The Duomo

I have previously shared pictures of the massive Duomo, the domed cathedral of the beautiful Basilica of Saint Mary of the Flower.   Completed in 1,436, it is one of the largest churches in all of Italy.  This week Angie and I got to go inside the cathedral and climbed the 414 steps all the way up to the white Cupola at the very top of the brick-red dome. 

 The climb up inside to the top of the dome is not for the faint of heart – the ancient narrow stone stairwells are steeply pitched with wildly twisting turns and spiraling staircases.  There is very little natural light and in some places limited electric light, making it difficult to see some of the steps.  Less than half the steps have hand rails, and the narrow stairways and (in some places) low ceiling almost make you feel like you are hiking through a dungeon. Not a good place to be if you have claustrophobia! 

Starting inside at the bottom, the open, airy marble lined
dome is flanked with stained glass portals and houses a beautiful alter.

A view up from the floor shows just how high up the dome goes.

Taken just before exiting the first elevation level on the way up, 

the vibrant colors of the dome’s ceiling fresco highlight the incredible art work.

Just off the first elevation level, before you start the 

steep climbing, is a room with magnificent statues, 

visible only to those embarking on the climb up.

Once you extricate yourself from the medieval passageways that ascend the dome and exit onto the observation platform at the top, the city of Florence stretches before you to the horizon.  The small dome in the foreground is the Basilica of San Lorenzo.  The flat, oddly shaped brown building well beyond it is the sprawling Santa Maria Novella train station, whose trains can take you to any city in Italy or Europe you care to go.

Overlooking the south side of the city (in the direction of 

our apartment), the hills of southern Florence are a welcome 

change from the remainder of the city that is quite flat.

Don’t miss a step while looking down! 
The slippery slope of the steeply pitched dome makes
for a short ride and uncomfortable landing.

It is on these two small mountains just north of  the city limits where the town of Fiesole sits.  The town is actually spread across both mountain tops.  The low spot between the peaks is the center of town and where the bus drops you off – you are on your own to get to get yourself to either end of town, and I can assure you the streets and sidewalks are some of the steepest you will ever encounter.

Florence Garden Walk

Two of Florence’s city parks are close to our neighborhood, one of which our apartment backs right up to.  The following pictures were taken the day we hiked through the Bardini and Boboli Gardens:

Taken in the Boboli Garden with the
Piti Palazzo (palace) in the background.

The Boboli Gardens is over 100 acres in size and has many 

beautiful walks, lanes, and sections to see.  The Cedar Walk 

stretches down to one of the southern exits.

How many big heads do you see in this picture? :-) You will
find all manner of art as you walk through the gardens.

Where the city of Florence ends, the olive trees begin.  

This shot taken over the park wall of a privately owned villa 

whose surrounding land has been put to good use producing 

one of Italy’s most important orchard crops.  

Italian Lessons and Cultural Re-Education

Uggh….. After a 2 week layoff from my blog I’m not sure where to begin.  If I were to create a list of all the fun things that DIDN'T happen in the past two week I’m sure I could imagine a fanciful list, unfortunately the past two weeks were far too confining for that.  The week of 1/14 was spent in a classroom at the Koine school for Italian lessons; the last day of class I caught some nasty cold virus that has been attacking all the English speaking newbies in town.  Today I crawled out of bed for my longest stint yet. 

The Italian lessons were interesting and challenging.  I struggled with a lot of the vocabulary but this is where Angie’s self-study program prior to us leaving the US really paid off for her – that and also having been an Elementary school specializing in grammar and reading.  She did very well.  Now that I can read something for more than 5 minutes without falling asleep I plan to review all the course materials and my notes over the next 3 weeks, then go back to school for another week.  The school is very well organized and our course instructor, Cosetta was outstanding, I hope she teaches the next class.

