In the land of the Renaissance - Part 3

After taking a different path yet again to the Ponte Vecchio (trying out different paths to get to your destination is a fun activity to try in Florence. As the city is quite compact, this gives an opportunity to take in the city life and often come across interesting and unexpected sights), I crossed the river and was in the front of the Pitti Palace. The Pitti palace initially belonged to a Florentine banker from where it passed on to the ownership of the Medicis and was later opened to the public by the Italian king in 1919. The palace contains an impressive collection of art and sculpture amassed mainly by the Medicis. The first impression of the palace was not very impressive as the palace facade is quite plain and bereft of any ornamentation. Nevertheless, referring to the old adage of not judging a book by its cover, I plodded on.

The first thing that greets you once you enter the building is a security scanner and some burly security guards (quite out of place in a Renaissance palace, don't you think) but I guess this is necessary given the current situation.  I wonder if this process can be made a bit more fun so that it does not take away from the historical experience. We can have the guards dress up in the period costumes or something like that. Anyways, after clearing the security scan, I headed to the ticket counter. I knew that the main things to see here in the Pitti Palace are the Palatine apartments (that house the art collection of the Medicis) and the Boboli gardens. But once I reached the ticketing desk, I realized that the enterprising people here have very smartly found out a way to extort your money. Both these sights are separately priced (at around 10 euros each) and the ticket to the gardens is bunched along with several small museums (of silverware, costumes and porcelain - not very appealing to me). So, if you just want to see the art gallery and the gardens you'll have to buy both the tickets. This seemed a bit unreasonable to me. As a visitor, I should have the freedom to pick and choose the sights I want to see. After some consideration, I thought of just visiting the gardens as I was still reeling from the art onslaught in the Uffizi. Since this came with tickets to several smaller galleries as well, I decided to do a quick jaunt through them. These galleries are situated in the former royal apartments and although the collections were ho-hum, the rooms were a study in opulence and elegance (sorry, no photos as it was not allowed). Each room had exquisite furnishings, ornate tapestries and even the ceilings and walls were decorated with beautiful paintings. I realized one thing from this - no doubt the Medicis had a lot of money but it's clear that they had a lot of taste as well which was evident in the decor of the rooms. After a quick walk through the courtyard of the palace, I entered the Boboli gardens.

These gardens were built for Eleonora di Toledo, the wife of Cosimo Medici, who among other things bore him eleven children and is regarded as being the first modern first lady who served as the ruler of Florence in the absence of her husband. Now, since I had seen pictures of the gardens at Versailles, I had  a slight idea about how formal European gardens look like and this one certainly fit the bill. There were beautiful fountains, wide avenues of cypresses and series of geometric hedges. Since this was October, there were not much flowers to be seen but there were plenty of trees displaying the brilliant fall foliage. Another thing that I noticed that these were not perfectly manicured gardens where every tree, bush and shrubbery was trimmed to clinical precision. Rather, there was a slight messy and wild look to it that made it even more appealing to me.

                                                                                                               

                                              

One of my favorite things about formal European gardens is the way they incorporate classical elements like statues, grottoes, small temples midst the trees. I find this juxtaposition extremely fascinating and the Boboli gardens were certainly no exception to this rule. There were a lot of statues scattered here and there in the middle of the trees and shrubs so it was almost a magical experience to suddenly come across a statue nestled among the trees. As with the gardens, these statues appeared a little worse for wear and some were partially obscured by the trees. This gave the whole place a feeling of decayed splendor and a slightly surreal vibe.

As I kept walking, I reached a section of the gardens that was devoid of any other person. As I wandered around among the shrubbery that threw dappled shafts of the setting winter sun on the ground, my mind suddenly drifted off to the myths and legends that I had read as a child . This was a place where one could actually visualize these legends coming true. I could almost imagine Pan sitting near one of the hedges and playing his pipes, Dionysus and his satyrs dancing around intoxicated with wine, Persephone playing with her maidens while Hades waited in the shadows and Aphrodite heralding the advent of spring along with the three graces.  I was lost in this reverie for quite some time before the chatter of some other travelers jolted me out of it. As I continued exploring, I realized that I was sweating profusely even though it was a chilly winter day. Actually, these gardens are built on an incline and as you move further upwards, you are actually climbing up a hill. On the plus side, this meant that as I reached the top part of the gardens, I was rewarded with spectacular views of Florence and the surrounding countryside.

