Around Town at Christmastime in Florence, Italy

Salvatore Ferragamo, Shoemaker of Dreams

If you're in Florence, Italy, I recommend you visit the Ferragamo Museum. It is a gem of a museum and small enough that, when you  finish viewing the exhibit, you will still feel fresh.   

The current exhibit is on Salvatore Ferragamo himself, which I found interesting and fun.  Salvatore began his career as a 9-year old making shoes for his sisters' confirmation.  He was a visionary and shoemaker to the stars.  He believed there was no limit to beauty, yet he also believed shoes should be comfortable.

The above two pair do not look very comfy to me 

To learn more about Ferragamo, click here and also click to watch the trailer here of one creative aspect of the current exhibit.

Museo Salvatore Ferragamo

Palazzo Spini Feroni

Piazza Santa Trinita, 5/r

Firenze, Italia

(6 euro entrance fee)

www.museoferragamo.com

  

Villa della Petraia, Florence, Italy

April 25th was another holiday here in Italy, Liberation Day, which marks the end of Mussolini's regime. Five American women chose this holiday for a field trip. From Stazione Santa Maria Novella, we took one of two ATAF buses, the   No. 2 or 28, to visit one of more than 25 Medici family villas throughout Tuscany. We visited La Petraia.

The bus arrives about 15 minutes after leaving the station. A short walk up the hill past another Medici villa, the Villa di Castello, and past the onetime home of Collodi, the author of Pinocchio, will land you at the entrance of La Petraia. Free admittance and a free guided tour. Our tour was in Italian. I did my best to follow along, grasping 60 to 70 percent, enough to fascinate me to discover more. The villa previously belonged to the Brunelleschi family, the architect who built the dome on Santa Maria del Fiore ("the Duomo"). The villa is worth the visit for its frescoed courtyard .

However, what particularly interests me are the gardens. Italian gardens are not quite what we think of as gardens in the U.S. A few hundred years ago, they were rarely full of flowers, though flowers were included. Instead, they were about order and beauty, geometric designs of landscape architecture. They were designed to impress, and they were about power. The larger the garden, the more power the family had. The Italian-style gardens were later copied throughout Europe (French Renaissance Gardens and English Gardens). One more art form to be appreciated in this city, the birthplace of the Renaissance (thanks to the Medici family).

Villa della Petraia
via della Petraia, 40
Castello, Firenze, Italia

A Real Italian Christmas

This year represents my fourth holiday season in Italy, and tonight, Christmas Eve, is the first time I spent it with an Italian family. Many similarities, a few differences. The real joy of the evening, for me, were the 7-year-old girl and 9-year-old boy who believe in Babbo Natale (Santa Clause).

The tradition in Italy is Santa Clause arrives at mezzanotte (midnight) of Christmas Eve to bring the gifts. Christmas Day is a day to relax and have another large meal. (More food!)  No TV, no calcio (Italian soccer), and no football (American-style) is watched on the 25th.  Fat old Santa, I thought, would never fit down the chimney because the flue is pretty narrow and Santa's bacino (pelvis) is a bit wide.  It turns out, Santa rang the doorbell at right about midnight. Babbo Natale arrived with armfuls of gifts.  The little girl is rather furba (clever, smart, sharp), and she immediately called Babbo Natale on it.  "E'  babbo!"  (It's Dad!)  "It's Dad's face, Dad's shoes!"  And then she commented, "Your belt is made of paper.  It's not a real belt."

I do not know if these kids believe in Santa or have already learned how to play the game, but all those doubts about Babbo Natale were soon replaced with the excitement of the gifts.  Just like everywhere, the wrappings and ribbons did not last long while the children clawed to get at the hidden treasures.

Meanwhile, the evening proceeded.  Good food was prepared and eaten.  Lots of Italian was spoken.  I tried to keep up.  I even tried to joke in Italian. Everyone said my Italian is very good.  I believed none of them until Andrea, the 9-year-old, piped in and said, "E' vero" (It's true). For me, the ultimate compliment is for a child to tell me my Italian is excellent. Finally, I believe and accept that my Italian just might be better than I think. I value kids' opinions (especially in this regard) because kids are usually straight up. I have often wondered what do children not necessarily old enough to "understand" that Italian is my second language think when they encounter someone like me.  It was the way Andrea piped up with "E' vero" that convinced me.  It was as if he knew better than anyone else, and his compliment was not patronizing like often the adults who say I speak well might be.  My Christmas present.

After the festivities -- the food, the conversations, the smiles, and the gifts -- I descended the 89 steps back to the street with a belly overstuffed from too much indulgence, where, to my surprise, I saw many people out on the street with perhaps no real purpose but to amble about with everyone else.  And then it hit me.  Inside or outside, everyone was with someone...even if they were with everyone.  During my short walk home, I overheard many kids speaking with their parents about Babbo Natale and observed the knowing smiles of their parents as they replied.  A few winks here and there, and I finally understood.  English is my mother tongue; Italian, my adopted language.  But universal is people.  Even if we do not speak the other person's language well or at all, we still (can) communicate.

