…and see you on the next visit.
Now is the time to reflect on the past five weeks.
To me it is interesting to ponder why Florence happened and how it maintained a constant trajectory of placing the public ahead of royalty, public space ahead of private and public support of the arts that sent the message music, painting and sculpture all provide value.
If you read the thoughts of historians about how Florence happened you get a picture of a beginning in the century before Christ was born when Caesar retired a legion of soldiers to an area in the plains on the Arno River as a reward for distinguished service to him. These centurions all came with the attitude they they were equals of each other and held this as the highest ideal as they determined how to govern themselves.
This attitude carried over to the multitude of immigrants who joined the Centurions and for century after century the Florentines held as their most important and valued characteristic, they were a Republic and would manage their own affairs.
I think the reality was that the incredible wealth accumulated from the trade of woolen cloth and dyes actually purchased the luxury of living in a republic. The merchants who accumulated the astonishing wealth and the grand banking families who followed had the very good sense to let their money create the beauty a republic can be proud of but to keep themselves out of the public eye. It was easy for the common man to take ownership of what was created by the economic system they participated in.
So was it a republic that governed itself? I don’t think it ever was. To my mind I think the mass of wealth governed the Florentines and whoever was the owner of that wealth at any one time was actually the ruling entity of Florence. It does seem the owners of the wealth learned from history the value of staying out of the spot light which allowed them to govern from behind the scenes.
Enough of that – let me say goodbye to Florence.
No better way to say goodbye then by celebrating with food, fun and wine.
This was at a restaurant called the 4 Leoni. The food must have been good because I did not put my fork down to take another picture on this night.
A Napoli pizza
The start of another great dinner at a place across from the Pitti Palace, which I am sure has a name but I can’t remember where I wrote it down. I do remember an onion flan in front of me and a chicken liver pate’ that was like butter only better.
I think Rob had an Italian sausage and red pepper secondi.
This was the secondi where I had a Wild Boar stew over a fried polenta and Jeff had a stuffed pasta.
I found one more entry for the Street Art Category. I am not sure how I missed the ultimate example of street art. The project must have started under sunny skies and ended when a rain storm came through.
Sorry, one more of those reflective photos from down at the Arno.
Some last looks at the Duomo. If my good friend Dan Shook thinks he has a difficult time getting the right piece of equipment for the job, imagine the headaches this job supervisor must have to deal with. Not sure how confident I would be in that bucket knowing someone thought there needed to be 5 ambulances on site.
The next two photos are from the Duomo area where they have a stone shop for repair of stone features on the Duomo. They have over sized windows for the interested to watch the process. In both photos you can see the original that the replacement is being copied from. The originals are all kept and placed in the Museum.
And now goodbye to the people who made it all so interesting.
My barber, from Pakistan, who gave me a shave every Monday (no union apparently) and Thursday. His shop was on my way to and from the silver studio. He always argued to cut my hair short – I probably should have taken his advice.
This lady had a glass of Chianti (I think wine should be capitalized) ready for me and my guests whenever we entered the tent outside the restaurant on the Piazza (I also think places where you drink wine should be capitalized.)
Georgio who ran the Boccadam, the restaurant with the tent in the Piazza. Georgio is from Cairo, Egypt and was working at the restaurant when I was here 2 years ago. He was always quick with a Prosecco or a Lemoncello to get the meal stated or ended.
The restaurant entrance and the tent.
Fadi , The Most Interesting Man. Unfortunately I did not cross paths with him in the last couple of days to say goodbye but I did enjoy my visits with him.
Giovanni who kept me in cigars for 5 weeks. His shop was next to the Duomo and always convenient to get to.
The gentleman who kept me in Gelato. By the end when I walked in he would without question start filling a small cup with Cafe’ Gelato.
Finally, a watercolor artist who sat on the Piazza every sunny day while I was there. I took this photo from just outside the tent. Most days I would see his wife ride a bicycle into the piazza and had him a sandwich wrapped in wax paper and leave a Wine Bottle with some wine in it for his lunch.
I started visiting with him regularly and he would always offer a sip of his wine. In the last couple of weeks, if I was alone in the tent, he would come over and we would visit. I started offering him a glass of wine and he always accepted. I only ever addressed him as “my friend” and he called me “my friend.” I do not know his name.
Because I have the most wonderful children and one of them works for an airline, when the stars align and Jupiter in is the seventh house, I get to fly stand by FIRST CLASS. This was the starter course of an 8 hour meal in a First Class Pod.
My son always reminds me to act like I have been there before so I don’t embarrass him. It is always interesting to think back on times when I should have given him the same advice. Like the time he had a straw stuck into his nose seeing how far he could blow snot or writing his name in the snow (if you know what I mean.) The circle keeps turning.
And the trip ends as it started. Now the cat is looking at me and saying “who the hell are you and what are you doing in my house?”
It was a wonderful trip, but great to be home with Sally.
Ciao!!!
