Anyway, my room mates and I still haven't discovered a good place to dispose of our household trash yet. Apparently there's a piazza nearby with big honkin' trash bins but we hadn't found it. When I went out today, towards the Boboli Gardens, I took out two bags of trash with me. It took me about half and hour to find a place to put them -- you'd be amazed at how hard it is to find things in this city. Wait, no you wouldn't, just take a look at this map.
If you aren't confused just looking at this then you must be a wizard.
Because Florence is a rather hellish place to navigate it took me a while to find anywhere where I could dispose of two relatively small bags of trash. I finally did, though, although I'm not sure I can give my room mates instructions to it other than "it's the piazza with the merry-go-round in it". Anyway, by the time I'd finished that errand, I was not really looking forward to a 15 minute walk to get to the Boboli Gardens, and it was getting cloudy anyway. It was then that I espied the tower of the Palazzo Vecchio not too far away -- that's an idea! I'd been wanting to check it out anyway.
I had been told that I should visit because it's a cool place, but that suggestion was NO WHERE NEAR enthusiastic enough. The Palazzo Vecchio isn't cool. It's really, really cool.
These photos are horrendously out of order but I'll do my best to explain. Oh, and my iPhone camera is horribleterrible, so I apologize for that as well.
Sala dei Cinquecento (room of the five hundred) -- a most beautiful room that seemed as though it were the size of a football field in all dimensions, and positively covered with paintings from floor to ceiling. I'm not kidding. Every possible inch of wall or ceiling was painted, and beautifully. The huge walls were lined with huge paintings depicting huge people. It was breathtaking.
One of the paintings on the walls. I think there were about six of them. It's not a perfectly flat view because I was standing at the base and I'm quite a bit smaller than it is. Still, you can see how amazing this is: a night battle scene with horses and men and lanterns and all sorts of intricate chaos going on.
A rather horrible photo of the ceiling. I'm not at all exaggerating when I say that every room in the entire Palazzo had ceilings like this. ALL OF THEM.
"Youth and Goose" makes another appearance! Who is this guy and why does he hang out with a goose?!
The Medici coat of arms was EVERYWHERE. It's a shield with anywhere between 5-7 balls on it, framed by big keys. No one is quite sure what those balls are supposed to be, but the two most prominent theories are these: they are golden apples to represent the wealth of the family, or they are oranges to signify the family name, Medici, relating to doctors. Doctors often used oranges for curing people, apparently.
Painted on the ceiling. I like the giraffe, don't you? ps. note the Medici sigil to left and right!
This wicked fairy guy is awesome. Just another design of probably thousands that cover the walls of the Medici apartments.
Another part of the fresco in which Evil Fairy Guy is featured.
This is a terrible photo, but this circular design was painted on the ceiling IN A HALLWAY. Not even a grand room! Just a hall way! The borders are foliage, and in each of the squares there's an animal or a face or a figure. Amazing!
One of the rooms was called the Room of the Elements, and on three of the walls a huge fresco depicted the anthropomorphic representations of Water, Fire, and Earth (I think). This lady was part of the water painting, and I thought she was rather magnificent.
Even this little cupboard was like a palace. These people must have had money running out of their ears.
Sala dei Cinquecento again, this time seen from a balcony that ran along the back wall.
There were a couple of these beautiful little chests of drawers. Can you see the birds on the drawers? All of the designs are inlaid mother of pearl and other precious materials. Look closely at the bodies and wings of the birds and you can see the striations. CAN I PLEASE BE A MEDICI.
This room was fascinating. There was a huge globe in the center, and the walls were lined with these huge displays of maps. I can't bring up a list of all the countries that are depicted in the maps, but it was a hell of a lot, let me just say. Incredibly detailed maps of almost every region of the world. How expensive must those have been? How long must they have taken? It's just incredible to stare at those things and imagine.
A closer view of the maps. I believe these are of north Africa mostly, but they didn't seem to be in any particular order.
The exterior of the Palazzo Vecchio. You could go up into the tower if you wanted to spend an extra 4 euro, but I felt like those palatial rooms were enough for me.
Another of the ginormous paintings in the Sala dei Cinquecento. These really are out of order.
The floors were all, of course, amazingly beautiful as well, if a little rougher. Cosimo de Medici, duke of Florence!
So this palace commands the best view of Florence that I have yet seen. Probably the best one there is, and this isn't even from the tower. I wandered out of some gorgeous room onto a lovely outdoor space framed by columns, between which was this beautiful view.
I didn't mind that I had gone by myself -- it was easier to wander and think that way -- but I did get a sort of Rose Arbuthnot feeling at that moment.
I didn't mind that I had gone by myself -- it was easier to wander and think that way -- but I did get a sort of Rose Arbuthnot feeling at that moment.
"How beautiful it was. And what was the good of it with no one there, no one who loved being with one, who belonged to one, to whom one could say, "Look." And wouldn't one say, "Look--dearest?" Yes, one would say dearest; and the sweet word, just to say it to somebody who loved one, would make one happy."**
Another one of those gorgeous inlaid cabinets. Just look at that!
So that was my adventure. I hope to have many more like it in future.
oh ps. as I was picking up my bag at the coat room, the guy asked "Where are you from?"
Me: America...?
Him: What state?
Me: Pennsylvania.
Him: (turning to his fellow coat room guy) Pennsylvania!
Other guy: Um...Harrisburg!
Me: ...what
First guy: He knows all the state capitals.
I found that rather amusing.
*If you don't think sleeping in is a treat, then you must be one of those soulless creatures they call "morning people".
**From The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim. Just to clarify, I really didn't feel miserable like Rose Arbuthnot, but I did wish I had someone whose sleeve I could tug on so I could say "look!" to them.
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