We woke up well rested in Florence after a comfortable night's sleep. We got ready, went down to have the complimentary hotel breakfast - scrambled eggs, cereal and latte - and left around 8:45 am for the Uffizi museum. We were there by 9:05 am. The Uffizi Gallery offers an excellent primer in Renaissance art - its birth, evolution and spread to other parts of Italy and Europe. But before we get to the details, let's answer the question - what is the Renaissance?
The Roman Empire fell in the 5th century and much of Europe plunged into poverty and ignorance. By the start of the 14th century, Florence was doing really well on account of its banking, trading and cloth making. Then came the Black Death Plague that killed over half the population of Europe in the mid 14th century. Almost half the people of Florence also died in the plague but the infrastructure remained and the city was rebuilt better than ever. The ruling Medici (pronounced Medichi) family of Florence were big sponsors and collectors of art so it's no wonder that the Renaissance took root in Florence. Renaissance literally means "rebirth" and in this context, it was the rebirth of the Greek and Roman traditions of logic, democracy and science that had been lost for a thousand years since Rome fell. In the medieval times, the church was the opiate of the masses whose lives were miserable and short so the art produced reflected that and was primarily a means of telling biblical stories. The art of the medieval times was not very realistic and used to be either highly simplified or highly exaggerated. Florence's recovery from the plague and general prosperity gave rise to the Florentines having more confidence in human ability. With the backing of the Medicis, artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, inspired by the Greek and Roman statues of the past embarked on a journey of celebrating humanism and realism that continued for another 150 years and the rediscovery of emphases on logic and science led Europe out of ignorance.
The Uffizi Gallery houses many statues from the Greek and Roman times that served as inspiration for the Renaissance masters. Works of Renaissance sculptors like Michelangelo and Donatello are also on display. Similarly, there are hundreds of paintings by Giotto, Botticelli, Leonardo, Raphael, Titian and Caravaggio. The amount of art can be overwhelming but thanks for Rick Steves' audio guide and our pocket guide book, we focused on about 15 masterpiece paintings that give you the perfect introduction to how realism and humanism started with features like adding depth and human expressions to paintings. The tour took us almost four hours and by the end of it, we had gained a much better understanding of the different styles and ranges of the Renaissance masters. We also saw a great view of the Arno river and Ponte Vecchio (literally Old Bridge) during our tour of the Uffizi Gallery.
After the whirlwind tour of perhaps the most important era of art history, we needed a break so we came back to our hotel to freshen up. It was another hot day so we grabbed a banana flavored gelato to share on our way back to the hotel. In fact, the weather forecast is for the temperatures to get higher in the next couple of days so that'll give us an excellent excuse to have more gelato. They say that the gelato of Florence is the best in Italy so why not?
We rested for about an hour and then got a lunch recommendation from our hotel concierge. The restaurant wasn't too far from our very centrally located hotel so we got there after a five minute walk at around 2:30 pm. We had bruschetta and fried zucchini flowers for appetizers, then a tomato garlic pizza and mushroom fettuccini pasta for our main course and finally tiramisu and creme caramel for dessert. It was a late lunch and we were quite hungry so had a hearty meal. After lunch, we walked back to our hotel and took a nap for a couple of hours since our next activity was a self guided walking tour and we decided to do it at night to avoid the afternoon heat.
We woke up around 7:30 pm and got another recommendation from our hotel's concierge desk, this time for dinner. We also booked a guided bus tour for the Tuscany region for the next day. We got the dinner reservation for 9:45 pm and then headed out to do our self guided walking tour of Florence with help from our Rick Steves audio guide. We started at the Duomo or the Main Cathedral of Florence. The Duomo's dome was designed and built by Brunelleschi after studying the Pantheon of Rome and getting inspiration from the engineering feat of the Romans. Brunelleschi's dome was the biggest dome of its time in the world and later inspired many famous domes like the one in Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome and the Capitol in Washington DC. We also observed the outer facade of the Duomo and the bell tower of the Cathedral that's called Giotto's Bell Tower since it was designed by Giotto. We saw the Baptistry of Saint John across the Duomo and its famous bronze doors that were built by Ghiberti and dubbed "Gates of Paradise" by Michelangelo. Similar to the attempt of Renaissance paintings to make the scenes natural by adding depth, the bronze doors add an element of depth that makes the scenes depicted on the doors 3D.
Then we walked to the Piazza where the Vecchio Palace building is located. It used to be the residence of the Medici Duke of Florence but when the residence was moved across the Arno River to the Pitti Palace, this was renamed to Palazzo Vecchio or Old Palace. It now serves as the town hall of Florence. There are several interesting statues next to the building but the most famous is the statue of David by Michelangelo that's outside the palace. The original is now kept in the Accademia Gallery so this one is a replica. Right next to the Palazzo Vecchio is the Uffizi Courtyard where we had started our sightseeing day. There was an orchestra playing in the square in front of the Palazzo Vecchio so we enjoyed the live performance for a few minutes before leaving for dinner.
Then we walked to the restaurant recommended by our hotel. Dinner was outstanding. We had fried onions filled with parmesan cheese and zucchini salad with pine nuts for appetizers. My main course was pear ravioli filled with cheese and topped with sea bass fish fillet and cherry tomatoes. Samia's main course was pici pasta (think a thicker version of spaghetti) with cheese and butter and a side of roasted potatoes. The dessert was Apple pie with gelato. It was a modern take on typical Tuscan cuisine and we were thoroughly impressed. After dinner, we walked back to our hotel and went to bed. Till the next update about Tuscany, take care!
