As the school term draws to a close in Queensland, so does it here at Cotter College. Amongst all the activity of packing up a years worth of living in Italia, visitors, museo/galleria visits etc, the cherubs have tried to complete a terms school work (from QLD distance education) in 4 weeks instead of 10 so that they can enjoy their last few weeks at Casa San Gabriel AND not do school work when they get back to Australia. They worked very hard (i.e. school on Saturday morning as well) and have slowly got there!
The class presented their maestro (teacher) with a car!!! Their generosity was overwhelming!!!
While on our adventures we have been up structures such as St Paul’s cupola in London, London eye, Eiffel tower in Paris and now…Cattedrale Santa Maria del Fiore cupola. We have left this adventure till the end of our stay as it put into context/perspective all the legwork we did throughout this city!! As anyone would know, in a new environment it is always difficult to get your ‘bearings’. Well in Firenze with the buildings lining the streets and very little horizon to see, we were/are often lost!! The only way we got to know our way ’round was with a LOT of legwork…ALL over the city!
One of our most memorable vistas of Firenze is from Piazzale Michelangelo…until now! The view from the top of the dome of the cathedral is magnificent. See below…
We’re ticking off the sights in Firenze and one which we’ve been looking forward to is Galleria degli Uffizi. We were soooooooo lucky to be able to go along with Nicoletta…a friend from Firenze. She was so knowledgable! She put the history, architecture and art into a Fiorentine perspective which made such a difference. Patrick and Grace got to see masterpieces from Di Vinci, Giotto, Botticelli, Raphael, Michelangelo and Caravaggio. Maybe a bita kultya has rubbed off on them this year!! It was amazing that they actually recognised some of their works and could say who created them!!
That day we also ‘popped’ into La Basilica di Santa Croce. This basilica was a big surprise for us…it was magnificent! We were able to get so close and ‘personal’ to so many great works of art. And to hear the part about it’s recent history and its damage from the 1966 floods in Firenze was devastating. It harmed many pieces of artwork as well as the basilica itself. However, the passion in the restoration was remarkable. The Franciscans certainly did a unique job building the basilica and it’s community and was repaid in their time of need with the local support.
Palazzo Pitti (mostly built in the 15th century) is a huge palace in Firenze on oltrarno (south side of L’Arno) with the ruling families used as a great treasure house. It was also used as a base by Napoleon (who didn’t actually stay there) and later was the royal palace when Firenze was the capital of the newly united Italia. Grace got some MORE ideas for her bedroom redesign!!! She quite liked the colours in the Duchess room especially with the wardrobe ‘wing’!
Il Giardino di Boboli is the ‘backyard’ of the palazzo. It is beautiful but would be a bugger to mow and do the hedges! You’d need a beer or two when it was done!
With our family being ‘a little bit’ interested in cycling (some of us, anyway) it was a bonus when we ventured out on a Sunday walk and found advertising and bunting up all around Piazza della Repubblica last Sunday (100m down the road). The Femmina Giro di Toscana arrived in town and was finishing in the square. It was very exciting to have our own ‘Giro’ viewing.
There was certainly not much of an advertising train in front of the pack to let you know the riders were coming. It consisted of 1 BMW convertible with some 15 year olds with make up on. We wondered if their mothers knew!? The finish was fast and furious…and very dangerous over the pavé street of Firenze!
After the race was the usual cool down for the girls, however, in the middle of Piazza della Repubblica, it didn’t turn out to be the most private place for the girls to slip out of their sweaty and stinky tops…I no longer need to give Patrick his Birds n Bees talk!!!!
It was a time to take the crew out last Saturday on an evening walk (passiagata) so we started on a ‘lap’ of Firenze with gelati on our minds. It was beautiful weather and most of the Florentines were back from their holidays so the streets were packed and the people were walking the walk (passiagata). Over the past week we’ve heard the sound of drums in the streets and it turned out to be groups representing the various quadrants of Firenze dressed in period costume. Perche (why)…we had no idea, however, they were out again this day.
As we rounded il Duomo the drums were getting louder and the crowds seemed to be gathering. It turned out that we were in the middle of the ceremony where the priest at il Duomo blesses and gives thanks for il vini harvested (or to be harvested) that season. It was a sagra called Festa dell’Uva e del Vino. In Italy a sagra is a local festival very often involving food and giving thanks for the harvest. They are usually in Autumn. It was a magnificent chance discovery that we were there at that time!
As part of the procession, a small canon was paraded around and set off occasionally. We could hear it being fired in the distance every so often, however, we certainly weren’t ready for it when it went off in front of us! Especially coupled with the acoustics around il Duomo and la Baptistery (Battistero di San Giovanni). Grace (and I think most of the crowd) had another code brown!
That night we tasted the Chianti vino for apperitivo…it was una buona degustazione di vino (good tasting wine)!
The whole crew went to the soccer (Fiorentina vs Parma) last weekend which added another 11 Fiorentina supporters to the crowd. Beforehand we picked up our violet Firenze T-shirts and dug out anything violet from our wardrobes. Fiorentina are not having the best start to their season (with a new coach) so they really needed to win this game.
It rained part of the way through the game, however, this didn’t seem to dampen the crowds enthusiasm. As usual the cherubs were in awe of the passion for the game and the atmosphere created by the cheering and flag/scarf/anything waving. The final score was Fiorentina 2 Parma 0.
We all just needed a Trippa Panini (Tripe breadroll) to complete our Fiorentine pomeriggio (afternoon). Funnily enough, no one was in for it!!!
Italiano lezione lingua 101 – Brutto in Italiano means ‘ugly’ (see translation here). Some examples of the the use of this word is when the weather is harsh (raining/very cold) or (as we heard at the Fiorentinavs Napoli soccer) when someone from the opposition is taking a corner kick…the crowd is chanting ‘Brutto, Brutto, Brutto‘!
Another example Grace found was the ceramic statue of a ‘man’ in a shop at the end of our strada (street) – see pictures below. The statue of the lady in period dress looks wonderful, however, as for the ‘man’…I would hate to meet him at a bar on a Friday night!
The common Uggboot in Australia is not quite a fashion item as it is over here. We can buy them at petrol stations, Best ‘n Less and other high-end fashion establishments!
As we walked down via Por Santa Maria we spotted a very exclusive shoe shop selling Ugg boots from Australia. They certainly looked like ANY other Ugg we’ve seen…except for the pricetag! Check out the pictures below (prices are in Euro…1 Euro = $AUD1.40)!!!
