Saint Paul's College Europe Trip 2014: Day 6 –Florence/Vinci

Florence was again our destination for today. Yesterday was shop, shop, shop. Today was sightseeing and learning about Florence. This morning began with a guided tour of the Academia. This is an art museum that has the distinction of housing 5 unfinished Michelangelo works and his greatest masterpiece the David.

The unfinished sculptures show his style of carving, how he believed that God put the figures in the rock and all he had to do was release them.

An unfinished Michelangelo with the figure in the process of being “released”

Then we saw his great masterpiece, the David. This 5.17m high statue stands in its own display area, dwarfing everything else, completely overpowering. There are no other art works near it as none could compete with its magnificent aura. It was interesting watching the students as the approached it, they were quiet, no talking or joking their eyes locked onto this amasing sight,

The David

Our group and this magnificent masterpiece.

The Academia does actually have many other works of art and nearly all of them are singularly important including icons and crucifixes that date back to the 14^th Century

Other great works of art

However the tour did not end there, only a few hundred meters down the road was the great cathedral of Florence, the Dumo. This beautiful and massive building is constructed from different coloured marble that causes it to almost overload the senses. The great doors of the cathedral and the Baptistery are 2 of the highlights.

The Dumo’s main doors

Giotto’s tower which contains the bells of the Dumo sits next to the cathedral as a free standing structure. It is made of the same coloured marble and is in itself a masterpiece of engineering.

Giotto’s Tower

A little further on is the same Bridge we saw last night, the Ponte vecchio, one of only two bridges that have shops along its length. This very old structure traditionally houses the jewellers of Florence. As you walk along the bridge you really do see a lot of “bling” and nearly all of it is expensive.

The “bling” on the Ponte Vecchio

The Guide showing us the important points and features of the bridge.

Florence is a city that has never been short of artists or important people. Outside the Uffizi gallery there is a lot of statues commemorating some of Florence’s famous residents.

One of my favourites Galileo Galilei

The main Square of Florence, with a range of magnificent statues under an outdoor canopy, creating a free exhibition for all who care to look.

The main square in Florence

Very small electric vehicles

A very cute “mini” bus. Just the right size to get around the barrow streets.

The tour ended for the boys and then lunch beckoned, so off to some very well priced take away places, which included one of the best Gelato shops I have ever had the fortune to enter. Oh my…… the taste was indescribable as such defies description by mere words.

We re-joined our bus and travelled about an hour “down the road” to Vinci a small village tucked into the Tuscan Hills. We went there to see Leonardo’s birth place. A guide took us through the displays and thoroughly explained to us the effect that Leonardo has had on both Art and Science.

Unfortunately photos were forbidden inside the establishment so I will finish tonighr with a couple of general views of the country around this village.

The hills and valleys of Tuscany.

A small shrine outside Leonardo’s birth place

Day 6 –Florence/Vinci - Wednesday, January 8th 2014 : Tania Vial & Theodore Girgolas

Unfortunately, time does not allow me the luxury to express in detail the many unique and interesting sites/people/situations, we encounter each day as we travel through Italy/Europe. It really is a case of, ‘you have to be here’. I can only provide a brief glimpse of these.- You must also forgive my sometimes rushed blogs, as they often are written at the end of very long days and can take considerable time to send.-

We began our day by visiting the main attractions of Firenze, a city with only 350 thousand inhabitants, but with so much history, art and character.- Exquisite sculptures, like those found in the Piazza della Signoria, mine being, ‘The rape of the Sabines’ by Giambologna. (photo attached) and several of Michelangelo’s unfinished works. The most phenomenal piece within the museum however was Michelangelo’s ‘Statue of David’. This awesome spectacle is a representation of the ‘perfect male anatomy’ according to Michelangelo. What makes the statue so amazing is that it is huge in size, it was made of cheap and low quality marble, which was nearly impossible to use as well as the fact that a six tonne statue was able to be transported from place to place in order to be preserved so well in the museum. I cannot find a word that can describe how I felt when I gazed upon this statue. It was utterly breathtaking as you will see in the photos we will upload.

We later made our way to the heart of the city, wherein many little restaurants and venders made for a quick and easy lunch. Most of us chose to have a slice of pizza or a panini roll. (I made a personal promise to end my friendship with he who requested Maccas in Italy!!) Upon completing our lunch, we made for Vinci, the birthplace of famous painter and sculptor, Leonardo. Here we visited the Vinci Museum showcasing many models of Leonardo’s original blueprints and plans for a range of inventions. After having the tour of the museum we took a five minute bus trip to the birthplace and childhood house of Leonardo da Vinci in Anchiano. The phrase ‘humble beginnings’ comes to mind when reflecting on Leonardo’s small yet cosy house and the simple lifestyle Leonardo himself grew up with before becoming a worlds renowned artist.

Like so many places in Europe, you need to move away from the central area to discover the heart of this city. It has so much to offer in the way of works by local artisans and individualised shops where local craftsmanship is exhibited in splendidly authentic and creative ways.

We walk extensively! …To some extent, this allows us to indulge in the often very simple, but extremely tasteful delicacies of food/pastry and gelati shops that can be found almost everywhere. For example, tonight we walked a good 15 minutes to a restaurant just outside central Firenze to a beautifully presented and very rustic restaurant, enjoying the time to chat and reflect on the day’s happenings. (photo attached)

Tania Vial and Theodore Girgolas