Room Without a View

The high speed train from Termini Station Rome to Firenze S.M. Novella took about an hour and a half and was smooth and uneventful as we rolled along the sometimes picturesque countryside. (Fast trains don’t necessarily take the “scenic” route.) We arrived midday and decided to brave public transportation to our hotel, located in the Oltrarno neighborhood, on the south side of the Arno and most importantly outside of the hubbub of the historic center. A twenty minute walk along Lungarno Cellini, skirting the river, was all it took to get to the Ponte Vecchio. The three star hotel, described as a “Manor House,” was recommended by Div Biv, who had stayed there on a few occasions. The quirky website offered special direct booking discounts and boasted high ratings from all the usual suspects, Trip Advisor, Hotels.com, Expedia and Google. Upon arrival, the welcoming woman at the front desk was very pleasant and described a long list of amenities. (One of which was a happy hour, from 7-8pm, with free drinks and small bites.) As we would discover, this was a big draw and virtually all the guests would hang out and chat in the comfortable, adjoining, parlor-like spaces. Because we had 7:30pm dinner reservations every night, we were unfortunately unable to avail ourselves of this perk. I inquired if we might be able to get a room with a view, to which she politely responded they were fully booked and that wouldn’t be possible. (They have a total of twenty seven rooms.) Because we arrived before the official check in time, we relaxed with a complimentary cappuccino and pot of tea in the sitting room. After a short wait, we were escorted to our ground floor “Comfort Suite.” The room, by hotel standards, was large, clean and nicely furnished, but when I opened the curtain, discovered it looked out on an enclosed driveway on the side of the building. I was a bit deflated, but T convinced me all was fine and this was just a momentary hiccup that wasn’t going to sidetrack part two of our trip.

We got settled, gathered ourselves and strolled to an enoteca that was located a stone’s throw away from a small church I was most anxious to revisit, Sta Felicita. It’s amazing how a few choice glasses of wine and small plates of nibbles with local ingredients can sooth the soul. Le Volpi el’Uva was listed in a quirky guidebook, whose series “City Secrets” was one I collected religiously over the years. (I have Rome, NYC, Paris, and Florence/Venice.) What makes this particular series so interesting is the entries are a collection of observations by architects, artists, historians, chefs, writers and celebrities. It makes for a refreshing approach compared to normal guidebooks. The wine I ordered by the glass was a Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva. A beautiful Tuscan wine, made with indigenous grapes, its velvety richness was just what I needed to leave the disappointment of the Room Without a View behind. When I inquired about the producer of this lovely wine, I was delighted to learn it was from Fattoria della Talosa. I had fond memories of this scarcely imported Sangiovese wine from a bottle of the 1985 vintage I distinctly remember drinking at the now defunct Little Bear restaurant in Woodstock.

Reset button engaged, we made our way into the church, which reopened at 3pm. Immediately on the right upon entering is the Barbidori Chapel, with two outstanding works by the late Renaissance (or as it was later referred to as Mannerist) painter Jacopo Pontormo. Pontormo, much like Barocci (who I referenced in my previous post) occupy a special spot in my art historical heart. The similarities of these two, lesser known masters, are their unparalleled skill as draftsmen and penchants for deeply insightful, evocative portraits. Their multi figure paintings are balletic in composition and execution. The divergence of style would be Barocci’s pastel palettes and Pontormo’s more vivid, eye-catching color schemes. This particular chapel has and Annunciation on the side wall and Deposition on the main wall. It is the Deposition that is the show stopper. To quote Wikipedia, “its surrealistic dimensions of elongated and entangled bodies and its range of iridescent colours, constitutes one of the most important works of Early Mannerism.” I could stare at this painting for hours. (On our last day in Florence, we repeated the enoteca and revisited the church because it was so nice we did it twice!)

At this point, it was late afternoon and we crossed the jam-packed Ponte Vecchio to the city’s historic center. Florence is culturally claustrophobic. Having an over abundance of riches in terms of palaces, museums and churches in such a geographically condensed space, makes it seem impossible to escape throngs of tourists and groups of American students studying abroad. Seldom do you hear Italian spoken as you explore the small, winding streets. I’m convinced my choice to study in Rome, as opposed to Florence, was driven by this reality and my preference of the Baroque as compared to the Renaissance period in Italian art. Because Rome is physically a larger city, it can somehow absorb the non-Roman population much better. (It’s not lost to me that this is a bit hypocritical as I am both a tourist and an English speaking American.) Braving the crowds, we traversed past the iconic Duomo and its Baptistry to the Church of San Lorenzo. The Cappelle Medicee Princes Chapel is a huge, ornate space with multicolored marble, sculptures and an impressive, frescoed vaulted dome. It serves as a grand mausoleum and crypt for Florence’s most influential family. The main attraction however, was the works by Michelangelo for the Medici Chapel in the Sagrestia Nuova, an absolute masterpiece of architecture and sculpture by the master. Michelangelo lived to the ripe age of 89 and the body of his work as an architect, painter and sculptor is prolific. The tombs of Giuliano and Lorenzo are ostensibly incomplete but there is a Madonna and Child on one tomb while the other two tombs have allegorical figures of Day and Night, and Dawn and Dusk. The female figures of Dawn and Dusk are the ONLY sculpted, female nudes done his entire career. Their depictions would suggest he wasn’t intimately knowledgeable of the female anatomy or chose to make them look rather androgynous on purpose.