After that I’m hoping to be ready to start one of the language exchange programs – these are local online bulletin boards where you sign up as an English speaking person who is learning Italian, and meet face to face to practice talking to an Italian speaking person learning to speak English.  Meetings are usually one hour with half the session in one language and half in the other.  There are so are many people in Florence seeking to improve their English (many of whom are students, Florence is such a college town) that it should be easy to connect with someone.

I got over most of my cold just in the nick of time as Angie and I had an appointment at the Prefetturadi di Firenze.  We joined an auditorium full of Italy newbies where we sat through a series of video lessons on the various Italian Police agencies, how to apply for the type of VISA best suited for you, the significance of obtaining a Residence Permit (Permesso di Soggiorno), how National Health Care and a variety of other social services work for non-citizens, and even how to get along peacefully with your neighbors if you live in a condo.  So at this point if you are wondering why we elected to join this class, let me point out this is mandatory education for anyone seeking to live in Italy more than 3 months.   We were told that we would report to the Prefetturadi, and when our presence was required.  

Long story short – Italy takes Immigration seriously.  The U.S. could take some lessons in this regard.  Italy’s Integration program to assimilate non-citizen long term Residents (that’s us) into the Italian cultural and national identity is not only formally structured, it is graded.  You have two years to earn a minimum 30 points on the Integration scale, proving education in civics and proficiency in speaking the Italian language at the A2 level (as established by the Common European Framework for languages).  If you have not earned at least 30 points at the end of the two years, your Residence Permit may not be renewed – if that happens you have to leave Italy.

So far Angie and I have 16 points.

Angie and I have some hiking planned for next week, providing the weather cooperates, and I’m hoping to be posting more pictures soon. Ciao!

Skiing in Abetone

This week I went skiing at Abetone ski resort.  It was my first day skiing in two years, my first time skiing in my new Fischer ski boots (bought 2 years ago) and it was my first time skiing in Italy.  Abetone (abba-TONE-a) is not in the Alps, it’s in the Apennine (appa-NEEN-a) mountains but it’s a lot closer to Florence than the Alps are, a 2 ½ hour train/bus combination trip (and a lot less than that by car if I had mine right now!).   

 The weather wasn’t the best and the snow was a bit sparse as you can see from the photos, but it was soft and my high performance Rossignol rental skis were fast.  And my new ski boots worked perfectly, 10 times better than my old worn out, beaten to death Nordica’s.

Abetone is one of the biggest non-Alp ski areas in Italy.  With 4 major peaks, a bowl between two of the peaks, and almost 1,800 vertical feet of long skiable trails, it has a big mountain feel.  And during weekdays there are few skiers on the slopes.  After not having skied for 2 years it was a good tune up in preparation for skiing the Alps later this month.

I am tentatively making plans to ski Cortina in the Dolomites, and I have finally figured out the necessary train transportation.  I will keep you posted on how it turns out!

Overnight in Cortona

This trip marks our first overnight excursion away from the city of Florence, to the walled town of Cortona made famous by the movie “Under the Tuscan Sun”.  Cortona is as charming a medieval town you can possibly imagine – perched high on a hill above the surrounding towns and valleys below, the town has many steep, narrow streets and alley ways and is filled with shops, cafes  and outstanding restaurants.  Its building and structures range in age from as recent as the 1,500’s to as far back as the Etruscans – pre-dating both the Roman Empire and the time of Christ.  And yes, we did see the house used to film the movie “Under the Tuscan Sun” (just outside of town).

The monument at Piazza Garibaldi, the main entrance to the town. 

Homes and apartments on the front side of town near the main entrance.  

The freshened building exteriors of stucco and paint belie just how old they really are.

Some of the buildings on the back side of town – fully renovated and
modernized inside, but maintaining their historical character.

Narrow, tiled streets and passage ways are the typical 

architecture of Cortona.  It seems impossible that they 

can drive cars in the old city center, but they do.

Angie standing in the archway of 

the Church of Santa Maria Assunta. 