The Roman Empire fell in the 5th century and much of Europe plunged into poverty and ignorance. By the start of the 14th century, Florence was doing really well on account of its banking, trading and cloth making. Then came the Black Death Plague that killed over half the population of Europe in the mid 14th century. Almost half the people of Florence also died in the plague but the infrastructure remained and the city was rebuilt better than ever. The ruling Medici (pronounced Medichi) family of Florence were big sponsors and collectors of art so it's no wonder that the Renaissance took root in Florence. Renaissance literally means "rebirth" and in this context, it was the rebirth of the Greek and Roman traditions of logic, democracy and science that had been lost for a thousand years since Rome fell. In the medieval times, the church was the opiate of the masses whose lives were miserable and short so the art produced reflected that and was primarily a means of telling biblical stories. The art of the medieval times was not very realistic and used to be either highly simplified or highly exaggerated. Florence's recovery from the plague and general prosperity gave rise to the Florentines having more confidence in human ability. With the backing of the Medicis, artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, inspired by the Greek and Roman statues of the past embarked on a journey of celebrating humanism and realism that continued for another 150 years and the rediscovery of emphases on logic and science led Europe out of ignorance.
The Uffizi Gallery houses many statues from the Greek and Roman times that served as inspiration for the Renaissance masters. Works of Renaissance sculptors like Michelangelo and Donatello are also on display. Similarly, there are hundreds of paintings by Giotto, Botticelli, Leonardo, Raphael, Titian and Caravaggio. The amount of art can be overwhelming but thanks for Rick Steves' audio guide and our pocket guide book, we focused on about 15 masterpiece paintings that give you the perfect introduction to how realism and humanism started with features like adding depth and human expressions to paintings. The tour took us almost four hours and by the end of it, we had gained a much better understanding of the different styles and ranges of the Renaissance masters. We also saw a great view of the Arno river and Ponte Vecchio (literally Old Bridge) during our tour of the Uffizi Gallery.
After the whirlwind tour of perhaps the most important era of art history, we needed a break so we came back to our hotel to freshen up. It was another hot day so we grabbed a banana flavored gelato to share on our way back to the hotel. In fact, the weather forecast is for the temperatures to get higher in the next couple of days so that'll give us an excellent excuse to have more gelato. They say that the gelato of Florence is the best in Italy so why not?
We rested for about an hour and then got a lunch recommendation from our hotel concierge. The restaurant wasn't too far from our very centrally located hotel so we got there after a five minute walk at around 2:30 pm. We had bruschetta and fried zucchini flowers for appetizers, then a tomato garlic pizza and mushroom fettuccini pasta for our main course and finally tiramisu and creme caramel for dessert. It was a late lunch and we were quite hungry so had a hearty meal. After lunch, we walked back to our hotel and took a nap for a couple of hours since our next activity was a self guided walking tour and we decided to do it at night to avoid the afternoon heat.
We woke up around 7:30 pm and got another recommendation from our hotel's concierge desk, this time for dinner. We also booked a guided bus tour for the Tuscany region for the next day. We got the dinner reservation for 9:45 pm and then headed out to do our self guided walking tour of Florence with help from our Rick Steves audio guide. We started at the Duomo or the Main Cathedral of Florence. The Duomo's dome was designed and built by Brunelleschi after studying the Pantheon of Rome and getting inspiration from the engineering feat of the Romans. Brunelleschi's dome was the biggest dome of its time in the world and later inspired many famous domes like the one in Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome and the Capitol in Washington DC. We also observed the outer facade of the Duomo and the bell tower of the Cathedral that's called Giotto's Bell Tower since it was designed by Giotto. We saw the Baptistry of Saint John across the Duomo and its famous bronze doors that were built by Ghiberti and dubbed "Gates of Paradise" by Michelangelo. Similar to the attempt of Renaissance paintings to make the scenes natural by adding depth, the bronze doors add an element of depth that makes the scenes depicted on the doors 3D.
Then we walked to the Piazza where the Vecchio Palace building is located. It used to be the residence of the Medici Duke of Florence but when the residence was moved across the Arno River to the Pitti Palace, this was renamed to Palazzo Vecchio or Old Palace. It now serves as the town hall of Florence. There are several interesting statues next to the building but the most famous is the statue of David by Michelangelo that's outside the palace. The original is now kept in the Accademia Gallery so this one is a replica. Right next to the Palazzo Vecchio is the Uffizi Courtyard where we had started our sightseeing day. There was an orchestra playing in the square in front of the Palazzo Vecchio so we enjoyed the live performance for a few minutes before leaving for dinner.
Then we walked to the restaurant recommended by our hotel. Dinner was outstanding. We had fried onions filled with parmesan cheese and zucchini salad with pine nuts for appetizers. My main course was pear ravioli filled with cheese and topped with sea bass fish fillet and cherry tomatoes. Samia's main course was pici pasta (think a thicker version of spaghetti) with cheese and butter and a side of roasted potatoes. The dessert was Apple pie with gelato. It was a modern take on typical Tuscan cuisine and we were thoroughly impressed. After dinner, we walked back to our hotel and went to bed. Till the next update about Tuscany, take care!
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