The 14th was our travel day! The girls and I drove down with Paula and Eliseo, who were going down to visit a church, while Caleb and Eva took the train. Annaleigh, Molly, and I huddled in the back row of the van and listened to music and audiobooks together until we got to Porto Venere where we were stopping to eat lunch. Porto Venere is a costal town surrounded by mountains and the bluest water I've ever seen! It was breathtaking! Even on a cloudy day, the colors were so vibrant! We walked past the center to get to the castle ruins and one of the old little churches. Annaleigh and Molly and I climbed up to the very top of the ruins and sat on a wall on the cliff's edge, overlooking the water. We sat and talked about how crazy it is that God brought us here! Not only does He love us enough to let us help with His work of reconciling His people, but He also brings us to such amazing places to enjoy! While we were sitting up there, we heard some American tourists, so of course we had to talk to them. There was an older couple and a man with an eye patch from Iowa. We told them about what we were doing and where we were going, and they were super nice! Later, we walked around the streets of the actual town, and went in the local Cathedral. After exploring, we realized we were way behind schedule and had to run back to the car in order to make our train on time! We had one more stop before Paula and Eliseo could drop us off. Drum roll please.... it was the Leaning Tower of Pisa! We only had five minutes to see it, so we hopped out of the car and RAN to go take one picture, and then ran back (I call that drive by tourism). After that, they dropped us off at the train station, and we caught a train to Florence! When we got there, Caleb and Eva picked us up and the station and we walked to our airbnb, which was right next to the Duomo! It was so pretty! Seeing the Duomo for the first time was overwhelming! One second you're walking through a normal street and next you're smacked in the face with giant pink and green marble walls, carvings of priests, and so many Christmas lights! We dropped our stuff off at the airbnb and walked to get pizza for dinner! We got to walk through the Ponte Vecchio, which is stuffed with jewelry stores because during the Medici family's reign, it was full of butcher shops, but the smell of blood rose to the Medici family's personal corridor above the bridge, which grossed out the family members. And when you're as rich as the Medici's you could afford to kick out all the butchers and replace them with jewelry stores, because the scent of gold is better than the scent of animals of course. After dinner, we walked around the city squares and looked at the Christmas lights.
Our first full day in Florence, we went to the Uffizi, which is the mother of all art museums! It's overflowing with ancient statues and paintings, including The Birth of Venus and the Caravaggio, or the shield with Medusa's head on it. The drama started before we even got into the museum though! As we walked in the front doors, approaching the airport level security, Annaleigh grabbed my arm and whispered "Oh my gosh! I forgot I brought my knife! What do I do?" We ran over to Caleb and told him about it, and he told Annaleigh that she would have to throw it away, but Annaleigh loved that knife, so she asked if she could hide it somewhere. Which of course, Caleb said no because how sketchy is it to hide something in front of one of the most famous museums ever, in front of the Italian police. So, Annaleigh went outside and had a funeral for her knife before throwing it away. When she came inside, she was obviously upset, so Eva jokingly said "we can always go dumpster diving!" (this is foreshadowing). Once we actually made it in the doors, it was great! Annaleigh and I stuck together and wandered around for about four hours! My favorite pieces were The Birth of Venus, Leonardo Da Vinci's unfinished work: The Adoration of the Magi, and the statue of Laocoon and his sons. I obviously loved The Birth of Venus because it's beautiful and famous, but I really loved The Adoration of the Magi because it shows some of Leonardo Da Vinci's thought process. The statue of Laocoon and his sons is a depiction of complete agony, no redemption or reward in sight. Laocoon was a Greek priest of Poseidon or Apollo. Because he was a priest, he was supposed to be celibate, but he decided to marry against the rules. Because of this, Poseidon (or Apollo) sent a serpent to kill his sons, leaving him alive to suffer. Every facial expression in the statue is over exaggerated in order to display absolute, hopeless agony. Every one of Laocoon's muscles is straining, showing a physical depiction of true human suffering. It was really an amazing experience to get to see all of this history with my own eyes! When we finally made it out of the museum, Annaleigh, Allie, and I decided to actually go dumpster diving for her knife! (spoiler: it was gross). I stood in front of the trash can, so the Italian military couldn't see Annaleigh shoulder deep in used cigarettes and paninis. When she found the knife, she stood up and walked right past me toward Caleb and Eva. It was so gross, but she was so happy to have it back! I helped her wash it in a cafe bathroom, and then went to go wait for Molly (this is where the plot thickens). We stood outside for about an hour and a half before thinking to contact Molly to see if she was close to being finished, but my texts were the only ones going through to her, and her texts coming back sounded like she was lost! So, Caleb and I ran around the entire building multiple times trying to get back in to find her and just as we were going through security again, she texted me that she had gotten out! Turns out she wasn't lost, just very slow. After the stress of dumpster diving and almost loosing a student, we went to the overly crowded Christmas market for lunch, and shared some of it with a hungry gypsy lady. It was so pretty! It was in the shadow of La Basilica di Santa Croce. After lunch and wandering around the market for a little, we decided to just wander around the streets of Florence and go Christmas shopping! Since Florence is the leather capital of Europe, I wanted to look for something for my best friend, Aubree and my boyfriend, Cruze! (I was not ready for the intensity of the Italian leather market). I'm not very good at bargaining, and was practically chased by men trying to sell me belts and wallets! After that fiasco, we decided to stay away from the leather market, and go to dinner instead!
