Day Five in Florence

Today, Sheryl and I were by ourselves. We had high hopes of getting an early start at the Novecento Museum of more modern art - but alas, it opened at 11:00am. We had purchased tickets to the Duomo Museum but thought that we would sell them - we were a bit on overload. We couldn’t sell our tickets because our tickets didn’t include the epic climb of the Bell Tower. It was about 463 steps! Not that interested in the view but seems like everyone else was. We decided to go ahead and use the tickets ourselves.

What we didn’t know was that the museum held replicas of all the marble statuary located on the outside of the building. There was just no way to see the kinds of details the museum offered on each piece. It was fun reading the history and recognizing faces from other paintings and statures we had seen throughout our Florence touring. Our ticket also gave us access to the Baptistry of San Giovanni as part of the full Duomo experience. Another gorgeous place. I’m running out of superlative.

The Novecento Museum housed a full room of narration on the rise of the right/fascist party and Mussolini in particular in Italy. It started about 8 to 10 years before Hitler’s earliest rise to power. It was chilling to read the slow progression of the erosion of civil and human rights that culminated in Italy’s joining with Germany to create a fascist/white Europe. You can see the clear parallels to what is happening today certainly in the USA but also the rise of fascist, nationalist, and ultra-right wing governments winning election after election around the world. This was three days before the inauguration of Trump. Made me sad.

However, the art was amazing and a needed break from 14th to 18th century art that we were seeing at the churches, palaces, and architecture.

Last stop was the Medici-Riccardi Palace - yes, another palace. This one was incredible. We had heard about a hall of mirrors, and it did not disappoint.

It was nice to spend the day with my sweetheart.Baca selengkapnya