Random Things #4

Some more random things. 

Here in Florence and elsewhere in Italy, the holiday season continues past Christmas Day.  The season gets rolling in early December and keeps rolling until the 12th day of Christmas, January 6.  So, holiday decorations still appear all over the city.   Here are a photos of seasonal random things.  Enjoy. 

A festive street in a local neighborhood not far from our apartment.

Window shopping nearby.  Those are Comme des Garcons fashions in the window.  

More window shopping.  Puffins in the window of Louis Vuitton.  (Seeing the puffins reminded Susan of her puffin experience in Iceland?  Yum!)

Even the merry-go-round is open on holidays.  Click here to see it in action.

Buone Feste!

Churches: Basilica di Santa Croce (Part 3 of 3)

A tribute to Niccolo Matas.

One of the best features of Santa Croce is the façade, pictured below. 

The facade was added in the mid-1800's and covered the original rough stone exterior of the church.

The legend about the façade and its designer (apparently untrue in part) goes something like this: 

• The façade was designed by Italian architect Niccolo Matas, who also happened to be Jewish.  Matas included the Star of David on the façade. 
• As a tribute to his great work on the facade, upon his death he was buried under the porch of the church.  Unfortunately, his wish for burial within the walls of the Roman Catholic church was refused.  

Basilica di Santa Croce before addition of the marble façade

Basilica di Santa Croce with the marble façade

Basilica di Santa Croce, close up of the Star of David on the façade

Churches: Basilica di Santa Croce (Part 2 of 3)

Santa Croce is located close to the Arno river.  The church was built on what was once a swamp.  So, its proximity to the river and its low elevation relative to the river make it extremely vulnerable to flooding.

Over the centuries, the church has been flooded many times.  The 1966 flood was especially devastating.  Some objects were destroyed and others were badly damaged.  Many of the masterpieces have been restored, but not all.  One masterpiece, Vasari's Last Supper, was recently restored.  It was unveiled to the public on the 50th anniversary of the 1966 flood.

How high did the 1966 flood waters reach at Santa Croce?   Check out the photo below.

A list of floods in Florence stretching back more than 800 years.

Photo of the cable for raising Vasari's restored Last Supper

Next Up:  Santa Croce and the Star of David

Churches: Basilica di Santa Croce (Part 1 of 3)

The Basilica of the Holy Cross, or Santa Croce, is one of the finest, largest and oldest churches in Florence.  Its art, "long-term residents" and architecture make it a must-see site. 

Basilica di Santa Croce

Basilica di Santa Croce, altar 

Basilica di Santa Croce, advent candles 

Memorial to Italian physicist Enrico Fermi, Nobel Prize winner at age 37 and member of the Manhattan Project

Memorial to Guglielmo Marconi, credited with invention of the radio

Tomb of Galileo

Tomb of Michelangelo.  Although he died in exile in Rome, he wanted to be buried in Florence.  When he died, his nephew secretly transported his body from Rome to Florence for burial. 

The "tomb" of Dante.  Dante died in exile in Ravenna and there his body remains.  An papal order to transfer the body to Florence was even refused.  Instead, an empty coffin was sent to Florence.  Since Ravenna will never send Dante's body back to Florence, this tomb will remain empty. 

Tomb of Italian composer Rossini.   Hi, ho, Silver, away!

Tomb of Niccolo Machiavelli.  (Machiavelli makes Karl Rove look like a very nice person.)

The real Statue of Liberty?  Read more below. 

The Annunciation by Donatello (1425).  The faces and figures are very life like.

A beautifully restored fresco in one of many chapels in the Basilica.  The colors are rich and vibrant and the images are crisp and almost three-dimensional.  It is wonderful to see aged works of art restored to what the artist probably intended.  

Part of the habit and sash that belonged to Saint Francis.  In the past, the Basilica was a Franciscan monastery.

A beautifully restored The Descent of Christ into Limbo by Bronzino (1552)

The main cloister next to the Basilica

In the main cloister, Blessing God the Father by Bandinelli (1556)

Next Up:  The Flood

December 26

December 26 is a national holiday in Italy.  Like December 25, nearly everything was closed and the streets were quiet.  A few museums were open, but many were still closed because it was Monday, the normal closing day. 

The historic origin of the holiday is the Feast of St. Stephen, or Santo Stefano, celebrated on December 26, the second of the 12 days of Christmas.   According to the Bible, Stephen lived in the first century and was appointed to give food and aid to poorer members of the community in the early church.  He was also outspoken about his beliefs and, as a result, was stoned to death.   Thus, Saint Stephen was an early martyr.