Since the gardens were about to close in an hours time, I realized that I still had to see the Bardini gardens which are situated behind the Boboli gardens and admission to them was included with the ticket. After looking at the map, I located the way leading to the Bardini gardens. As I was heading towards the gardens, I saw a fort like structure along the path. According to the signs posted and the map, this was the Belvedere fort.  

As I went towards the fort to have a closer look, I noticed that the gates were closed and there was an official sign that said the complex was closed due to some maintenance work. However, as I wandered around I came across another sign. This was clearly not an official sign and instead consisted of a number of newspaper clippings. Most of them were in Italian but there were a few in English. Apparently, there had been a mysterious accident where a young girl fell to her death in the fort and it's been closed ever since. There were some clippings that mentioned that few other people as well as dogs had been found dead in the fort. I didn't know whether this was true or not but the fort now definitely looked quite spooky in the evening light. Also, the fact that there was not a single other person to be seen in the vicinity and there was an eerie silence over the place was enough to send me scampering away from there. I tend not to believe in such silly superstitions but there was definitely an uncanny vibe about the whole place. I later found out that this fort is supposed to be one of the most haunted places in Florence as a lot of people were tortured and burnt here for witchcraft in earlier times. Anyways, after climbing up a steep incline I finally reached the Bardini gardens. The Bardini gardens are relatively modern and are quite well maintained compared to the Boboli gardens. Since these gardens are situated higher up the hill, the views of Florence are even better from here. These gardens also contain a large selection of sculptures most of which are modern and contemporary art.

Although the Bardini gardens were quite beautiful, I had completely depleted my energy resources for the day and was unable to move a step further. Since I had a trip to Venice planned for the next day, I decided to head back to the hotel and rest my aching legs. On the way back, I stopped at a gelato shop and had my first gelato in Florence (vanilla + chocolate & hazelnut). It was absolutely divine and I could now see why people went gaga over authentic Italian gelato. As I walked back to my hotel enjoying my gelato, the sun was setting on the Ponte Vecchio marking the end of another glorious day in Florence. The experience had been wonderful so far and I was looking forward to exploring more of this fascinating city. 

In the land of the Renaissance - Part 2

As the next day dawned, I was in no mood to leave the comfortable hotel room but as I had reservations at the world famous Uffizi gallery at 9, I grudgingly got ready and headed down to breakfast.  At the breakfast hall I finally had the chance to meet the charming owner of the hotel, Patricia. She is an American from Texas who came to Italy to study, fell in love with the country (and a resident in particular) and stayed on here since then. She speaks four languages fluently and is a veritable gold mine of information about Florence. After a quick chat and a delicious breakfast - bread, jam, butter, yogurt, cake and the most delicious cup of cappuccino I have ever tasted, I was on my way. Now, according to Google maps, it would take 40 mins to walk from my hotel to the museum so I set out sufficiently early. It was bitterly cold outside and I spent some time trying to adjust to the weather (the perils of staying in a tropical country with summer all year around). Armed with my trusted map, I made my way towards the museum while watching the city come to life in the morning. A few twists and turns later, I was on the banks of the Arno - one of the most important rivers of central Italy. The phrase 'looks can be deceptive' can be perfectly applied to this river. As calm and benign the river looks, it almost wiped out the city in a devastating flood in 1966 and damaged thousands of priceless artworks. 

I was so engrossed in looking at the river and the beautiful bridges that spanned it that I didn't realize that I had arrived at the Uffizi. I looked at my watch and realized that it had just taken me just 20 minutes to walk from the hotel (in spite of stopping numerous times to take photos). So, either Google maps misjudged my walking speed or it simply showed a longer route than the actual one. This taught me a valuable lesson - however advanced technology gets, you should never trust it blindly. Anyways, the museum would not open for another 45 mins so I had no option but to wait there. A little bit of background won't be amiss here for people wondering what is so special about the Uffizi. The Uffizi was built as an office for the magistrates in the courts of the illustrious Medici family (the word Uffizi means office in Italian) and over time has become an museum holding one of the most fantastic collection of renaissance art and sculpture in the world. A quick tip for visitors - in the peak seasons, there is a huge queue for the museum with waiting times of up to five hours. To save time, you can either make an reservation online or through phone. I would recommend the phone reservation as it's much easier as you do not need to make a payment right away. You are given a serial number and time slot for entry. If you fail to turn up or do not want to visit that time, your reservation is automatically cancelled and you do not lose any money. It does cost 4 euros more than the actual ticket but it is much more convenient than a web booking. Anyways, since I had some time to kill I decided to wander about for a bit. As I came out of the museum compound, I observed an interesting looking bridge just in front and realized that I was looking upon the famous Ponte Vecchio (the old bridge).

