Florence and Tuscany Take II

I organized a long weekend in Florence and Tuscany for shopping, cooking, and art-loving.  Beverly and I met my friend Heather, who lives in Geneva, bright and early at Florence Airport last Friday.  We planned one night in Florence and two in an old farmhouse in Tuscany.  Friday, we re-visited my favorite shops from January where I fell in love all over again.  I navigated us to an amazing wine and cheese shop from my past food tour and we ended the day eating five pastas and sitting with a lone traveler from Boston.

Saturday, we took a four-hour tour of Michelangelo's early years in Florence.  I read the historical fiction book "The Agony and the Ecstasy" to prepare for the trip.  We started at Casa Buonarroti, the home his ancestors purchased after his death (with the money he earned during his life).  The house is now a museum dedicated to his life.  The early work he did while living with the Medici resides here.

We moved on to the Bargello Museum where we looked at some earlier Davids including one by Donatello.  This beautiful building served as a jail during medieval times.  We learned the importance of the biblical story David for the budding Florence Republic of the 1500s.

We then walked to the grand finale, the Galleria dell'Accademia, which houses Michelangelo's masterpiece, the David.

The David is easily found on any website so instead of taking pictures, I admired the incredible breathe-taking piece of art.  I also loved the lesser known works, the unfinished slaves.  Michelangelo spent over twenty years working on the tomb of Pop Julius.  These sculptures were meant to sit in the ornate original design.  I love them as they represent to me his philosophy that the piece emerges from the marble.

After a leisurely lunch, and a leather jacket purchase, we took a train to a small town in Tuscany.  (We took cabs from the hotel to the station.  I stuffed two bottles of olive oil and two bottles of balsamic vinegar in mine and Heather had several jars of preservers in hers.  I gasped as I watched our luggage fly from the trunk while driving on a busy street.)  An Italian man met us with a card from the Paolo, one of the two instructors, explaining he did not speak English but would take us to their farm.  The 45 minute drive felt like a ride through a movie set.  We arrived at the 11th century house with views across the vineyards in time for dinner.

Just Incredible!