Built in the 1,400’s, Church of Santa Maria Assunta 

is one of the oldest churches in Cortona.

Angie carefully considers which bottle of wine will go best with lunch….

Cortona sits high above the surrounding countryside 

and sometimes high above the cloud cover as seen here.

The sun sets through the various cloud layers on the valley below, and on Cortona last.

Visit to Fiesole

The following pictures were taken of the mountain top town of Fiesole (fee-a-SOL-a), about a 45 minute 2-bus ride from Florence.  A very winding road leads you up to a town that overlooks the sprawling city of Florence below, and that is actually spread across two different mountain peaks.  It’s a town that when you walk it you find the steepest roads and sidewalks you can possibly imagine. 

Downtown Fiesole looks pretty unimposing – 

until you start exploring the climb of the town's twin peaks!

Looking down on Florence from the town’s first peak.

Taken during our descent down from our climb up the first peak of the town of Fiesole.  The large yellow building is the center (and bottom) of town – the buildings in the background rising up the next peak represent the second half of the town.

Taking a quick pause on our hike up to the La Reggia Ristorante for lunch.

La Reggia is a small indoor/outdoor restaurant that serves the best beef 

I have eaten in Italy in the past 8 months – and that is saying a LOT!!  

The food, wine, and service were magnificent.

Convento di San Francesco – This beautiful little church and its missionary
center sit high atop one of the two mountain peaks of Fiesole –
it’s directly above the restaurant where we ate lunch.

City of Lucca

I’m taking a break from posting vacation pictures from last summer to post pictures from our latest adventures.  Apologies for the slow postings – between the considerable time we have devoted to getting ready for our Immigration interview at the Questura, and some of our recent adventures, I haven’t been keeping up.  Our Immigration appointment went pretty smoothly and we are hoping to hear about are approval to remain in Italy within the next month or so, however, due to a conflict with the appointment we had to postpone the start of our Italian lessons until next week.

The next few posts will be of some historic cities we have recently visited.  This one is for the walled city of Lucca, 2hrs west by train from Florence, near Pisa.  A small city, the medieval city center is completely enclosed by a high, wide wall with portas, or arched gates that permit access to the remainder of the city that has expanded outside the wall.  

The city wall rises up to rooftop level for many of the buildings and is wide enough to easily walk and ride bicycles on. 

Angie at one of the wall portas granting access to  the city center.

Inside the wall reveals old buildings and narrow streets.

The basilica at Lucca is quite beautiful, not as large as the ones in Florence but open to the public and very accessible – which is the way churches are supposed to be.

A small city surrounded by mountains, Lucca is off the beaten path and offers a vibe of peace and serenity not found in Florence, as witnessed by Angie below.

Summer Vacation Amalfi Coast Video#3

The following is the third of 3 videos taken during our stay on the Amalfi Coast the last week of June 2012.  This video is a brief clip from inside our “local” bus as we journey the customary 15 minutes down the mountainside from our villa in Montepertuso to the seaside town of Positano.  Apologies for the shaky video – it is no easy task to stand in a crowded bus, clinging to a rail with one hand while trying to operate a video camera phone with the other, as the bus driver weaves around the hairpin turns along the tortuously narrow road while dodging oncoming cars, scooters, and buses – well, you will see what I mean……

Summer Vacation Amalfi Coast Video#2

The following is the second of 3 videos taken during our stay on the Amalfi Coast.  This clip was taken off the terrace of our villa where we stayed the last week of June 2012, and shows the surrounding Apennine Mountains and the town of Positano and the Mediterranean Sea below.

Summer Vacation Amalfi Coast Video#1

The following is the first of 3 videos taken during our stay on the Amalfi Coast.  This one is of our villa where we stayed the last week of June 2012.  The villa was located next to the town of Montepertuso, up in the mountains and overlooking the seaside town of Positano, and the Mediterranean Sea.