Our first meal in Florence was one of the most highly anticipated as a few friends included it on their list of not-to-be missed restaurants. To heighten the excitement, Claire was in Florence for a school field trip, with Friday night being the only overlapping evening. We spun by her hotel (the Hotel California, I kid you not,) and caught a taxi to the outskirts of town and the Trattoria da Burde dal 1901. The front of da Burde is a grocery store, which sells everything from sandwiches, bottles of olive oil, jars of truffles, gum and cigarettes. There are a few cafe tables for in-store cappuccini and espresso. Of course, we arrived early, but as we were escorted to our table, through a web of connecting rooms and dining areas, rapidly populating, we knew we were in for a treat. I’d waited to have Fiorentina bistecca until we found the right spot. Clearly, we had arrived. The meal started in style with a plate of mixed locally sourced meats and crostini with chunky chicken liver. The waiter presented the 1.2 kilo piece of meat for our approval, but not before we split a tasty pasta dish three ways. (Insert “Save room for dessert” here.) I chose a sturdy red from Bolgheri from Podere Il Castellaccio called “Orio” that was a blend of Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Syrah to accompany the meal. It’s not a wine that comes to the states, so that made it all that more alluring. As one would expect in an old school Florentine trattoria, the steak was grilled rare and to perfection. We finished up with a dolce and hopped in another taxi to get home. Our driver was delightfully conversant, by far the most colorful of the entire trip, which help end the evening with big smiles. Every now and then he would emphatically punctuate a story by saying “DOPE!” From top to bottom, da Burde was a dining experience to be remembered.

Planning ahead is necessary if you want to visit the Uffizi Galleries so we secured a 9:45am time slot on our second day. (Thanks to T’s research, we combined that ticket with access to the Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens for our next and last full day in Florence.) The Uffizi is on par with the greatest museums in the world. Because it focuses primarily on Italian works from the 13th to the 18th centuries, it is not as overwhelming as, let’s say the Metropolitan in NYC or the National Gallery in London or the Louvre in Paris in breadth and scope. This is in no way disparaging but my personal opinion. The numerous works of various artists from Lippi, to Botticelli to Raphael are the finest examples of the greatest painters of all time, with room after room of familiar images, lit beautifully and hung with scholarly intelligence. Claire’s class was also at the Uffizi and she joined us in the café for her half and hour break at noon. (We broke all the rules and had cappuccini after 11am, a no no in Italy.) The highlight of the collection for the Lazar/Cruite family was the much beloved Artemisia Gentileschi’s “Judith Beheading Holofernes,” a painting that inspired Claire to write her play “Judith” as a high school senior, which she also directed. We parted ways knowing we would be reunited in Rome after T and I visited Siena in a few days.

The last stop of the day was the Basilica di Santa Croce, the principal Franciscan church in Florence. It’s an impressive structure and mainly known as the burial location of Michelangelo, Galileo, and Machiavelli. The interior of the church is appropriately austere, simple and unadorned. Probably the highlight for me would have been the Giotto frescoes in Cappella Peruzzi, but they were inaccessible as they were being restored. Such is the way in Italy.

Sunday was our day at the Pitti Palace and the Boboli Gardens. The weather forecast called for light rain and clouds, but by timing things right, we managed to have a pleasant day with equal parts inside and outside. The Pitti is a grand old spot, with hundreds of paintings exhibited in the traditional way. That is to say there may be four paintings hung one above the other, with not much breathing space at all. It’s not optimal for viewing as most of the large parlors and ballrooms were not set up to have the paintings and furnishings lit to what we have come to expect with museum like quality. With patience and understanding, the experience is no less exciting, as the collection has a multitude of impressive paintings by all the great Italian masters. For lunch, we stopped by the outdoor market in the Piazza Santo Spirito and bought two lampredotto sandwiches (a local favorite) to enjoy picnicking as we wandered around the gardens and the sun came out capping off an enjoyable afternoon. There was a quick stop into the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine and the Brancacci Chapel (epic works by early Renaissance superstar Massaccio) and a bit of solo shopping for T before our final meal at Osteria dell Enoteca, near the Pitti. Any restaurant with “Enoteca” in its name is alright by me, and this spot was no exception. Without going into too much detail, there was liver and onions and a lovely rabbit dish but two things stood out about this spot. The first was there was no wine list. Instead, there were tall, wide wine fridges lining a hallway to the back of the restaurant with all the bottles lined up by region. (Referred to as the “Wine Wall.”) The waiters, all intimately knowledgeable of the selections, take great pride in “assisting” in the choice of the perfect wine for your meal. (I chose another Vino Nobile by Boscarelli, that I had tasted before but seemed a wise choice with the Secondi Piatti that we’d ordered.) The second was, we noticed that it seemed ALL the English speaking parties were in the front room, but the space which was through the wine hallway, in the back, appeared to have local patrons. I thought we established enough of a rapport with our waiter that I asked him if there was any truth to our observation and his coy smile suggested we were on to something.

We took our final, moonlight stroll down the Arno to our last night in our “Comfort Suite,” and as much as we loved our time in Florence, we were looking forward to our upcoming two days in provincial Siena.

Blog Post Title One

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.

Blog Post Title Two

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.

Blog Post Title Three

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.

Blog Post Title Four

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.