Friday, September 21, 2018

Day Trip To Florence




  Johnny needed some art supplies, so we hopped the very early train from Castiglione del Lago to beautiful Florence...and were there by a little after 8am. Sweet! 

  Fun to be there before the hoards of people hit the streets. Boy, September is a different world than March here. Way more people, of course, and quite warm, too. 
  Still...it's FLORENCE! FIRENZE!
  I'll enjoy her beauty anytime I possibly can. Art supplies is just one of many excuses to make the hour and a half train trip here.
  
  We started by grabbing a quick caffè, then stopping into the Medici Chapels and the Church of San Lorenzo to say 'Ciao' to Michelangelo's amazing sculptures.
  I'll admit, Johnny stops in here often, while I usually choose to stay outside somewhere nearby with a book. I am so glad I made my first visit inside...


The lovely cupola in the Chapel of the Princes.

  


  The main event were the sculptures, which I very much enjoyed. My favorite, by far, were Michelangelo's 'Day' and 'Night', at the Tomb of Giuliano, Duke of Nemours. 


He's Day. She's Night.
Don't ask me, you can find loads of info online, I'm sure.
I just liked it.



She does look tired.
I was captivated by the owl, Spirit of Night, as far as I'm concerned.



Isn't she just grand? 


'Day' is cool, too.
I love the way Michelangelo works with muscles.



  We walked all over the city, stopping here and there for this and that. It was just fun having no real agenda. We just needed to stop in at Zecchi, Johnny's favorite art supply store, at some point later in the day.
  We headed over to the Mercado di Sant'ambrogio to check out the clothes. There are a couple of vendors that sell used cashmere. I just love going through the racks to see if there is something I can't live without.
  Being that it was hot, I was surprisingly uninspired. I'll wait until October and go back when the temperature drops down a bit. We still had a blast looking around, and even stopped in for a prosecco at a favorite off the beaten track spot.
  It was slow and relaxing.


I love this little park.





 There is always good street art in Florence, and on Wednesday, I was not disappointed.



Art of our times...















  We had lunch at our favorite Volpe e L'uva. Someday we'll get gutsy and try somewhere new, but why fix it if it ain't broken?
  The usual crew were out on vacation, but we still had a great time just people watching and eating good, simple food prepared most excellently. A bottle of wine had us there for a nice long time. 
   


We will be internally grateful to Elizabeth and James
for turning us on to this place!



  We wandered about in a food and heat induced haze for awhile, stopping into this cool church and that air conditioned shop, then as things cooled down we found ourselves drawn to the Bardini Gardens, knowing that the views from the terrace bar/cafe might be pretty nice at this time of day.
  Plus, it was about time for a glass of something cool.


Not a bad view...and all the bells went off just as we sat down
to relax with a glass of wine.






  If you have not been to these gardens before, you should make it a must do. There is villa on the grounds that often has great art exhibitions. We always make it a point to see what's going on here.
  On this visit, it was just about the view in late afternoon. Perfection.



Heading back down to the exit.


  We had just enough time to go to the art store and make it onto the 7:50pm train. What fun!

  We actually toyed with the idea of staying over night, but quickly realized that the entire town was booked up, so we stuck to our original plan. We'll go spend a night in a couple of weeks, when it's cooler and there are a few less people.

  All in all, it was another great day in Florence!

  My parting shot....



Johnny loving his new roll of canvas...a little too much, me thinks.
Take it easy, big fella!.


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