Stephen's example of feeding and helping the poor is the origin of a long tradition of giving money, gifts and food to the needy and to people in service positions on St. Stephen's Day.  The tradition might date as far back as the 4th or 5th centuries.  The tradition survives today in Italy as St. Stephen's Day and elsewhere, such as Boxing Day in the U.K.  The tradition also survives in the carol Good King Wenceslas. 

So, in keeping with tradition, early on December 26, we ventured out and took 3 buses to the western edge of Florence.  There, we joined fellow members of Susan's social organization to prepare and serve lunch to Florentines who are very poor or homeless.  The center of Florence is unaffordable for many Florentines.  So, the poor tend to live on the fringes of the city, which is where Caritas Firenze, a charitable organization, operates one of its several centers to assist the poor and oppressed. 

After arriving at the Caritas center, we donned our kitchen garb and set about slicing peppers.  Lots and lots of peppers.  It was a plethora of peppers, a plentitude of peppers, a profusion of peppers, a veritable passel of peppers.  Following the pepper party, we served the many guests who arrived for lunch.  After two hours, we had helped serve more than 300 people.  The operation was efficient, since lunch is served every day. 

The food was typical Italian cuisine.  The meal was nutritious, abundant and delicious.  The pictures below might make you feel hungry. 

The guests were mostly male, mostly older, and mostly Italian.  However, we did see some women, some younger folks (20's, 30's) and many immigrants (Africa, South America and Asia).  Everyone was happy to have a free meal in a warm place and some of the food was saved for later. 

We enjoyed doing our small part on St. Stephen's Day.  Here are some photos from our day. 

All guests had three large courses.  Have you ever seen mozzarella balls that large?  And there were two on the plate!

Pizza and salmon were among the many options.

The dessert course.  Of course, panettone was an option. 

Ready to serve

A happy, beautiful, welcoming face

Nice hats!  McDonald's called and wants to see if you have what it takes.

Pop Quiz:   What great 1987 film refers to the name Giuseppe Petri?    Below is a photo of Susan under the street sign where the Caritas center is located, with nearly the same spelling.   

Where do you live in Florence? #4

Our apartment is about 1.6 kilometers, or 1 mile, from Florence's soccer stadium.  It is called the Franchi, after Artemio Franchi, a beloved Italian soccer commissioner and former president of the European soccer association (UEFA).

We knew the Franchi is close by.  The other night we learned just how close it is.

In a night match against Palermo, ACF Fiorentina scored the go ahead goal in the third minute of extra time.  The crowd reaction was a long roar of joy for the home team winning the game with practically no time remaining.  We heard that long roar in our apartment one mile away.  The crowd noise was so loud that it sounded as if the stadium were in our backyard.

Florentines love soccer, or calcio in Italian. And they love their team ACF Fiorentina.

Click here to see the winning goal.

We are planning to attend a game, but we learned buying a ticket is not so easy.  At the stadium, there are two sections of seats.  One section is for Florentines.  The other section, much smaller and to the side of one goal, is for everyone else.  The small section has its own separate entrance from outside and it is fenced off from the rest of the stadium, with large buffers of empty seats on either side.  Anyone can buy a ticket for the small section. 

As you probably guessed, the small section is primarily for fans of the visiting team.  Italians are crazy for soccer and love their hometown team.  That strong emotion, sometimes alcohol enhanced, has in the past boiled over into violence between fans of rival teams.  So, fans are segregated for everyone's protection. 

The Franchi: the visitors section

To sit in the large section, you must be a resident of the Florence region and obtain a special card after vetting by the state police.  Without the right address and a clean record, no card for you!  We still need to obtain our cards.  When we do, we plan on attending a game and wearing the color of ACF Fiorentina.

Christmas

Season's greetings from Florence.

Today is a national holiday in Italy.  Nearly everything is closed:  museums, restaurants, shops, etc.  Plus, the streets are nearly empty of pedestrians, cars and buses.  The town is peaceful.

Last night, we attended a midnight service at our church.  Most of the small number of attendees were visiting tourists.  The pastor told us that is normal.  Most of the regular attendees left Florence for the holidays to visit the U.S. and England.  But not Susan and Greg.  We want the full Florence experience, especially during the holiday season.  So, we attended the midnight service.  Susan read the lessons and the prayers of the people.  She spoke beautifully.   The church was also beautiful.  Below is a photo of the altar.

Following the service, we walked home and passed by the cathedral.  We stopped by the nativity scene to see that the bambino was now in the manger since Christmas had arrived.  Plus, there were flickering candles around the entrances to the cathedral.  Lovely sights.  See below

Buon Natale from Florence.