FLORENCE

A week in Florence was a week in paradise.
The doom-mongers had predicted it would be far too hot and much too crowded.

Yes, it was hot, but pleasantly so, and of course there were crowds. But we planned our days like a military operation and managed to see pretty much everything on our wish list stress-free.

The surprise was finding an Anselm Kiefer exhibition at the Palazzo Strozzi, one of the few interior spaces large enough to house his work.

It’s not an exaggeration to rate Kiefer, internationally, as one of the great 20th and 21st century artists.

The exhibition, ‘Fallen Angels‘ is really a journey reflecting the relationship between spirit and matter, memory and the present, and includes painting, sculpture, installations and photography. He is not an easy artist to comprehend as there are numerous references, images and quotations from ancient history to the Second World War – good and evil.

SAN MARCO

Of all its incredible monuments, squares, churches, as well as those that catch you by surprise, TheEye’s favourite and the place that makes her happiest is the Museum of San Marco and the delightful murals and paintings on the walls and in the cells of the monastery, painted by Fra Angelico. There is a touching observation to each one and it’s surprisingly not on every tourists’ beat, making it a calm place to walk around without crowds on your heels. Rumour has it that the reason there are duplicate paintings in many cells was to discourage monks from visiting their neighbours on the pretext of seeing what was painted on their walls since they possibly had the same ones in there own.
Who said the Friar wasn’t crafty?

UFFIZI

We knew this was going to be arduous and we were lucky to be able to reserve a civilised time slot. We arrived at around 10 a.m. and at 10.30 picked up our tickets and joined the queue to enter the gallery. Once inside it was something of a marathon – you have to move in one direction to visit the galleries and it was unbearably stuffy and hot.

There was a traffic jam outside the galleries where the Botticelli paintings were hung but TheEye was determined to see them – rather like going to the Louvre and not seeing the Mona Lisa. And my goodness they were stunning. The portraits in particular.

Walking down the corridor of the gallery was similar to navigating yourself along the aisle of a plane. Narrow with people moving slowly and stopping without warning.

But the art is worth it.

 

Each day in the same location where we caught our shuttle bus back to the cooler sanctuary of our hotel in Fiesole, these very professional musicians belted out great jazz to the delight of the crowds and made real money. The music was incredible.

DUOMO
The painted dome which you see from inside is spectacular.
Yet another wonder of Florence.

It’s necessary to walk around with your head bent backwards to get the full impact of this incredible dome, but the main wonder was how the craftsmen were able to do this. Being suspended upside down? How many survived?

There was so much to take on board in a few days that TheEye has selected a few highlights to share and looking forward to a speedy return to this wonderful city.

She wishes ‘hereye’ followers a great summer whereever you are.
May the sun shine and your gardens, terraces and give you a lot of pleasure.