Italy - Birthday in Florence

Deena’s birthday began with steak and eggs served with fruit, yogurt, and tea while watching the sun slowly warm up the hills of Impruneta.  I’m happy to report that the espresso machine in our kitchen is functioning at a high level and has attained the lofty status as A Gift From The Lord.  We rolled out of bed a little earlier today in order to prepare for church, but we made sure to give ourselves enough time to enjoy the morning.  Deena found the Mosaico Church in Florence through an internet search, and we were excited about attending worship because we were traveling the last two Sundays.  The only morning bus option from Impruneta to Florence on Sunday was at 8:00, a completely unacceptable option to my long slumbering crew, so we arranged a taxi pickup at 10:00 in order to make the 11:00 service on time.  With everyone well fed, mostly awake, and the birthday girl looking lovely, we hiked about a kilometer to the taxi pickup point and met our driver who was right on time.

The thirty-minute ride took us along winding roads through olive tree-covered hills as we descended into the Arno Valley with the buildings of Florence barely visible in the distance through a dense layer of fog.  The traffic in Florence was already formidable at mid-morning, but our driver skillfully delivered us to the Caffe Deco in the Piazza della Liberta, the home of the Mosaico Church.  During the week, the Caffe Deco is a restaurant and music hall for local bands, but on Sunday mornings the Mosaico Church worship team occupies the stage with Pastor Cody on guitar.  We arrived early enough to have coffee and a pastry while watching the band rehearse, and we met many nice people.  The atmosphere was warm and welcoming, and we were thankful to be a part of this group of believers on Deena’s birthday.  After a time of singing, Pastor Cody preached a compelling sermon on trusting in the sovereignty of God during times good and bad, and his words were encouraging to all of us.

Mosaico Church

After church, we walked a kilometer to the Piazza del Duomo guided by the brick dome towering in the distance. We discussed our lunch options knowing all the while we would end up at the same incredible pizza place we had experienced two days ago.  The crowds were steadily building, but we managed to find a table outside and enjoyed steaming slices of crunchy sausage and ham pizza anticipating our 2:15 reservation for a visit to the vaunted Uffizi Gallery down by the banks of the Arno River.  This museum houses some of the most famous and important works of art from the Italian Renaissance, and our two students were in for a major art appreciation class.  

Due to the size of the swelling crowds around the center of Florence, we were a bit concerned that the Uffizi would be difficult to navigate, but we walked right in at our reserved time and enjoyed two hours slowly visiting each room in the museum.  While lacking the vastness of the Louvre and the British Museum, the Uffizi still packs an artistic punch displaying powerful masterpieces in a manageable space.  Many tour guides note that during the high season of summer, waiting times at the Uffizi can be as much as five hours, about as long as I would wait in line for a Led Zeppelin reunion but not much else.

The night before, I scoured the internet compiling a note sheet of “must-sees” and their museum room numbers from multiple top ten lists, and since several works had been moved around in the gallery, our visit turned into a bit of a treasure hunt which added to the fun.  We found everything on our list except for Titian’s Venus of Urbino, which depicts a naked lady on a couch, and we’ve seen plenty of paintings like that in Europe, so no big whoop.  The sculptures lining the Uffizi halls are mostly male nudes which used to be a source of embarrassment at the beginning of our trip, but we’re so jaded now that we might as well be walking past a bratwurst display.  Hope we feel that way tomorrow when we go to the Accademia to view David’s king-sized anatomy.  There were also quite a few interesting busts of famous people placed among the nudies including Socrates and several Roman Emperors—we wondered about the accuracy of the depictions.

A great philosopher...and Socrates too!

Some of the paintings with which we spent a little more face time were:  Lippi’s Madonna and Child with Angel, Pollaiuolo's tiny panels depicting the Labors of Hercules, Michelangelo’s Doni Tondo in its original frame, Uccello’s Battle of San Romano, Raphael’s Madonna of the Goldfinch, and Bellini’s Sacred Allegory.  While we all had favorites, we collectively enjoyed the wonderfully strange Madonna of the Long Neck by Parmigianino and Leonardo’s Baptism of Christ painted with his mentor Verrocchio.  Botticelli collected the most points with Deena; Joseph preferred Primavera; Deveny cast her ballot for the sublime Birth of Venus.  While there were several paintings in the Uffizi depicting the Annunciation, including one by Leonardo, my favorite hands down was the one by Botticelli.  The spiritual tension is palpable in this powerful masterpiece, and it looks like Gabriel could fly off the canvas at any moment—I was transfixed by this painting for quite some time.

Botticelli's Annunciation

Birth of Venus

Madonna of the Goldfinch

Madonna of the Long Neck

Up on the roof

We checked out the view of Florence from the rooftop of the Uffizi before heading back out to the street and making our way to the medieval Ponte Vecchio for a stroll across the Arno.  After the all the walking and intense art study we were tired and footsore, and the only cure for those conditions in Florence is of course, gelato, which we found in great supply at a cafe across from the Duomo.  It was dark by the time the bus dropped us off back in Impruneta, where we enjoyed a simple birthday dinner of minestrone soup and crusty bread while discussing all the Renaissance treats we saw in Florence.  The kids did some research and presented oral reports on the history and techniques behind their favorite paintings, and they did a fine job.  I’m thankful that after all her hard work on this trip, my wife could enjoy her birthday in such a special place as Florence.

On the Arno

Ponte Vecchio