Taking Trips

Great guest.

And Robinson! Nice to have you back. Other than the Uffizi, any good detours in Firenze? Isn't everything pretty much nearby everything else in Florence? Or were you stuck in a secret conference that just happened to be halfway across the globe from the tech hub right down the road from your house?

Samuel Block (View Comment):

Great guest.

And Robinson! Nice to have you back. Other than the Uffizi, any good detours in Firenze?

Here's what I learned about Firenze: Even in the first days of June all the big museums and public areas are jammed--the Ponte Vecchio was as crowded as Disneyland, and I mean that literally--with a single exception: the churches. They're huge, cool (the temperature and humidity outdoors were both high), full of magnificent works of art, and, such is the state of things in this twenty-first century, nearly empty. I spent a lot of time in the Duomo, even more in Sta Croce, a still older structure. In Sta Croce, the side chapels had been frescoed by Giotto, the big crucifix in the sacristy was the work of Cimabue, and St. Francis was present everywhere: in the fragment of his cloak and belt in the church treasury, and in the life-size polychrome portrait of the saint, surrounded by scenes from his life, that dates from the middle of the thirteenth century, just a quarter of a century or so after the death of St. Francis himself. Florentine churches. If you're in search of beauty, and history, and a certain lovely hush, you just can't go wrong.

Samuel Block (View Comment):

Great guest.

And Robinson! Nice to have you back. Other than the Uffizi, any good detours in Firenze?

Peter Robinson (View Comment):

Here’s what I learned about Firenze: Even in the first days of June all the big museums and public areas are jammed–the Ponte Vecchio was as crowded as Disneyland, and I mean that literally–with a single exception: the churches. They’re huge, cool (the temperature and humidity outdoors were both high), full of magnificent works of art, and, such is the state of things in this twenty-first century, nearly empty. I spent a lot of time in the Duomo, even more in Sta Croce, a still older structure. In Sta Croce, the side chapels had been frescoed by Giotto, the big crucifix in the sacristy was the work of Cimabue, and St. Francis was present everywhere: in the fragment of his cloak and belt in the church treasury, and in the life-size polychrome portrait of the saint, surrounded by scenes from his life, that dates from the middle of the thirteenth century, just a quarter of a century or so after the death of St. Francis himself. Florentine churches. If you’re in search of beauty, and history, and a certain lovely hush, you just can’t go wrong.

That's great, Peter. Ars longa, but what about the food? The pizza? The gelato?

J Ro (View Comment):

That’s great, Peter....but what about the food? The pizza? The gelato?

I'm very, very sorry to report that food has never really registered with me. I'm sure the food was good--wonderful, even. Lots of exquisite little helpings of pasta, followed by lovely small, perfect plates of beef or fish, and, once, if I'm remembering this correctly, rabbit. Likewise the wine: very good, I'm sure.

But honestly? I'd have preferred spaghetti and meatballs with a Diet Coke every single time.

Peter, loosen the sweater knot. Savonarola (b. 1452) and Dante (b. 1265) were essentially contemporaries like Abigail Adams (b. 1765) and I (b. 1952) are essentially contemporaries. Breathe, Dude!

Edit: Wrong Abigail Adams. Her daughter Abigail Adams Smith. Make it Eli Whitney instead. These sweaters are dangerous.