Florence - Day 3 {Duomo, Santa Croce, Duomo Museum}

our last day in Florence got off to a bit of a chaotic start. we were supposed to have packed, cleaned the apartment (including doing the dishes and taking out the trash), and dropped off the keys at the booking office by 10 AM, and we were also planning to attend the 10 o'clock mass at the Duomo. we also wanted to drop off our suitcase at a luggage storage place for the day. as anyone could have predicted, we were frantically packing and cleaning right up to the very last minute. while i was doing the dishes, somebody knocked on the apartment door and Nick answered it. i could overhear a brief conversation in Italian and then he shut the door and said he thought maybe they were asking if we wanted to join in the demonstrations he had seen in one of the main squares. i thought maybe they were the cleaners coming to turn over the apartment for the next guests, but they weren't wearing uniforms and didn't seem to be asking us to leave. anyway, by the time we made it out to the street with the apartment spic and span, it was 9:45. there definitely would not be time for us both to walk over to the booking office (15 minutes northwest) and make it back on time for mass, and especially not to drop off the suitcase. so Nick gallantly offered to run the keys over while the girls and i headed straight for the Duomo and we would plan to meet each other inside.

and so we headed to the side door of the Duomo, which i had read was the entrance reserved for mass-goers (as opposed to tourists, who were already lining up around the front of the church). but there was a large rope hung in front of the door and a sign proclaiming "VIETATO L'INGRESSO" (no entry). i stood there for a minute, perplexed, and then the door opened, a beaming security guard stepped forward, unhooked the rope and ushered us in, stroller and all. we went through the security checkpoint and found a spot towards the back on the aisle closest to the door, so we could easily spot Nick.

the mass was all in Italian, of course, but the choir was singing Gregorian chant and the organist was good. the girls were fairly well behaved (again with the promise of the carousel after mass!), but people kept coming in and out throughout the mass which was a bit distracting since they all had to shuffle down the center aisle, then over to the side, and out through the side door instead of being able to just sneak out the back. as the minutes ticked on with no sign of Nick, i hoped everything was all right. i have an Italian SIM card in my phone now so i can send unlimited texts and use data within Italy, but Nick is still living life on the edge with internet/phone access via wifi only, so we had no way to contact each other.

after mass was over, we took a better look at the inside of the Duomo while the organist played the postlude. most of the art and sculptures have been moved to the Duomo museum. it's great to be able to see all of it up close in a museum setting, but it certainly leaves the church itself feeling a bit bare.

then we came back out into the biting wind and found Nick, who had in fact arrived at the church entrance only fifteen minutes after mass had started, but wasn't allowed to enter with the suitcase... and he didn't have the name or address of the luggage storage place so he had just spent the last forty-five minutes waiting around outside. needless to say, he was ready for some warmth! and of course he still wanted to go to mass himself, so we came up with a new plan. we'd go together to drop off the suitcase, then he'd come back and go to the noon mass while i took the girls to the carousel and we would meet outside the church at 1 PM.

the carousel was just as thrilling the second time around. after they were finished, i tracked a little cafe recommended by Rick Steves and we had a little lunch. the girls split a croissant, i ordered a plate of four little crostini and a glass of rose and we were all quite delighted.

blurry but so cute!

i really wish i could remember what each of these meats were. they were all delicious.

then we walked back over to the Duomo, met up with Nick, and decided to press our luck getting into the Baptistery just a few minutes before it was scheduled to close at 1:15 PM. i wish we had had a little longer to study the moisaics, but i'm so glad we got inside and didn't just skip it. the mosaics were created by Venetian craftsmen in the 1200s, and they tell the story of the world, from creation to the flood to the life of Christ and eventually the Last Judgment.

finally, we were ushered out, and now Nick needed some lunch. we headed for the Via dei Neri, which is famous for its street food and little sandwich shops. in fact, there were already two huge lines snaking down the street for the two most popular places. Nick opted for a sandwich at a place with less hype but a promising plethora of meats on display in the window -- and it was the best sandwich i've ever had. the bread was soft and flavorful, slathered in creamy butter, and piled with fresh cheese and meat that had been sliced just seconds before. if the sandwiches at the other places were even more delicious, i don't know how you could bear it.

maybe we were the suckers, but it really didn't feel like it once Nick was happily munching on his sandwich and these
whippersnappers were still waiting in line

done-zo

a place after my own heart

a particularly medieval streetscape

our next mission was to visit the Santa Croce Church, where many famous Florentines are buried -- including Michelangelo, Galileo, Dante, and Machiavelli. the facade of the church dominates the square. inside, the quiet cloister is full of the sounds of birds chirping and the muted voices of visitors.

Rossini's tomb

lighting a candle and saying a prayer for Nana

i always let Daddy lead the prayer, while my sole focus is making sure they don't catch their hair on fire.
we make a good team.

