Rome is long behind us. We miss breakfast with our new friend Enzo and the fruit from Campo de Fiori, but another whole set of experiences has been awaiting us here. Florence has welcomed us and kept us running with tours, lectures and a trip into the Tuscan hillside to the home of Elaine Poggi, the founder of the Foundation of Photo/Art in Hospitals. We still have another lecture, a trip to Siena and San Gimignano, a cooking class AND a Tuscan bike tour...before we leave on Monday for Venice.
But let's go back to Monday's trip to Banfi! Talk about an amazing place with an amazing story. Banfi is a privately owned winery. It is owned by two Americans and has a great family history. They own 7000 continuous acres. Banfi has 27 different wines they produce. The top wines that they sell can cost upwards of $80 a bottle. The grapes for these top wines are hand picked by Banfi workers. They are then hand sorted and then computer selected to ensure top quality wine is made. Our tour of the winery was fantastic. We got to see from where the grapes are dropped off to the cellar where all the wine stored in barrel after barrel after barrel.
Once we were done with the tour, we headed up to the castle to have lunch. We enjoyed a three course meal. First we enjoyed a selection of Tuscan cured meats with a glass of Pinot Grigio. The second course was lasagnetta au gratin on tomato sauce with a glass of Belnero (not my favorite of the wines....too dry for me). Lastly, we enjoy a delicious dish of roast pork with rosemary flavored potatoes. The wine selection for the third course was Brunello di Montalcino. A lovely red wine...but I must say the Pinot Grigio was my fave!
After eating all the food, we had the opportunity to wander on the grounds of the castle. The rolling hillside made for some great pics. I am not afraid to lay on the ground to get the picture I want (and I have been laughed at several times for it). I love the pictures I was able to get. Such a beautiful place. Another must see spot for those thinking of touring Italy.
The rest of the trip into Florence was spectacular. There is something magically about the hillside. It calls out, "Come explore my beauty. Bring your camera. Get lost in this slice of heaven." Huge trees entwined with vines...with colors so vibrant and rich. As I posted before, a camera cannot capture it's true beauty (especially in a bus traveling quickly down the road).
By the time we finally got to Hotel California in Florence, we were all exhausted. We quickly met with the director of the Accent Center here, Michelangelo, or the "Steven of Florence". He helped get us all set up in our hotel, gave us maps and the itinerary for the rest of the trip. Then we all fell into our rooms and promptly passed out.
Tuesday morning was a short walking tour with Fraya, our tour guide. Great woman. She's an Australian living in Italy, who has extensive knowledge of art history. We had a little mix up about how long the tour was suppose to be and as a result, we were late to our luncheon with Elaine. We had the pleasure of taking two buses to get to Elaine's. At the last bus stop, we were greeted by Elaine's son, daughter, and friend's of theirs who took us up to Elaine's beautiful house. She prepared quite the feast for us. I ate the first course and then her flowers were calling to my camera....I couldn't help myself. I totally missed out on the pastas because there was do much beauty in all of her flowers. She also has numerous lemon trees surrounding her patio. Wait until you see the size of them.
Our time at her house was much too short. We were disappointed that we needed to say goodbye. I am hoping to interact with her more before the trip is over and/or when we return to the States. By three, we were heading back into the city to listen to a lecture on how art changed after the black plague. As health educators, we would have loved to learn more specifically about the plague and how the community was changed because of it. The lecture was rather dull.
By the end of the day, we again were exhausted. Kristen, Dana and I decided to stay in for the night. We shopped at the grocery store, where we bought day old bread, olive oil, some cheese, cherries, strawberries and some salami. We sat out on the patio to enjoy our cheap dinner.
Florence has not been my favorite place. I have not seen many Italian in this place. I think I have seen more people of Asian decent here than any other ethnicity. It really is a town of tourists. The roads here are more confusing than those we experienced in Rome. It feels more compact than Rome. Florence does have a healthy population of bicyclists, more so than moped drivers. However, they will run you over....so be prepared to run if you are in a crosswalk.
I guess that brings me to today's tour. The first stop of the day was Accademia, where we got to see the David. Absolutely magnificent! Truely a masterpiece! To slowly walk around it and to just take in it's details....wow! His expression changes from when you look from the front, to getting a side view. To phantom the tools Michelangelo needed to create the David is mind blowing. Just think of the tools we can readily use today...none of those were available to a genius like Michelangelo. Fraya said that Michelangelo didn't feel as if he created the statues. He was very spiritual and felt that God guided him to carve statues that were already in the marble.
Our second stop was Spedale delgi innocinti, an orphanage that was built by the silk makers guild. The architecture of this place was awesome. The arches were perfect half circles. The columns were spaced out with the same dimensions all the way around. Perfect squares. Wonderful artwork and interesting history about how babies were dropped off and the wet nurses that cared for the babies were all included in the story that went with the tour.
Our time with Fraya ended at the oldest pharmacy in existence in Florence. We then had a couple hours to ourselves before we had to be back to the Accent center for another lecture. Five of us went to the travel agency to get our train tickets for our return trip from Venice to Rome on June 1 and 2. It will be a LONG travel day, but we get to take the train overnight from Venice. We have compartments to sleep in and keep our stuff safe. It will be yet another adventure.
Thursday, we are headed to the Careggi Hospital to tour the geriatric ward. We are meeting Elaine there for the tour. I'm sure we will hear more about the importance of art and photos in hospitals from her. It's going to be a great day.
Ciao until then!
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