Last views of Florence

On our last day in Florence, we tried to squeeze in some things we hadn't had a chance to see yet as well as revisit some of our favorite places. First, we visited the Bargello Museum.  This museum includes many sculptures by Donatello and Michelangelo.

Inside the Bargello courtyard

Michelangelo's Bacchus

After the Bargello, we wandered back to the Pitti Palace.  The Pitti Palace was built and originally occupied by the Medici family who ruled over Florence and most of Tuscany for over 500 years.  We visited the Costume Museum, the Porcelain Museum, and the Boboli Gardens.  Here are some scenes of the palace and the gardens:

Pitti Palace

Boboli Gardens

View from the top.  Florence Duomo and Cathedral belltower

We ended our last day with the same meal we began with....Tortellini panna e prosciutto at one of our favorite restaurants, Trattoria Casalinga, with our favorite waiter, Joe!  And one final post-dinner stroll with gelato! Ciao Firenze!  It's been fun!

Sun setting on the Pointe de Vecchio Bridge

Farewell Dinner

We celebrated Independence Day in Florence with our farewell dinner.  We all survived...6 weeks!!  We ended the "semester" with a delicious meal and the students received certificates and gifts in honor of their completion of the study abroad program.  

George making his farewell speech

After dinner, we all went to Piazza Republicca for the grand opening celebration of the Hard Rock Cafe-Firenze!  As you can tell, it was packed!!  Sorry the pictures are so blurry, it was the best I could do,

The band Simple Minds...trust me, it was them!

No fireworks or flags or barbeque, but it was still a celebration!  It's a few days late but....Happy 4th of July!!

Topped the 1,000 Pageview Mark!!!

My blog officially topped the 1,000 page views mark today!!!  Woohoo!!  Thanks to everyone who has been following along.  Keep posted for pictures and news from the cruise.  More to come!!!

Wine Tour

Wednesday of this week, we took all the Management students on a tour of two wineries in the Chianti region.  The first was the estate of Niccolo Machiavelli.  It is the home where he was exiled after losing favor with the Florentine government.  From here he could still see the Florence Duomo.  It was torture for this once politically and powerfully active man to be able to see the city but no longer be a part of it.  During his exile, he wrote his now famous book "The Prince."  The winery is very large and produces over 25 million bottles of wine a year. 

Machiavelli Vineyards

Our Management Gang!

After a delicious lunch of food and wine pairings at the Machiavelli estate, we took a short bus ride to a much smaller, but still very successful winery called Fontodi.  In contrast, this winery only produces about 250,000 bottles of wine a year.  Fontodi is a certified organic estate practicing wine producing principles which emphasize a respect for nature.  Their vineyards are located outside the town of Panzano which is called the "gold shell' because the area is shell-shaped like a natural amphitheatre perfectly designed for grape growing. 

Tuscan vineyards

Wine aging at the Fontodi Winery

It was a fun day of food, wine tasting, and fun!  We all learned lots of new and interesting things about wine!

For more pictures of the wine tour, click here:

https://picasaweb.google.com/112716875856144719736/WineTour02?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCIeFg-P-95aCLg&feat=directlink

Siena and San Gimignano

This week we had our last tour with the whole group.  We spent Tuesday between Siena and San Gimignano.  Probably my favorite two cities, next to Cinque Terre of course.  We started the day in Siena.  Siena was medieval Florence's  archrival.  Florence eventually won the battle for political and economic superiority, but today Siena competes quite well for the tourists.  In the late 13th and early 14th centuries, Siena used to be a major banking and military power.  It was even bigger than Paris with a population of 60,000.  But in 1348, the plague hit Siena and wiped out over 1/3 of their population.  The city never recovered. In the 1550s, Florence conquered the city.  Fortunately for us, it's political and economic irrelevance managed to freeze Siena in medieval times.   Today, Siena's population is still 60,000 compared with Florence's 420,000.

The old walled city of Siena

We started our guided walking tour of Siena with the Church of San Domenico. Based on the Domenican style, the church is very open and plainly decorated inside except for the flags of Siena's 17 "contradas" or districts.  These include mascots like the goose, the caterpillar, and the porcupine.  But more on this later... back to the church.  The church is dedicated to St. Catherine, patron Saint of Siena.  There are two relics of St. Catherine on display in the church, her right thumb and her head.  Catherine, in the mid-1300s, is credited with convincing the Pope to return from France (the then papal seat) to Rome.

Church of San Domenico

As I mentioned earlier, there are 17 contrada or districts within this ancient city.  Historically, the 17 districts were used to supply military troops, but today districts are simply areas of localised patriotism, held together by the emotions and sense of civic pride of the residents. Their roles have broadened so that every important event – baptisms, deaths, marriages, church holidays, victories at the Palio, even wine or food festivals – is celebrated only within one's own contrada.  Here in the goose contrada, they celebrate the birth of a new baby girl by placing a pink ribbon on the tip of their district flag.  

