices Choir. There were 20 young female singers, joined by 4 males for certain pieces. They sang entirely a cappella, mostly without scores, and the sound inside that huge space was ethereal and amazing. I'll bring Amy T. a copy of their program. Also entertaining was the human side drama taking place between a priest and an older man off to the side. We certainly don't know the situation, but it involved the older man complaining about something; the excellent acoustics caused their conversation to interfere with the sound of the choir and caused the whole small audience to look at them. They eventually went into a side room just off the sanctuary with a couple of ladies from the audience. Interesting......