Personal
Fiesole
When the weather is clear and warm, you must take the number 7 bus from the train station out to Fiesole. Fiesole is an old town (it dates back to the original Etruscans that settled before Firenze existed) on a hill that overlooks Firenze. Its small and charming. We ate at Ristorante Aurora overlooking Firenze […]
April 7th, 2000 by alephnaught
Around town
We did the Palazzo Medici Riccardi, which was another Medici residence. There is a dynamite chapel upstairs in this building with a full-surround frescoe in exceptional condition. The frescoe tells the story of the Magi, with various real-life participants (including a portrait of Lorenzo Medici) and vivid color. We went back to the toy store […]
April 6th, 2000 by alephnaught
Shopping and the Cappella Branccaci
What’s a trip it Italia without shopping, so we shopped in the morning. Then, after a delightful lunch (they almost all were), we went back to see the Cappella Branccaci. This is a large chapel across the Arno river from the main part of Firenze. The most famous work inside is Masaccio’s Expulsion from the […]
April 5th, 2000 by alephnaught
April 3rd, 2000 by alephnaught
April 2nd, 2000 by alephnaught
Duomo and Santa Maria Novella
Our hotel is a very short walk from Santa Maria Novella, an old church right by the train station. There are some fine images on the walls of this church, whose square was dedicated in 1287. Below is a detail from one of the works. The Duomo is the center of Firenze and its huge. […]
April 1st, 2000 by alephnaught
Training to Florence
The train to Firenza (Florence) was uneventful and very comfortable (pay for first class, its not that expensive and the seats are nicer). We checked into the Albergo Pensione Centrale, which was not as clean as we would like and, gasp, lacked a TV in the room! The bathroom was so tiny they put the […]
March 31st, 2000 by alephnaught
Churches, churches, churches
We saw Benini’s greatest sculptures, a church designed by Michelangelo to match the ruins of Domician’s bathes, which the church adjoins, etc., etc. For my benefit we went to the Museo Napoleon; he spent a few years fighting in northern Italia and installed his son as the King of Roma. Our feet hurt, but we […]
March 30th, 2000 by alephnaught
The Vatican City
Two Jews go to the heart of Catholicism, the wealth of the ages settled in one place. Aviva said that its much more organized than when she and her mother, Lily, visited Roma about three years ago. We walked through a number of rooms. The most interesting was probably the map room, which is a […]
March 29th, 2000 by alephnaught
Church day
Aviva was really psyched for today. We saw the tomb of Julius II in the Basilica di San Pietro in Vincoli (St. Peter's in Chains); Michelangelo never finished it, and so Julius II is actually interred in an unmarked grave in St. Peter's Basilica (Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to do the Sistine Chapel and main […]
April 8th, 2000 by alephnaught