The goose district announces the birth of a baby girl with a pink ribbon.

 Contrada pride is evident year-round in parades and colorful banners.  However, Contrada passion is most visible twice a year (July 2 and August 16) when the city erupts during its world-famous horse race, the Palio-di-Siena.  Ten of the 17 neighborhoods compete (chosen by rotation and lot).  Jockeys are usually brought in from out of town and considered hired guns. There is also a lot gambling that takes place.  Despite all of the shadiness behind the event, on race day horses are brought into the their contrada's church to be blessed. It's  considered a sign of luck if the horse leaves droppings in the church.   The Palio is run around the main town square, Il Campo.  If you look closely, you can see the temporary railings and the dirt placed on the "track."  The race is 3 laps around the square.  Some of the turns are so sharp there are mattresses placed along the buildings to prevent injury.  A horse may win WITHOUT a rider and this is a good thing since the riders ride bareback and the race is 'no holds barred."  Riders may lash at, punch at, or even knock competing riders from horses. Alliances are formed between the districts, but cost money.  The winning neighborhood receives a Palio or painted banner usually featuring the Virgin Mary since the race is dedicated to her.  But the true prize is proving your contrada is the best and mocking your losing rivals.

Il Camp, scene of the Palio horse race

Siena was interesting both in a physical and cultural way.  The city is trapped in time and many of the cultural events are as well.  Pedestrians rule in the old center of Siena making it easy to take a relaxing stroll.  We did just that...wandering narrow streets lined with colorful flags and large iron rings to tether horses.  Bellissimo!

From Siena, we moved on to another midieval city trapped in time, San Gimignano.  This is the epitome of a Tuscan hill town with 14 medieval towers still standing (out of an original 72).  In the 13th century --back in the days of Romeo and Juliet--feuding noble families ran the town.  They would periodically battle things out from the protection of their respective family towers.

Porta San Gimignano

In the 14th century, San Gimignano's good times turned really bad.  Yes...you guessed it...the Black Plague attacked the city for 6 months.  This left the once mighty town with barely 4,000 survivors.  Like Siena, San Gimignano came under the rule of Florence and Florence redirected the vital trade route away from the town. The town never recovered and poverty left it stuck in a midieval time wartp.  Also, due to its lack of importance, it has survived almost completely in tact in spite of all the European wars.  This well-preserved city scape is ironically responsible for the town's current prosperity.

 The Towers of San Gimignano

And inside this walled city is new treasure, not of gold or silver, but....gelato!  Gelateria Pluripremiata whose master gelato maker has won the offical Gelato World Cup!  Of course we had to sample.  I had pink grapefruit, peach, and sparkling wine.  It was molto buono!  

World famous gelato

 Finally got the whole gang together for this shot outside the walls of San Gimignano.  A little hot and tired...under the tuscan sun...not so much fun in June and July.  Hence the need for gelato!

The whole gang!

Despite the heat and the uphill climbs...why can't they put panoramic views at the bottom of the hill?....it was another great day.  One of our last in Tuscany.  Check out the link below for more pictures from the trip:

Photo Album

SIgns of the Times

Signs are used to communicate a message.  I've found some of the signs here very interesting.  Some make me feel safe and protected in a strange place:

Some I'm sure make Italians feel safe and protected:



Some are completely ignored.  For clarification, see my previous Locks of Love post.

Some made me laugh out loud:

Some, like this one on the path between Corniglia and Vernazza, helped me justify the second helping of panna cotta:



Some reflect the past.  Michelangelo lived here:

  And I suppose some reflect the present...so wrong in so many ways:

Some have been altered to change their meaning entirely.  There is a local artist who goes around altering selected traffic signs.  This sign was once there to indicate an upcoming T in the road.  But now...

 And this sign is posted in honor of my friend now serving in Afghanistan.  Unfortunately, signs of the times.

Festival of Saint Giovanni Ends With a Bang!

The Festival of Saint Giovanni ended tonight with a beautiful fireworks show that lasted over 45 minutes!  They shot the fireworks from high up on the Piazza Michelangelo overlooking the city.  We had a prime spot on the Via de Benci bridge.  It was amazing!  Here's a sampling...and this time I held the camera correctly:

All in all, a very fun and interesting day!  Check out more pictures of the parade at:

https://picasaweb.google.com/112716875856144719736/FestivalOfSaintGiovanni?authkey=Gv1sRgCIf9nKmQpqnMBg&feat=directlink