To flourish

Fiorenze. The city of Florence was named from the verb meaning to flourish. And flourish one does.

The city is beautiful, if not filled to the brim with tourist curiosities, like Rome. We began our tour, after a beautiful drive through Tuscany to get there, at the Duomo. The cathedral of Florence is built of marble. Though marble is common inside many buildings in Italy and greater Europe, it is rare on the outside, since it weathers so poorly. The builders of the Duomo were not to be deterred, though, and the building is covered in gorgeous designs in white, red, and green marble. Inside is also an architectural marvel - a dome created of gothic arches, never to be repeated to this day in human history.

Our walking tour, behind a slow-moving but well-informed Italian guide, took us past all of the glories of Florence - the original home of Michelangelo's David, a demonstration of the world's first graffiti (a derivation of the Italian word for scratching), the reported home of Mona Lisa, and many, many churches. Post tour, Dipika and Emily and I wandered back to most of the places the guide had breezed past, such as Dante's home and some gorgeous churches. We went past the Uffizi. Without Darick to enjoy them with me, I chose not to indulge in most art museums on the trip. While I realize I passed up some of the most world-reknowned art there is, such as the Sistine Chapel and the Uffizi, I'll be back. I married an artist, after all. However, we did visit the real David in the Galleria della Accademia, and it was incredibly impressive. The true masters are known as such for a very important reason. No pictures allowed in the museum, so I took mine with the replica in its original location.

We then crossed the river (Arno? maybe that's in Rome...) via the Ponte Vecchio. The bridge is lined with shops, which were once occupied by livestock vendors. Merchants, however, decided it was too smelly and ran all of them out. Now the bridge is lined with fine jewelers....thirty or so all lined up next to each other. It's quite a sight. On the other side, one finds the Medici palace, where the family lived who once ruled Florence and commissioned great works of the Renaissance.

On our way back to meet the group, we stopped at a restaurant off the beaten path recommended by the trusty guide book. I can't emphasize enough how much my guide book rocks, and I'd highly recommend traveling with one and relying on it for guidance. This restaurant was all Florence, with Florentine ingredients and recipes. It was hands down the best meal in Italy, and perhaps one of the best of my life. The recipes were rich with sausage and truffles and ham and the ingredients were just exploding with flavor. And cheap! So so good. If you are headed to Florence, ask me for the name of this place when I can look it up at home. You won't regret it.

We stayed at a hotel in Montecatini, about 45 minutes drive from Florence. There was nothing to do there. I won't bore you with details.

Next morning we went as a group to the Piazzale Michelangelo, a point (now really a parking lot) on a hill near the city where you can see the whole city. Apparently it's one of the best sunset views in the universe, but we didn't catch it at sunset. It is still remarkable though. After that, a group lunch that couldn't compare with the dinner of the night before, plus there were clandestine chicken livers making the meal a bit spoiled. However, we then shopped, which is really what one does in Florence. Ice cream and shopping for leather and paper goods. I purchased both, plus olive oil. Then the choir packed up and headed to the Tuscan countryside to sing at a 700 year-old church as part of a chianti festival. This time, well rehearsed, we sang much better, and the audience seemed so excited to have us there! They even threw us a reception afterward, and though none of us could talk to them (except one of our students) we were all appreciative of each other. It was a great time. Here are olive trees next to the church, in a Tuscan grove. Sigh.