DAY 2 - FLORENCE: THE TOURISTIC RATHER THAN THE CULTURIOUS

TUESDAY - 2 SEPTEMBER 2014 - FLORENCE, ITALY


The formal program started with a "lecture on Michelangelo by a local art history scholar". We uncharacteristically arrived late, missing the introduction, so we never found out who the woman speaker was. Our arriving late was due to lactose creeping into the dinner the previous night despite the tour director's best (his, not mine unfortunately) efforts to instruct the restaurant on my no latte, no formaggio, no crema, no burro needs. On well. The woman actually did appear to be appropriate professorial if not scholarly. I learned a few things that provided a more than usual introduction to the day's museum visits. Can't ask for more. Maybe Tauck is pretty good after all.

After the lecture we went on this morning's walking tour, this time with a different local guide who appeared to suffer from a need for stream of conscience narration into the Tauck provided radio based audio system. The first destination was the Galleria dell'Accademia. As the Galleria is some distance from our hotel, we heard about every crack in the sidewalk, the rules for parking in Florence (not really relevant since since there is no available parking in Florence), and what she ate for breakfast. I enjoyed changing channels and listening to various other passing guides giving more succinct commentaries, often in English. I also enjoyed seeing what the range was for the audio devices. Not short enough for my needs, evidently.

But David is a knockout. The guide explained at least three reasons why David's hands and head are oversized, but she didn't explain why a particular other part is decidedly not. And no one explains from what is definitely visible why David doesn't appear Jewish. I guess Michelangelo had his reasons for doing what he did. Galleria dell'Accademia was indeed formerly an art school, and the gallery adjacent to the one housing David is actually a bit of fun as it contains all sorts of homework assignment heads and pretentious bigger pieces made by 19th Century budding sculpturors.

The touristic experience day continued with a visit to the Uffizi Gallery, perhaps the greatest Renaissance art museum in the world. Also, the most crowded. Our expectation of booking an organized tour partly to bypass the lines was met, of course, and our babbling guide showed a much better side of her training by pointing out some less known but relevant facts regarding the more known works in the huge museum. We paid our respects to Botticelli's Venus through the crowds. I think it's a painting.

After the tour we had a few hours to explore Florence on our own. (Tauck, as one of the more expensive tour operators provides significant amounts--at least for a fully escorted tour--of free time. I wonder if an extremely expensive tour operator would just take money to leave you alone: an intriguing thought.)

A walk to the far end of Florence took us via a huge number of gelato shops to the "Great Synagogue of Florence". The Moorish style building is an architectural gem, in many ways a fitting complement to the many great churches in the city. It was built in the 1870s to mimic the style and grandeur of the much older churches in Tuscany, primarily mimicking the Cathedral of Siena which we would see on later during our tour. The structure was somewhat damaged during WWII and then much more seriously by the devastating floods of the Arno River in 1966. But Florence is a major center for restoration skills, as we would see the next day. The building outside (and inside where I couldn't take photos but an on-line search can show) is wonderful, and our visit coincided with a tour by a local docent. Cool visit to another another side of Florence.

To conclude our "free afternoon", we visited the area around the train station, as is our wont, and scouted out some restaurants for dinner. Then we relaxed in the Piazza di S. Maria Novella next to our hotel and then reconvened in our hotel's conference room with the group for an Italian lesson with our tour director, Thomas. We learned that Italian restaurants add a cover charge, for laundry and dish washing, he said, and they expect you to order too much to eat. I think he mentioned a few words. I enjoyed the humor. I hope he actually intended to be funny. (I don't do late lectures well.)

So concluded the first day on our tour.