Category: Florence

Donatello at the Bargello

4/26/2022

I’m longing for a little time back in Florence, so please join me at the Bargello, my favorite museum in my favorite city.
I was there just a few weeks ago, right when the museum opened in the morning. I immediately climbed the fortress steps in the courtyard and took a right into the Donatello Room. For 15 magical minutes I was there alone. Come with me.

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Last day in Florence

4/2/2022

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My last after-dinner stroll in Florence this trip. The city is calm. In fact a calmness, unlike one I’ve ever felt before, has permeated this entire trip. Although still wearing masks and showing vaccination cards, people seem grateful to be out and about enjoying the little things—coffee at an outdoor cafe, laughing with friends while walking along the Arno, gazing up at the Duomo.
And this, in the midst of what is going on in Ukraine! It’s not that we don’t care; we are trying to do our peaceful part to share love in our every day lives.

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Alone at the Museo del Opera del Duomo

3/28/2022

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This early bird was the first to enter the Museo del Opera del Duomo yesterday morning. I knew where to go to stand in front of the original Baptistry doors by Andrea Pissano and Lorenzo Ghiberti. Turn around and I face a representation of the facade of Santa Maria dei Fiori, with original statues thoughtfully placed. Sacred music instills a calmness. I am in a holy space, and for twenty minutes I am the only one standing between the Baptistry and the Duomo.
Other visitors come to join me; they absorb the calmness; unwittingly we enjoy the rest of the museum in sacred community.

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Letting go of planning ahead

3/24/2022

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Yesterday, I found myself on Bus 7 on the way to Fiesole, a little hill town over looking Florence. I say ‘found myself’ because I notice that on this trip that I am doing less planning ahead. My usual routine starts the same—up and out as close to 7AM as I can manage, a cappuccino and another along with a brioche at a cafe where I can sit and write. Then, I begin to wander.
Today I find myself at the Liceo Artistico park on Via Romana at Porta Roma—one of my favorite go-to outdoor writing places, but always in the afternoon, never at 9:50 in the morning. And so it goes, all a part of my commitment to stay in the present moment, this time examining tree trunks, park benches and whatever is in-between. As someone who doesn’t look back, but looks to the future, this a new way for me. I am discovering a new tense, the present. Hmm, I always like a project; this is my newest.

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Florence again!

3/16/2022

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I’m heading back to Florence this coming Sunday, returning Friday, April 1st. I cherish these solitary trips, wondering if this one will be my last. One day, one trip at a time. That’s all we have, one ‘whatever’ at a time. But, as we grow older, and because of these Covid and Ukrainian times, everyone, regardless of age, is aware of the preciousness of one day, one moment, one trip, one family gathering, one… at a time. And then, from Les Mis, we recall the poignancy as we sing to ourselves, “One more day.…”
And yet, these one-more-day times don’t have to be have a melancholy overcast. They can be a time of rejoicing and gratitude, a time of realizing that the present moment is the best ever moment.

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La Badia Fiorentina

12/13/2021

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One of the benefits of traveling alone is flexibility with everything I do. It’s up to me. I don’t have to confer with anyone or make compromises. At a whim I can change my plans. Yesterday morning I started out with the intention of walking along the Arno. But no, instead I turned toward the Piazza della Signoria, stopped for a cappuccino, and then entered La Badia Fiorentina, where Lauds was being sung by the six monks and eight nuns that make up this monastic fraternity of Jerusalem in Florence.
As the service ended men and women in all kinds of dress and nationality began coming in to help set up for 11 o’clock Mass, including a medical volunteer wearing a yellow vest. A man of Indian heritage, dragging a suitcase, lit a candle. One of the gypsies that I’ve seen around the city begging for money, sat in the back corner.
This place was alive with with people reaching out to God. You see, the call of this fraternity is to be present :“In the heart of the cities in the heart of God.” Their mission— to help the poor, and the homeless, to meet them where they are.
In the entrance way is a statue of a homeless man sleeping on a bench. The inscription quotes Matthew 25:6: I was naked and you clothed me.

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Florentine art I love

12/11/2021

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Every time I come to Florence I get fixated on the paintings and frescoes of Annunciation . Just when I think I have snapped every depiction of Mary and Angel Gabriel, a new one appears. Yesterday, it was at the Academia. Most of us go there to see Michelangelo’s David, but I also love to climb to the first floor to absorb the paintings of the Florentine School 1370-1430, which include Late Gothic and Early Renaissance works. Most have been restored to the vibrant colors that were a landmark of the shops (bottega) where the artists and apprentices worked to create these magnificent altar pieces.
Wealthy patrons made sure that their own portrait joined the adoration of the magi or was present somewhere in the picture, tympanum, or predella. They were eager to do what they could do gain a place in heaven and to gain favor with the powerful in the city.

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San Marco. Which cell would you pick?

12/8/2021

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I’m very grateful to be back in Florence for the Christmas season. My first go-to spot, yes, the Convent of San Marco. I can’t get enough of those cells. Ah, the simplicity of not having any things. Today these cells don’t show the bed, desk, chair, and cross that would have adorned a monk’s cell. All we see is the Fra Angelico fresco on the wall, painted to remind the monk of Jesus.
   I would have asked for the first cell on the east corridor, depicting Mary wanting to touch Jesus--Noli me tangere. I resonate with the warm colors and the intimacy. About half the cells show the Crucifixion. For sure I wouldn’t want to be assigned one of those!
   Every time I visit San Marco can’t stop myself from taking photos of each cell. This time I included a little more of the room and the window shutter.
   For all of you who love silence, solitude, and simplicity, this may be the place for you.

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Christmas season in Florence in 2021

12/7/2021

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I am sooooo glad I came. Both flights— to Paris and then to Florence—were not crowded, and on time. I’ve shown my ‘green card’ before entering a restaurant and San Marco museum. People are wearing masks outside as well as inside. In fact there is a mandate to do so in crowds outside.
It is festive here but not too crowded. Tonight the Christmas tree lights at the Duomo will be lit, but I’ll stay away from joining that crowded of onlookers. The F-Light Festival begins on the 12th (F for Firenze). Lights, accompanied by music, reflected on the Ponte Vecchio, San Lorenzo, and S.S.Annunicate.

This morning I slept until 8!!. I stopped for a cappuccino, before going to the La Badia, my favorite prayer church. Another cappuccino before visiting San Marco, the Dominican convent where Fra Angelio painted frescos on each cell wall. It is the first church/museum that I visit upon arriving in Florence. It never disappoints.
Random picture of my first day.

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Florence in December

12/2/2021

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In December 2016, 2017, and 2018 I joined the Christmas festivities in Florence. A joyful time: craft and food fairs in Piazzas Santa Croce and Santa Maria Novellla; a luminated concert shining on the Ponte Vecchio; and the lighting of the Duomo Christmas tree at 5 PM on December 8th.
And then, alas, Covid kept me away for two years. But not this year. I fly Boston-Paris-Florence on December 5 and return December 17th. The apartment I’ve rented is tucked behind the Uffizi and a few steps away from the Ponte Vecchio. In the morning I will write as I sip a cappuccino at my special cafes; in the afternoon I will visit my favorite churches and museums; in the evenings delicious Italian food will be waiting for me.
Carpe diem.

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<<Previous

Donatello at the Bargello

Last day in Florence

Alone at the Museo del Opera del Duomo

Letting go of planning ahead

Florence again!

La Badia Fiorentina

Florentine art I love

San Marco. Which cell would you pick?

Christmas season in Florence in 2021

Florence in December

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