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"I see Mary and Jesus!"

we had to take another stroll through the cloister for a bathroom break

the tomb of Galileo (1564-1642)

the tomb of Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564), who grew up just a block away from this church.
initially, Pope Pius IV had made arrangements for him to be buried in Rome, but the Florentines smuggled his body
back to Florence where Vasari sculpted his funerary monument.
the three statues represent Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture. 

Vasari also painted this altarpiece, Christ Meeting Veronica on the way to Calvary, in 1572. it is undergoing extensive restoration after the devastating flood of 1966. 

Dante's tomb

Machiavelli's tomb

one last quiet walk through the cloister on our way out

we popped into a leather shop on the square to buy some gloves for Nick, and some small Christmas gifts. while we were in the shop, we suddenly saw a burst of color explode from behind the church, and people in the piazza started clapping and shouting. we ran out onto the sidewalk and for the next twenty minutes, we got to enjoy a unique daytime "fireworks" show. we later learned that this was an event titled "City of Flowers in the Sky", produced by the artist Cai Guo-Qiang, designed to mark the opening of his exhibit "Flora Commedia" in the Uffizi. at the time, however, it was all the more magical since we had no idea why it was happening (nor did anyone else in the square or in the leather shop). the explosions would pause for a while, and we'd go back into the shop to peruse the wallets and gloves, and then suddenly there would be more and we'd all rush back out onto the street. adding a note of exaggerated pathos was the street musician earnestly singing "Hallelujah" as the sapphire and emerald clouds floated across the sky.

finally, we headed back towards the center of town so we could visit the Duomo Museum. we had to stop for gelato first, however. and then we happened to walk past the Savonarola plaque in the Piazza della Signoria. this piazza was where Fra Savonarola and his followers burned secular books, fancy clothes and anything else they deemed sinful in 1497 -- and the plaque marks the exact spot where he was hanged in 1498. 

the gelato in Florence is the best we've had so far!

the plaque stands in front of Palazzo Vecchio

then it was on to the Duomo Museum, which houses the original art and sculptures from the Duomo. one of the highlights is the exhibit showcasing Ghiberti's original bronze doors from the Baptistery. the detail is absolutely stunning.  

Cece ran up to this sculpture and shouted "Jesus is two! Just like me!"

Donatello's haunting sculpture of Mary Magdalene, created in wood in 1453

Michelangelo's unfinished Pieta. he worked on this from 1546-1555, when he finally grew frustrated with
flaws in the marble and mutilated his own work. it was later repaired. Michelangelo carved his own self-portrait into the face of Nicodemus, standing behind Jesus. 

there is also an entire section of the museum devoted to reliquaries and other sacred objects.  

reliquary of a finger of St. John the Baptist

reliquary of St. Peter's chains

reliquary of the jawbone of St. John the Baptist

choir lectern (since there was no such thing as a copy machine, the entire choir had to be able to see the book!)

choir loft

silver frontispiece for the altar, dating from 1367-1483, decorated with scenes from the life of John the Baptist

Greta was quite enamored with this

the last section of the museum focuses on Brunelleschi's dome (which is also the title of a book i've been meaning to read since we moved here!). the cathedral had been left with a gaping hole where the dome should have been until finally Filippo Brunelleschi won the bid to design it. he was forced to work alongside his arch-rival, Ghiberti, who had won the commission for the baptistery doors. Brunelleschi's innovative design uses a hidden inner dome to bear the structural load. in 1436, the work was finished and the Duomo was finally complete. 

Brunelleschi's funerary mask

view from the terrace

we were getting down to the wire with a few last things to squeeze in before our train back to Rome. i wanted to see the Ponte Vecchio all lit up at night, and we had promised the girls one last ride on the carousel. poor Cecilia fell asleep in the Ergo as we were walking over to the bridge, and i thought about just letting her sleep while Greta rode the carousel, but i just knew she'd wake up halfway through the ride or Greta would talk nonstop about the carousel for the whole way home, so we woke her up and as soon as i said "do you want to go on the merry-go-round?", her eyes popped open and she immediately wanted to get down from the Ergo and run on to the carousel with Greta. 

Ponte Vecchio by night

Cellini's bust

Cecilia was sound asleep

we had time for a quick dinner at a cafeteria not far from Piazza Repubblica. another score from Rick Steves' guidebook. the food was surprisingly good and the price couldn't be beat! of course i had to get a baby bottle of Chianti to accompany my meal. 

finally, we picked up our suitcase and started the trek over to the train station. along the way, we stumbled across this medieval pillar raised in 1338 to commemorate a thirteenth-century battle fought between the Knights of Santa Maria and their opponents. and then we said "arrivederci" to Florence, and "thanks for the memories!"