Florence and some mild adventure

Alas, Florence, the city with which I have a like/hate relationship. The good news is that I had some very good periods of window shopping, and only bought a pair of shoes and a small utilitarian bag, nothing else and both on sale. Both were of the non-leather variety due to my budget, not my taste!
On Friday morning, I got the train at Termini at 8:30am, which is a miracle because I didn't get the bus on the Cassia until 7:20am, and I got to Termini at about 8am, so I made fantastic time and it was a miracle. I got to Santa Maria Novella station at about 10am, and walked the two steps over to the Duomo to meet up with my class. From there, we passed Orsanmichele, and went into the Bargello for the four Michelangelo scuptures (including the Drunken Bacchus, ), plus some Donatellos and other things the young Michelangelo would have known.
After lunch, for which I found a small grocer and bought some Tuscan salami and cheese, with bread and enough left over for dinner, I ate outside of Ognisanti, which unfortunately was closed, much to my dismay. I must say, Tuscan salami rocks. The chucks of fat make it look similar to mortadella, and not as fine looking as Milanese salami. Additionally, there are peppercorns inside to give it a kind of spicy situation. I walked over to Oltrarno and also tried to get into Santa Felicità, but it too was closed. The idea was for me to see again Pontormo's Deposition, but I tried and tried and I never was there while the church was open.
The afternoon session of my class, which is a Michelangelo monographic course, was in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo and the Accademia. In the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, we looked at the Michelangelo-as-Nicodemus Pietà and some Donatello and Nanni di Banco early, early Renaissance sculpture, plus of course the originals of the Gates of Paradise by Ghiberti. We finished up at the Accademia and the Michelangelo pieces there: David, the prisoners, the so-called Saint Matthew. Someday I ought to write some of my feelings regarding Michelangelo...
Finally we finished and I went back to the train station to get some more bread with which to finish the savory meat from lunch, and then to get the bus to take me up to where I was staying. I got off the bus at Piazzale Michelangelo, asked for directions, and then got back on the bus, and after I got off and started walking a bit, I ended up at Piazzale del Poggio Imperatore. As I was walking up the via del Poggio Imperatore, I saw the Firenze sign, meaning I was getting way out of my way and I knew it. I was concerned because there wasn't anyone around to ask directions for, and it was twilight. At the optimal moment, a taxi driver turned around the bend, and I hopped in to get a ride to closer to where I needed to go. After arriving at the villa, I found a very pleasant note from my host, a friend of a friend who I have yet to meet but who I've talked to on the phone and who is very nice. He's a printmaker studying in Florence for a while. The villa is an old farmhouse that used to be the summer house of the English owner's mother-in-law. She was very nice, and we talked for a few minutes before I went back inside to have my Tuscan salami, cheese, pizzetta bianca with olives, and Tuborg. I went to bed early, because I decided to wake up early and walk in Florence without the tourists.

The building closest to the photo, right behind the olive trees and amongst the cypruses is where I stayed. Absolutely gorgeous and charming beyond belief, especially in the cool of the morning. Also, it should be mentioned that this is still considered within the city of Florence, and it is infact quite convenient to the center of the city. It's only a ½ hour walk at most to the Duomo. Using the GPS, I found it was almost 2 miles to Ponte Vecchio, and it was only that distance because of the hairpin curves to go down the hill from Piazzale Michelangelo. I had such a beautiful walk yesterday morning...

Here is Piazzale Michelangelo at about 7am. You can see the Duomo in the background, and also a wierd sculpture group featuring David plus Day, Night, Dusk, and Dawn on the four corners. Not only are these all mostly unfinished scultptures from the Medici Chapel at San Lorenzo, but they were not ever meant for this sort of grouping, nor in bronze, which Michelangelo loathed, and they were defintely not done contemporaneously with the David. Nonetheless, this is what Piazzale Michelangelo looks like before the throngs of people come. I decided not to post a panorama of Florence, because not only is it an ubiquitous image, but a part of the Duomo and another tower in Florence have scaffolding all over so it's not particularly nice looking right now.

I stopped for cappuccino e cornetto in Oltrarno, and then crossed the Ponte Vecchio to head back over to the station to keep my backpack there for the day while we had our last class session. I hoped to catch Santa Felicità open, but it wasn't opening until 9, when I had to meet my class.

Here's the Arno before everything gets all crazy... Beautiful and calm.

And the Duomo with the eastern sun rising above it.

With my class, I went to the Casa Buonarotti, and to the Laurentian Library, both places that I'd never been. We also of course went to San Lorenzo and to the Medici Chapels, and then that was the end of our sessions in Florence. I went over to the station to try to get back to Rome, but I ended up having to wait for the next train because you can't go on the Eurostar trains without a reservation, that is, you have to have a confirmed seat. It didn't used to be that way... Even though I would have liked to enjoy the scenery on the way back to Rome, I mostly slept.