Our
next major stop was in Florence, where we spent three nights at the Hotel
California. Don’t stay there. (The hotel, that is. Florence is a must see.)
Florence
is the birthplace of two famous writers. The first is Carlo Lorenzini (pen name
Carlo Collodi), who wrote The Adventures
of Pinocchio in the early 1880s. Pinnochio dolls and puppets and souveniers
are everywhere throughout the city. I didn’t take any pictures of them, and I
regret that now. The drawing at the top of this page came from the Internet and
is by Carlo Chiostri, who illustrated the 1901 edition.*
Centuries
earlier another famous writer was born in Florence. Dante Alighieri (author of The Divine Comedy) was born sometime
around 1265, although his exact birthdate is unknown. He had a very checkered
history in his home town and was eventually exiled for alleged corruption. That’s
his birthplace in the second picture.
In
those days, only the privileged few could read. This was still the case when
the Renaissance began. Most people learned history and Bible stories through
oral tradition or art, such as the Bible stories cast in metal on the door to
the Florence Baptistry (the building where people were baptized). The picture
shows only the top half, and even it is a reproduction of the original, which is
in safekeeping in the Duomo (cathedral) museum.
Then
there is Michelangelo, born in Florence in 1475. His famous statue of David
used to stand at the entrance of the Palazzo Vecchio but was replaced by a copy
to protect it from vandals. We saw the copy, but we also saw the original in
its current home at the Galleria dell ’Accademia. That’s the original in the
photo.
For
us, Florence was mostly a place to view art. We spent our free day in the
Accademia and the larger Uffizi Gallery. At the Uffizi we saw many paintings by
Botticelli as well as a few works by Leonardo Da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo.
Then we went out for a nice dinner.
It
was a great way to spend our 39th wedding anniversary.
__________
* Chiostri’s
drawings are in the public domain because of their age.
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