This is one of the most famous bridges of Florence and is the only bridge to be spared during the second world war bombings. The box  like structures propped up on stilts along the edges of the bridge are actually shops that are lined across the bridge. Now if you observe carefully, there is an elevated corridor running along the top of the bridge. There is an interesting story behind this passage. The members of the royal Medici family of Florence needed a way to travel from their offices in the Uffizi and their royal residences on the other side of the river without having to walk among the common people (for safety and snobbery reasons) . So, they commissioned a passageway that stretched all the way from the palace to the office buildings (dozing through several houses in the process) that was designated as an exclusive road for the royals. At its time of construction, the bridge was populated by butchers. But since the stench of meat and blood was hardly considered befitting as a backdrop to a royal jaunt, they were promptly evacuated and replaced by something more elegant - goldsmiths. The tradition has still continued and all the shops you see in the bridges are goldsmiths containing some of the most extravagant jewellery (both in terms of looks as well as prices) in town. The corridor is only opened for limited periods every year and sadly it wasn't open when I was visiting. Nevertheless, I decided to pretend to be a noble for sometime and strutted along royally along the bridge for some time (ignoring the stares from the onlookers). This is a peculiar habit of mine - whenever I visit a palace or any place connected with royalty, I get into the spirit of the place totally and behave like royalty. The views from the bridge were beautiful and presented numerous photo opportunities.

The majority of the crowd on the bridge comprised of couples with the ladies gazing rapturously at the jewellery on show in the window displays of the goldsmiths and the gentlemen shuffling around anxiously looking at the  price tags. As my allotted time at the museum was now approaching, I decided to go and collect my tickets. As I was walking along the road, I saw an unusual sight dotting the railings. There were tons of locks attached to the chain link fences and each had a date written on them. Since I had no idea what they were there for, I just took some photos and later asked my hotel manager what purpose they served. As it turned out, these locks are placed there by couples as a symbol of their everlasting love and the fact that they are "locked" together forever. Nobody knows how this tradition started but the local council is having a tough time with these lock lovers and hundreds of euros are being spent to remove them. 

Anyways, coming back to the museum I went and collected my ticket and waited in the reserved tickets queue while looking around at the building.The building is not very spectacular from outside but contains numerous statues of famous Tuscan people including Michelangelo, Dante and many others.It is connected to the old palace (the Palazzo Vecchio) at the other end. After a few minutes wait, the gates opened and we were whisked into a security hold reminiscent of an airport and a short security check later, I was inside the Uffizi gallery. Sadly, photography is strictly prohibited inside the gallery so I can't share with you the wonders that were inside. Then again, photos cannot do justice to the works of the Renaissance masters like Botticelli, Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci. Trust me, it is an experience to stand in front of these masterpieces and just marvel at the genius of the human mind (if put to good use). I was particularly enamored by "The birth of Venus" and "Primavera" by Botticelli which to me represent the finest examples of Renaissance art. However, the experience of watching these marvelous works of art was somewhat marred by the fact the organizational facilities of the museum left a lot to be desired. The lack of proper lighting and poor signage are not expected in a museum, especially one that holds such an important collection of Renaissance art. After wandering around the museum for around 2 hours (which included running back to the Botticelli room to see the paintings again and again), my brain, legs and stomach all started to protest simultaneously. I decided to say goodbye to the Uffizi and head back for lunch. 

After a quick lunch, I started to think about how to spend the remaining part of the day. I had originally planned to explore the interiors of the Duomo (cathedral) along with its accompanying museum, but as the day was bright and sunny, I decided to make most of the weather and visit an outdoor location. After a quick consultation with my itinerary, I zeroed in on going to the Pitti palace and spend time in the adjoining Boboli gardens. I figured that it would be a good antidote to all the heavy duty art that my brain was subjected in the morning. As I looked at the map to find the Pitti palace, it appeared to be across the river and I needed to cross the Ponte Vecchio again to get there. So, in spite of the sleepiness creeping up on me (thanks to the pasta and gelato lunch), I strolled off again to explore the Pitti palace and Boboli gardens (to be continued).