Stair Master.
Day … 3 of vacation, day 2 in Florence
The official 'first day' in Florence. The morning after our first successful evening meal at ‘Leo’ in Florence came rather quickly. We had 9 AM tickets to climb to the dome at the top of the Duomo. Waiting in line to show proof of vaccination and tickets, gave all of us time to stand agape at the amazing pictorial story laid out above. The detail was overwhelming, and beautiful. How could this possibly have been accomplished without modern tool and machinery??
Filippo Brunelleschi built it; Giorgio Vasari and Federico Zuccari painted The Last Judgement on the interior of the dome. If you do get to see this, pay attention to the proportions from down on the floor versus the visual vantage point.
27 flights, mostly all encased between the brick of the inner dome and the brick facade of the outer dome. Single file up the marble stairs worn wonky from all the steps before us, we progressed only as fast as the weakest asthmatic. As we continued up flights, the conversation frequently returned back to the reality of the thousands before us that had made the same journey, some of those who ultimately were responsible for the amazing frescoes that loomed overhead on the inside of the inner dome.
Around the midsection of the climb, we stepped out to a catwalk around the base of the duomo frescoes. From the angle the wide strokes seemed I fished and clumsy, hardly worthy of accolades. Some the depictions are grotesque, others beautiful and contemplative. I this had been the first visage of the frescoes; I doubt the initial takeaway would have been the same feeling of overwhelming beauty. However, the size of the frescos and the need to change proportions makes sense given the distance to viewer at the bottom. When taking this into account, they remain overwhelmingly beautiful. And stupefying.
From the top, WOW. The view was breathtaking. The entirety of Firenze and its red caps was laid out for us to see. Reminding us again, how insignificant our part is in the play called ‘world’ but the impact we can have is immeasurable. We think we because we are technologically more advanced than 800 years ago that we have the pulse on beauty… we don’t. The men who built this city a millennia ago (or more) with simple tools created something staggeringly beautiful. I would never get tired from seeing the red caps of Florence.
The rest of the day was spent at the associated Museum del Duomo across the piazza from the Duomo. There, the history and complexity of restoration was plainly laid out for us to see. We were able to get an up-close look at many original exterior items, now preserved inside the museum. A lot to see in a reasonably sized museum. Worth a visit.
Dinner that evening was lack luster disappointing as we went to the same place as the night before. As typical Americans, our luster must have worn off from the night before… service was… meh. Food was okay.
However, the day ended with full bellies and met expectations.
#wonderfulplaces #openmyworld
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#tram
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#Aeroporto di Firenze-Peretola #Amerigo Vespucci Airport
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#duomo
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#BrunelleschiDome
#FlorenceCathedral
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#Baptistery
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#Giotto's Bell Tower
#OperadelDuomoMuseum
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