On the 16th, we went for cinnamon roles in the morning, but Allie split her pants, so we had to take a detour to try to find her different jeans! After we finished shopping, we went to the Duomo for a tour! It was actually really interesting. Il Duomo is not the name of the cathedral, it's actually Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral, and it is dedicated to Mary. So all of the art is of Mary! (Mary's conception, the birth of Jesus, Mary's coronation in Heaven). Compared to the outside, the inside is a little underwhelming; it's very plain with only a few statues and stained glass windows. The dome however (which is called la cupola, I'm not even sure why everyone knows it as Il Duomo) is elaborately decorated with the layers of Hell, Purgatory, Heaven, and the Judges. The baptistry of San Giovanni is right outside the Duomo, and is designed so that people being baptised will go through the side doors, be baptised, then leave the baptistry to enter the cathedral through gold gates, symbolizing the start of their holy life. From there, they will climb all of the stairs around the cupola to the top of the dome, all while looking that the layers of Hell, Purgatory, Heaven, and the Judges. My favorite part of the Duomo is the facade, which is covered in elaborate sculptures of the apostles, important priests, Mary, Jesus, and God. I love it because the statues aren't posed, they are simply looking at the doorway, eternally welcoming people come to worship. After the tour, I asked Caleb why Mary plays such a large role in the Catholic faith, and he said that she represents the more maternal side of God that we, as human beings crave. For a long time, Mary was also one of the only prominent female figures within the Catholic faith, which helped draw women to the church. While we were standing outside the Cathedral, a gypsy woman tugged on my jacket, asking for money. I gave her all the remaining change I had and tried to explain to her that I didn't have anything left to give her. She kept begging for more money, at which point Caleb and Eva engaged her in conversation and asked her to leave. Sadly, there is a huge population of gypsies there. They live in homeless encampments and spend every day begging for money. After that, we went to the Boboli Gardens, which were essentially the Medici family's backyard. It was absolutely huge! There were secret paths, hedges, statues, ponds, and places overlooking the whole city. It was beautiful! I could have stayed all day! I would come back to Florence just to get to roam the gardens for hours on end. After the garden, the girls and I went to a little mom and pop jewelry store where they make custom pieces. The husband has been making jewelry his whole life, and the store is in the courtyard of an apartment building with no markings or signs. I bought some pieces as Christmas gifts and chatted with the wife about where we were from and how much we love it there! She said she knew exactly where Bobbio is and she wishes it would snow in Florence the way it snows in Bobbio. (All of that was in Italian too!) After the jewelry store, we went for dinner at the Christmas market and wandered around until we got tired.
On the morning of the 17th we went to the Academia, which is another massive art museum, and the home of Michelangelo's David! The David was so beautiful! Just the sheer detail eternally carved into stone is so delicate, yet so strong, and it shows the amount of effort and time put into each little component of the overall masterpiece. After the Academia, we met Caleb and Eva in the Piazza Della Signoria, where they house many original sculptures like The Fountain of Neptune, The Rape of the Sabine Women, and Perseus Triumphant (Perseus cutting off Medusa's head). All of the statues are very intentionally placed as well. Like, Neptune is eternally forced to watch Perseus kill Medusa. This is significant because Neptune raped Medusa in the temple of Athena, who instead of punishing Neptune, Athena gives Medusa a crown of snakes. Athena could have done this for a couple reasons; one being a punishment, and the other being a way to protect her from possible future attackers. Snakes sometimes symbolize female rage, which communicate the absolute fury and helplessness Medusa and many women throughout history have faced. In the square, Neptune is forever forced to watch the consequences of his actions, as the monster he created is killed, as her blood is shed because of him. Along with Neptune and Medusa, the Rape of the Sabine Women is forever being witnessed by five statues of Sabine women that line the wall behind her. The Rape of the Sabine Women is considered a perfect figura serpentinata, or a statue that perfectly captures three full bodies in one fluid movement. The Rape of the Sabine Women portrays the story of Romulus, after killing his brother Remus, led an army of women-less men. His determination to build Rome led him to abducting the women of Sabine in order to evade extinction. The statue includes a Roman man carrying off a Sabine woman, while stepping over the woman's brother, father, or husband. The utter hopelessness forever etched into marble eyes of the woman being carried away from the only life she's ever known to forcefully mother the soon to be most powerful city the world had ever seen. The woman is just out of reach of the man's outstretched hand, his face conveying the defeat of not being able to protect her, it's almost as if you can feel his sense of failure. This statue I think can really speak to every gaze that falls upon it because whether you've experienced something as horrific as this story or not, everyone can think back to a time they've felt helpless, a time when they had to just come to terms with their new reality. The other side of that coin can be felt as well, with the feeling of letting down someone you love, knowing that they will reap the repercussions of your mistake, whether it was avoidable or not. Knowing the legends behind such powerful pieces of art really opened my eyes to just how intentional every statue is, and the placement of each piece. After the square, we got to walk through the Palazzo Pitti, which was the Medici family's home. Every single room was overflowing with art. The ceilings, walls, floors, doorways - everything was just dripping with fine art (and money). Every room was connected to a family member and the decor reflected them and their time period. It was beautiful, but the kind of beautiful that is too perfect to be lived in.
On the 18th we had to leave. I was really sad to have to leave Florence. I'm not even a city person, but I loved Florence! It was so beautiful and so full of art and history, if there is anywhere I would go back to it would be Florence! We took the train back to Turin (which I can't tell you about because I fall asleep on every single mode of transportation).