Florence: City of Art

The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.

Pablo Picasso, Spanish artist (1882-1973)

I am a day behind in posting thanks to a limoncello at dinner last night that put me in the mood for sleep rather than blog posting. My soul was satiated by the art of the day, with the delicacies of Giotto, Botticelli, Raphael, Caravaggio, Michelangelo and Da Vinci, followed by the culinary delights at Nella's.

After six years of conservation work, Leonardo's The Adoration of the Magi has recently returned on display at the Uffizi Gallery. Leonardo left the altarpiece unfinished because he left Florence to work for the dukes in Milan. It's unfinished nature makes me feel a closer link to the artist. Amazing.

In the afternoon we grabbed a train from Florence's Santa Maria Nouvella station and headed to Pisa.

The best lawn in all of Italy carpets Pisa's Plaza of Miracles with the baptistery, basilica and (learning) bell tower. The lovely filigree architecture is all Pisan.

The basilica's interior is awesome.

Galileo is said to have developed his ideas about pendulums as a teenager sitting in the basilica watching this lamp swing in the breeze. (The sermon obviously didn't hold his attention.)


I was bad. I indulged in two cones today. We had one in Pisa but I couldn't resist a second from a shop that we passed on our walk from the Florance train station back to our hotel. Nut butter was topped with caramel.

Finding the hotel's little terrace, we toasted the day within sight of the Arno River.

We made a return visit to Trattoria Nella for dinner because it was so good last night.

We were very fond of the house red wine served in heavy ceramic jugs.

Strangely, there was a contemporary art installation in our old neighbourhood. Entitled "Freedom", it was composed of numerous Vespa bodies running up the wall of a multi-storey hotel accompanied by this Vespa on groundlevel. I would like to tootle around town on this one.

The day ended with a walk over the Ponte Vecchio on which a musician set himself up and was singing (pretty well) Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" as we passed. A very special day.

As I am having internet challenges in our Venice hotel, the next installation will come some unknown future time. Stay tuned.