Seconda fetta d’Italia

The second slice of Italy.  Fast train into Florence and on to Rome.  Later the Amalfi coast.

 

Firenze

Beautiful Florence, full of people.

Trundling our bags (which are now a little heavier) we looked up to see Duomo.  Despite the queues it’s incredible.

(Just on bags, on the train we watched two couples getting on each struggling with cases 3 times the size of our’s.  One of the guys was grumbling a bit and Rob agreed “you’ve got a bit of stuff”  the guy replied “Yeah we’ve been here for a long time” “How long?”  “15 days” came the answer, Rob then replied “We’re travelling for 5 months”.  I think Rob made an instant enemy.)

Our hotel was an odd arrangement, in a really central old building near the Duomo, we had limited hours to check in.  We were then given the keys and told if we had any questions deal with the cleaner.  It was 86 stairs to the top, so lucky for the small bags.  But it did have beautiful giant old doors to escape from the crowds.

After our tight check-in we raced to meet our first tour guide, Veronica from “Florence for Foodies”, Swedish married to an Italian, for our Food and History Tour.   We were meant to be part of a small group, but ended up being the only ones on the tour which gave us a great introduction to the layout of central Florence, it’s history and to food, including coffee.  Not just the “don’t ask for a cappuccino after 11am” if you don’t want to be judged by Italians. But also, eat your pastry separately, savour your coffee after you have finished eating.  Importantly, don’t buy takeaway coffee: Italians think if you haven’t got time to sit or stand at the bar to have your coffee then you have a problem.

Our guide the next morning was also not a Florence native.  Klaus, with “Artviva Tours” is Dutch but has been living in Florence for 20 years.  His tour called “The Renaissance”, was outstanding.  Klaus studied law, lasted one day as a lawyer, he also studied Fine Arts.  He is an extraordinary communicator and philosopher.  “You want to know why I live here? It’s the Renaissance and it happened right here!”  Interspersing history with popular culture, he flashed photos of paintings of  Cosimo de’Medici as well as photos of Dustin Hoffman playing Cosimo (in the pretty terrible Netflix series) we loved our time with him.

In these places crowded with tourists there are also many beggars.  It’s confronting and challenging. You look away, make sure you hang on to your wallet, harden your heart. There was a moment at the start of our tour, standing at the so-called “Belly Button of Florence” – the Roman centre – when our tour was interrupted by a beggar.  Klaus gently greeted her “Ciao Maria”,  he took her hand, then explained quietly to us, “this is Maria she’s from Kosovo, her life is very hard, it’s a tragedy,  she has come to warn us that the pickpockets are very active today on Ponte Vecchio and the Town Hall square“.  He treated her with love and respect.  It was one of those moments.  He also told us the real pickpockets do not look like gypsies, “they look like tourists”.

Klaus was very skilled at bringing contemporary parallels to historic events in Florence.  One of the biggest lessons is to share power.  While those with power and wealth will try to “keep a lid on it”, eventually the lid blows, and often they don’t see it coming.  Like the story of David and Goliath.

One of Michelangelo’s statues of David sits outside the City Hall – Palazzo Vecchio.  This is to symbolise the power of the citizen.

The banners and symbols on the Palazzo Vecchio acknowledge the role of the Guilds of Florence, its citizens, the powerful families, the church, and the state.   Civilised society depends on agreements to share power and wealth.

So much of the art and architecture of the Roman Empire was destroyed by the Christians in the period before the Renaissance.  The Foundations of Temples to Roman gods were used to build churches, but it was the same people that continued to be involved. Klaus maintains that the Roman Empire did not actually end until 1929 when Mussolini confined the Roman Catholic Church to a piece of land at the Vatican.  But more on that when we get to Rome.

One thing we did notice about Florence was that they seemed to manage their waste really well, certainly a contrast to what we found in Rome. Rob couldn’t help taking a few shots just outside our b&b as part of his “waste series”.  Here, large containers sit under the various well ordered bins for the four different waste streams: organics, glass, other plastic and metal packaging and containers and residual waste.  The full containers are lifted out of the ground and emptied into the truck.

Rome

Hotel versus Airbnb

All kinds of arguments for airbnb.  Cost being one of them but there are still many advantage of hotels.

There is a Concierge or two.

Compared to Florence, where we were thrown the keys are almost told “good luck”, here we were welcomed and advised by Alessandra and Tommaso.  Tommaso drew us routes on the maps,  advised of great places to eat, shortcuts etc.  It means you have a conversation with someone from the city you are visiting, also a chance to practise your Italian.   We think it’s a better way to contribute to local employment via tourism.  Airbnb is no doubt the great disruptor, but has it now reached a damaging tipping point?  As we found in Venice, locals can’t afford to live in their own towns/cities as rental housing is converted to short term accomodation for tourists. Local authorities, for example in Paris and Barcelona are already clamping down.

Parking is at a premium and the roads are congested, we were impressed by the small cars of Rome.

 

 

The well travelled Julian Abbott from ABC Canberra sent us on a mystery shopping expedition.  Jane O’Dwyer (former resident of Rome) responded with:  “Ah, Via dei Cestari. The 5th Avenue of the Ecclesiastical World.”

Walk with Pete

Thanks to a tip from work colleague Brooke Yates we arranged for a day walking around Rome with Pete.  Rome is overwhelming with the layers of history, and the repeating pattern of leaders wilful destruction of the legacy of those who came before, to create their own mark (sounds familiar?)

The ruins of the Roman Empire

 

 

We walked for 8 hours with Pete and only touched the sides.  You would need at least a month to get a feel for Rome.

One little unplanned detour we took was to Capuchin Crypt – comprising seveal tiny chapels beneath the Church of Santa Maria Della Concezione dei Cappuccini.

This contains the bones of 3,700 bodies, of mainly capuchin friars arranged artistically.  The display is not meant to be macabre, but a silent reminder of the swift passage of life on earth and our own mortality.  Death comes to everyone – use your time wisely.

It was was a very powerful experience.  No photography was allowed, you needed to just take it in.  (Imagine the disappointment of not getting a selfie with the skull of a friar?  Maybe in the afterlife?)

 

It reminded us of why we’re doing this trip now.  As we’re both approaching 60 we’ve been commenting that we’re unlikely be able to travel like this is another 10 or 15 years, lugging our bags from train station to hotel and walking up and down so many flights of stairs.

We’re just so fortunate to be able to travel like this while we’re fit and healthy and for such a length of time.

One of the great joys of Rome was meeting Doris and Gigliola at a beautiful restaurant recommended by Pete – Da Francesco.  We sat right next to these elegant, fantastic women who started to engage us in conversation.  We made an instant connection and later that day Doris wrote this to us in an email:  “it was really a nice encounter…Sometimes one feels closer to somebody you have never met than longtime friendship, is’nt it?  We are to meet Doris for lunch in Ortiga Sicily.  We feel lucky.

Next:  “Walking on the Amalfi Coast” .