October 26 - 27

Saturday, in the lingo of a travel agent, was a "transfer day".  Len - being our "agent" booked a 5:05 AM train to La Spezia, transfer to Pisa, transfer to Florence...final destination...with 6 suitcases!!  Thank God for wheelies - and strong husbands!  Being Saturday, and such an early hour, we were hoping to not encounter crowds...so much for wishful thinking.  All in all, it wasn't too bad, except for the getting off - while others were trying to get on.  We developed as assembly line - one hurling down to the platform, while us on the  platform scurried to get the bags out of the way of the waiting people.  Wish I had a video  of that.  Then if that wasn't bad enough, more often than not, we had to change tracks which involved going DOWN then going UP - our heart monitors just might rebel at all the flights we've been doing!!

Once in Florence, next challenge was finding the Hertz office.  We were able to keep the van (9 passenger Opel) in their garage,  scout out breakfast, and meet our tour guide, Laura, by 11 o'clock. She was to give us an overview of the city, but more importantly, get us into the Academia, to see Michelangelo's David.  We stopped at the piazza of the Duomo (Santa Maria del Fiore),

where we were told about the  baptistry and its bronze doors, and the sculptures and marble of the façade of the church.  Entrance to the church is not by ticket, but the line had to be hours long.  Laura recommended going to the side entrance and telling the guards we wanted to pray, or light a candle, and we could not be denied.  We decided to buy tickets for Monday, however, to the baptistry, and Duomo museum, and to climb the dome.  This would give us a timed entry.  Then onto DAVID.  I have to say, having an arranged guide is the way to go - SKIP THE LINE!

Laura brought us into the musical instrument section, where the Stradivarius violins are.  She spoke about the Medici family and how they were collectors.  It turns out, that the last of the Medicis had no heirs.  So Maria Luisa gave everything to Florence in perpetuity.  The paintings, the sculptures, instruments, all on display throughout the city.


Medici Crest



Stradivarius

When we entered the room housing DAVID, Laura gave us a brief description of the 6 unfinished pieces also housed there...the slaves/prisoners emerging from the marble.  It was fascinating to see the chisel markings, and the symbol Michelangelo used to claim a piece of marble for himself for future use.
 

Unfinished Pieta

Moving onto DAVID...magnificent...I think its safe to say, that we were all a little awestruck by the beauty of the piece and boggled that something of that size (17ft tall) could be so perfectly created from one hunk of marble (David being a hunk himself)!  I personally, never feel like I have enough time to marvel at the piece - the muscles, the beauty of the calves, the angle of the wrist holding the rocks...his curls!  He was actually commissioned to be atop a pillar of the Duomo, hence the size.  It was never intended for the piece to be  approached at such a close-up angle.  Better for us this way!

Our next stop was the Piazza del Signoria, where David stood watch outside the  palace for 300 years, before being moved to the Academy.  Here, the replica still stands.  Laura took us to the river (Arno) and the Ponte Vecchio (bridge of gold shops) by way of alleys I've never seen. We saw the Medici Palace, Dante's neighborhood church and a myriad of other things too many to recall!

We ended our day with Laura at the bridge, made our way back to the car, stopping for a brief lunch.
The adventure continues as we had to find our way back to Montalcino, where we would be staying at an Airbnb. The drive is about 2 hours, remember, we'd been up since 4 am.  I don't know how Lenny did it.  We met our hostess, Cecilia, at the prearranged spot, and she led us up the mountain and down a side road, into a precarious driveway.  What greeted us took our breath away.  A typical Tuscan house, red brick, stone and wood beams.

Horses galloping to the fence to greet us, and a hillside view to die for.

We quickly settled in, and once again, the boys went into town to get staples.  We were all exhausted, but somehow Bob managed to create a hearty sumptuous beef bourguignon!

Cecilia told us that there was a feast going on in  town, so our plan was to stay local on Sunday and enjoy our surroundings!