Florence Last Day

Wednesday, April 25, 2007 2030
Good evening. We went to the Pitti Palace. Got up, leisurely ate a breakfast of soft boiled egg and toast cheese etc. Walked only a short way near the Ponte Vecchio and beyond is the Pitti Palace. Pitti Palace is where the Medici family lived very well. The palace was absolutely HUGE. I like to think I have seen a handful of palaces and this is by far the grandest. There were so many rooms and each had a unique scene painted by a known artist. There was art CRAWLING all over the walls. There were a few names Rembrandt, Rubens, Rafael, etc. There was no audio guide and many descriptions were in Italian only. But what can you expect as we are IN Italy. Oh, well. We walked through several rooms containing art only as I said, we also walked through a part of the palace that was decorated as it had been when the Medicis were living there. There was grand fabrics on the wall like wallpaper. The furnishings were exquisite, it was a very complete palace. That is what I really wanted to be sure to see, the palace as they would have lived in luxury.
We went to the Impressionist area with “modern art” which was from the 1900s. I found that I really liked those paintings. Perhaps it was because I could relate to the subject matter or because it was not religious art. They had lots of paintings of dogs and landscapes. We then went to the costume area in the museum. They had the burial outfits of some of the Medicis. They had been buried and dead for like 60 years then when their bodies were moved to a newly finished tomb they took their garments and tried to restore them. They also had some varied period pieces.
We were going to go to the next exhibition at the museum but mother was feeling “peckish” and we decided to go get some food. The café in the museum was way to expensive €3.50 for a cup of coffee. We walked down the street and paid about € 3.50 for a 7 inch pizza. Mom got like a flat ham and cheese calzone for about the same price. Luke got some sweet cannelonis, one was chocolate filled and the other was cream filled. We also got 3 double espressos to keep our minds awake during the museum. We ate our lunch on a vacant bench with our backs facing traffic, our fronts facing the shops and the foot traffic. It was pretty sunny and hot but we didn’t want to give up our lunch place. Who knows how it would have been to find another place in the city to sit where we didn’t have to buy something first. We saw lots of families pass us. Mom/dad and kids, I thought it was funny to see the stroller empty and dad carrying the sleeping kid. The Italians are kind of pushy when it comes to passing them on the street. They expect you to move out of their way. There are so many tourists here it’s crazy. You greet them in Italian and they ask if they can help you in English. Kind funny.
Back to the story, Mom decided to go home rather than go to the remaining Boboli Garden (still part of the Pitti Palace) and the family treasures (jewels and silver stuff). The Family Treasures was kind of so-so. They had as a highlight a few bejeweled crowns and a few displays of super rings and necklaces. We walked through pretty quickly even though Luke was especially interested in the subject matter.
Next and last for that matter was the Boboli Gardens. We head out there and the first thing I do is put my sunscreen on my nose and cheeks. (it worked by the way- no sunburn) It was really hot- at least 82 or so degrees but I am a bad judge of temp when it gets above 75. It is just hot. The garden is so special because of the views it gives. The garden is up hill. The pavement has ridges in it so a foot can get a grip or a horse can walk up it. There weren’t stairs- we were thankful. We walked and walked and walked uphill, but I guess it was worth it. The higher you got the better the views got. As you went up to the top tier there were ornamental gardens with some blooming roses and a hedge maze (only knee high). At the back there was a rail and a drop off view of the countryside. Boy did it look like Tuscany. I was quite happy with my pictures- I couldn’t really see the display on the dig camera as the sun was so bright- I just saw the horizon line. We sat up there momentarily, watched some stupid American kids on their school trip talk on loudly (and slowly like they were intoxicated) on their cell phone with no shirt on and their boxers showed where their belt should have been. We just shake our heads. It was really hot up there. We walked around on their trails that wound into some trees and thus shade where it was dramatically cooler. Luke said- I really don’t want to go downhill yet, I don’t feel like walking back up this again. We found a hidden bench and had some quiet time and some sitting time. We listened for bunnies and squirrels but none were found. We did hear some birds that were not pigeons. They had a different sound. It was peaceful spot even in this big city. We walked some more, took some pictures and filled our water bottle. Thankfully there was a fountain. It was water continuously flowing about 2 inches vertically above a spout. To get a sip you put your finger over the spout (a la water hose technique) and the water will arch and you can drink it like a fountain. People put their finger over it too much and with too much pressure. They all got water in the eye. It was kind of funny. It was hot though so I’m sure it felt good. Luke and I were also grateful to be alone for this trip, some time away from the rents is fine for half the day. As we were exiting the garden Luke saw a white with grey cat. His eyes lit up and he just about ran up there to pet him. As we did that one of the groundskeepers called the cat (Julie) and put some cat food on the concrete for him. I noticed later that there also were little water dishes set out, perhaps for the cat. He must have been the garden cat, keeping it free of rodents. We also saw a lady with lots of plastic bags filled with old bread crumbs. She tossed a bit to the birds and then threw the bread into the murky fountain water. There were dozens upon dozens of fish in there. Some were pretty dang big, they would surface and slurp up the bread pieces. It was neat to watch and I took a video of it. I bed that lady does that every week and I bed she doesn’t have to pay admission to do it. Maybe she works there.
We walk home which takes but a few minutes. Mom and Dad each had the keys so Luke and I had to use the intercom button. It rang upstairs and Mom pushed the button to open the outside door and we walked up. On our way we saw at the Piazza outside our house a band setting up, like an orchestra band with drums and horns and everything. There was a concert to celebrate Italian Independence from the WWII occupation. We stood and listened to a few tunes the highlights were the theme from Indiana Jones and Last of the Mohicans. Our feet were pretty sore so we didn’t stay for long. It was a long concert too about an hour and a half. 30 min was long enough.


Then we went back to the apartment to eat leftovers of red sauce pasta, soup, bread and fresh asparagus (that was especially yummy, fixed fried/steamed in a pan with oil, lemon and S&P). Dad brought home some gelato and gifts from his solo excursion. He took a bus trip to the Piazza Michelangelo which is way out of the way and really uphill. He traveled by bus and said it wasn’t that spectacular- there were a hundred other people there besides.
We picked up and packed. It is kinda tricky to get all the kitchen stuff sorted out. You bet your buns I don’t want to forget MY kitchen stuff. God forbid I forget the wine opener, although in Florence the wine opener has been the scissors. The box wine treated my parents well. We were given a box of red wine for our travels.
We pick up the rental car at the airport tomorrow and it is on our way to Parma! Let’s hope we don’t have to pay for parking! Let’s hope the stick shift goes smooth. Luke used to love his stick shift. We may be further away from internet; at least we’ll have to pay by the quarter hour so we won’t be able to do much dinking around. Wish us luck as we relax a little bit and eat a little bit more. ljf