The kids taught me that. Christmas suddenly took on a new meaning.  A fun evening to see it through the eyes of young children and their parents. And what presents I received!

Merry Christmas

-- Giosalina 
    Firenze, Italia

Museo di San Marco and Cenacolo di Sant'Apollonia, Florence, Italy

San Marco is a 15th century church and convent, previously the home of two medieval convents.  The convent is now the Museum of San Marco.  In 1436 the Dominicans of Fiesole took over the convent.  Fra Angelico from Fiesole moved into the convent, had his own "cell," and painted the majority of the freschi you see there today.

Museum of San Marco

Buildings are always being restored

A year later Cosimo de' Medici took on the financial burdens for the reconstruction of a new church and convent, which were desiged by Michelozzo.  Even Cosimo de' Medici had his own private cell here even though he lived just down the road at the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi.

Many of the freschi we see have been removed from their original location and placed in museums elsewhere and are often severely damaged from the elements and time.  Most freschi at San Marco are still on the wall and in near-pristine condition.

 The Miracle of the Lost Key Found Inside the Belly of the Fish

 Various rescued freschi

Looks almost Salvador Dali-ish  to me

Juxtaposed? Blindfolded? Crystal ball? Free-floating hands? 

 Fra Angelico's "Annunziata"

Girolamo Savonarola also had a cell at San Marco.  He gave many of his speeches during his brief reign of power from the pulpit of San Marco.  He was first hanged and then burned at the stake in Piazza della Signoria in 1498 not long after Savonarola ordered the second Bonfire of the Vanities.

 Inside one of the courtyards

Another, smaller courtyard

After leaving San Marco and having a hearty soup for lunch, my friend and I strolled back in the direction of  home when we decided to pop into the Cenacolo di Sant'Apollonia.  I have passed by the nondescript building dozens of times but never felt a pull to visit.  The term "cenacolo" originally referred to where the monks and nuns ate meals; today it refers to "The Last Supper."  Leonardo da Vinci is not the only artist who painted a famous cenacolo (located in the church in Milan). There are more than a few around town. The cenacolo located in this building was painted by Andrea del Castagno in 1447.  It is an important piece of work for Florence because it was the first Renaissance cenacolo in Florence and represents a fundamental moment in Florentine painting with his expert use of perspective.  I saw immediately, even to my untrained eye, that the table linen looked three-dimensional, and I wanted to reach over to touch the linen.  My friend commented that she wanted to "pull the wrinkles out of the tablecloth."

 The room in which "The Last Supper" is housed

 Close-up sectional

 Another section of the cenacolo

Just what is this bimbo reaching for?

You know how you visit places only when on holiday, but never your hometown?  (Even though other people come from elsewhere to see the things you never get around to seeing?)  We all likely believe that those sites will always be there, and eventually we will get to them, but usually we never do make the time to go.  I have visited Florence, Italy, many times over the years -- and live here for the past three years -- and still there are many places I have yet to see.  Today, though, I finally made my way over to the Museum at San Marco in Piazza San Marco and to the Cenacolo di Sant'Apollonia. Each is a lovely way to see a little more of Florence, learn a little more of this town's history.  And with an Amici Degli Uffizi membership, you get to visit each site for the best price, free.

Market Days, Market Ways in Florence, Italy

The fast pace of the modern world has caught up with Italy, home of the Slow-Food movement, and created the need for convenience and supermarkets. The traditional way to food shop is still the norm here.  In Florence, the two main markets are Mercato Centrale and Mercato di Sant'Ambrogio (both open daily, except Sundays).  Both markets supply the daily goods to most of the local restaurants and the majority of homes. Those restaurants and households that do not buy from either of these two markets buy from the neighborhood fruttivendolo (greengrocer).  And then, from pure convenience, we all sometimes end up at the modern-day grocery market.

I ventured to Sant'Ambrogio this morning to see what we have to look forward to in the way of local fruits and vegetables as we move into the autumn season.  I found a feast of colors -- rich, vibrant, and abundant -- which means plenty of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and prana.  

Walk with me through the market...  

 Love these peppers

 Have you tasted fried zucchini flowers? Mmmm...

 Root veggies (above and below)

At Sant'Ambrogio, outdoors is where you will find the fresh fruits and veggies... 

 When you order a "pepperoni" pizza in Italy, you will end up 

with a pizza full of "peperoni" instead of spicy sausage.

 The last days of summer fruits

 Happy to have broccoli and cauliflower back in season

Indoors is where you buy meat, fish, chicken, grains, and baked goods.  You can even take a break for a caffé or have lunch.

 "Schiacciata dell'uva" is a Florentine specialty this time of year.  The tiny grapes used are in season only a few weeks.

 Many fresh homemade pastas to choose from

 Grains and legumes are bought at the "civaio"

Gianfranco's honey

In our fast-paced world, convenience counts for something.  But look again at my photos (click to enlarge) and ask yourself, "Which would I choose to buy today?"  And perhaps the more important question: "Where would I choose to buy -- the local farmers market / greengrocer or the supermarket?"