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Tuesday, February 16, 2010

A Traveler Doesn't Do A Place --- Can you Do Florence and Be Done with It? No, You Discover and Experience Great Places Again and Again



I cringe when I hear someone say "Oh I've done Rome or I've done London."

But it was only a few weeks ago that someone said to me as I was effusing on Florence...."Oh I've done Florence"....and I finally stopped short and looked straight into her nonchalant eyes and asked what that meant.

"You know I've seen David, the Uffizi.."

I thought for a moment.....well David was a good answer....seeing David in Florence is a very defining moment...a moment a true traveler never forgets.  When I first went to Florence I wandered endlessly around David gawking at his magnificence from every angle...and still I think of that moment when I first caught a glimpse of him with the awe of a child first seeing a snowflake.  The Uffizi wasn't a bad answer either...I thought...as I recalled climbing its magnificent staircase and floating from room to room marveling at the original Botticelli's Birth of Venus, the one I'd seen duplicated everywhere, gaping at the DaVinci's, roaming the Uffizi's sculpture galleries and, from it's windows, beholding one of the most incredible and recognizable sights in the world -- the view of the Arno and the Ponte Vecchio with the fading backdrop of the rooftops of Florence.  Ah perspective!

But doing Florence...is Florence ever done?  Couldn't it's Renaissance streets be wandered for endless hours.  What about the food markets with redder than red tomatoes, more varieties of pasta than I've ever seen anywhere, and the luscious looking meats. And shopping -- window along Tournabuoni and then discovering little shops everywhere with amazing things like incredible paper and leather concoctions and perfumes.  And oh let's not forget the food...and wine.  Tiny little cafes, gelato shops, pizzerias, wine bars abounding.  One night a cheap pizza in a cute bar in the Oltrano on the other size of the Arno....another time, a dish of unspeakable pasta in little cafe on a back street near the Medici Chapels just visited, and then of course, a Florentine steak, reminiscent of the "Old 96er" that  John Candy devoured in the "Great Outdoors" only I am certain much, much better, at one of the many impeccably designed, chique ristoranti.

And Florence has neighborhoods and piazza after piazza with their own distinct charms and interests.   Of course, I personally could explore the art of Florence forever...in its countless churches and tucked away in unexpected places, and the city itself -- a work of art.   Specific places to visit...read my blog...I've already covered some...more to come.   But Florence as any great city in the world is more than about places to see, its about exploration, discovery... it's about being somewhere where great people who contributed much to the way we live and enjoy life today walked and lived their lives.

Would Galileo, daVinci, Michelangelo, the Medici, Fra Angelico, Giotto ever have said "Oh, I've done Florence."  Of course, the realities are you may not have the time or money to spend as much physical time in any one place that you might like to...but realize that even if your time is brief...you need to take it in.. absorb it and experience it again and again through reading, film art whatever.....

And please, don't tell me that you've done Florence.  She is never done, I am sure of that.

Monday, February 15, 2010

Meeting Galileo in Florence Italy and Sarasota Florida

Four Hundred years after,  we were in Florence where Galileo first looked through his telescope and discovered the earth was indeed not the center of the Universe.   And it was there when we took up residence at the Hotel Tornabuoni Beacci that we again learned that traveling is as much and maybe more about the intriguing people met as the places visited.

While having a cocktail on the hotel's pleasant terrace overlooking the domes of Florence, we fell into a conversation with a couple who we learned were staying in Florence for a very targeted reason --- the gentleman was studying for a role as Galileo in an upcoming theatrical production.   Now that production is in its final week at the Asolo Repertory Theatre in  Sarasota, Florida.   "The Life of Galileo" has been lauded in the local press in Florida as well as in the national press .  In fact, Paul Whitworth, the actor playing Galileo, has been noted  as "brilliant"  in the role and "as making you feel the sense of discovery Galileo must have felt".

This was no surprise to us. When we met Paul in Florence he was consumed by the historical figure he currently portrays.  In the mornings during his stay in Florence,  he accompanied Galileo through the same cloisters, where the great scientist could have roamed, repeating over and over again words that Galileo himself might have said.  It was from the actor who visited it many times that we learned about the Galileo exhibit that was then taking place at the Palazzo Strozzi right down the street from our hotel.  It was marvelous and renewed our interest in the physicist whose discoveries unbalanced the Church of Rome.

While the exhibit is no longer at the Palazzo Strozzi much of the Galileo ephemera that was the core of it can be viewed at the Science Museum one block east of the Uffizi Gallery on the Arno River.   The museum displays Galileo's telescopes (the ones he created based on a model in Holland by putting two magnifying glasses together in a tube), compasses and the like, and one real oddity -- his finger preserved in a jar.   Galileo, we learned from the exhibition, was the first human being to see the moons of Jupiter, which supported the Copernican theory of the universe causing Galileo to fall into disfavor with the Catholic Church.



It was also Paul who urged us to visit Galileo's tomb in the Santa Croce Church.  The remains of hundreds of famous Florentines ended up under the floors or behind the walls of the Church. Among them is the tomb of Galileo.   His tomb is the huge ornamental structure  on the left as you enter San Croce.  

Months after Florence, we were reunited with Paul who again brought Galileo to life for us through his exceptional portrayal of the scientist in Brecht's play.   I was brought back first to the terrace in Florence where we first met Paul and then to the cloisters of San Croce as Paul disappeared and Galileo emerged.  After the play I got to thank Paul for bringing us to Galileo  through the sites in Florence and ultimately on the Asolo Stage in Sarasota.   



The Clock at Musee D’Orsay