After several frustrating attempts to find our hotel, we finally settled in at Hotel Enza in Florence last night, a couple of blocks away from the Accademia museum, home of Michelangelo's "David".
We strolled into I Toscano at about 8:30 p.m. for a typical Tuscan meal: chicken fried in rice flour, beans and sausage, gnocchi with meat sauce, spinach gnocchi and a fine bottle of Chianti.
Today we went to the Uffizzi gallery after we got lucky and were able to use a reservation that other hotel guests decided to forfeit. Because Florence is so crowded with tourists nowadays, you have to make a reservation to stand in line. It's not as bad as it sounds, though. We got to the ticket booth at 8:45 a.m. and were in the museum by 9:10. Our two-hour whirlwind audio tour took us from the beginnings of the Renaissance of Giotto through the high Renaissance of Michelangelo, Pollaiuolo and Parmigianino to the later, darker Baroque stuff of Caravaggio and chiaroscuro fame.
After Paul and I visited the Leonardo museum, with its interactive constructions of da Vinci's creations, and after Diane and the girls went shopping on the Ponte Vecchio, we reunited for some time in the Baptistery and a climb (Emma, Sarah and I) to the top of Brunelleschi's great dome in the S. Maria del Fiore duomo and its commanding views of the Tuscan hills that surround Florence, Fiesole to the north and the Piazzale Michelangelo to the south. Though more squat than the dome of St. Peter's, the duomo observation point is a bit more vertigo-inducing.
We also made an obligatory stop at the De Rubeis inscription at the base of Giotto's Campanile. One of only six at the base of the bell tower, it reads (in Latin): John and Matthew De Rubeis, Florentine citizens and their descendants. I don't know who they are or whether they are related, but one day I hope to find out.
Before we returned to the hotel for a rest, we were able to get in line and only wait about a half hour for entrance to the Accademia and a visit to "David." He got a bath for his 500th birthday in 2004 and seems more imposing than ever --- certainly more so than Mark Wahlberg looming over Times Square in his underwear a few years ago.
The day ended with another fine, rustic Tuscan meal, this time at a place called La Burrasca: steak Florentine, tortellini ragu, and maccheroni del chef, which was seasonal vegetables (chicory, mostly) in a tomatoey base. Chicory can be bitter, but sauteeing in fine olive oil and garlic cut the bite. We finished with the finest tiramisu we have had anywhere at any time.
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2 comments:
Hello Paesani Tussiani,
My father immigrated to Canada in 1948 (De Rubeis, Benino)from Tussio. He passed away May, 2000. He left behind 2 sisters and a brother in and around the Tussio area.I often return to Tussio mainly to visit my 90 year old aunt Rosina and an uncle (mother's side) who lives in Caporciano.
This is a wonderful blog and should be kept up. I have a cousin in Tussio who often refers to his hometown as La "Repubblica". It was quite surprising to see this as the title for the picture.
Regards from Hamilton, ON, Canada
Ben
Dear Ben,
I haven't looked at this blog for months, and my cousin, who had been following the L'Aquila earthquake on the news, informed me you had commented.
So I apologize.
Perhaps this awful event will spur me to update, keep this going and get in touch with each other.
Do you know of any relief efforts that we might contribute to? Another cousin has informed me that damage in Tussio was minimal, but I would like to be sure.
Victor DeRubeis
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