December 2:
Read some escapist trash in the wee dark hours until I fell asleep again and by the time I woke up again it was daylight. The continental breakfast buffet lived up to its online picture, which was a selling point for this hotel and one of the reasons I picked it over several other. They had multifunction beverage machine (hot cocoa, hot water, espresso etc), cappuccino made-to-order, a pot of café Americano, milk, OJ, bottled water, brioche, hard rolls, several varieties of cereal, yogurt, hardboiled eggs, toast, jelly, a chocolate spread, honey, cheese spread, butter, cold cuts & fresh fruit. For a free continental breakfast I think it was pretty good. I purchased 5 hours of internet access so I was able to do the dead body check via email for DH. ITOT the Biennale had a free internet access with computers but I didn't know about that at the time.
I went walkabout this first day back in Florence; I was here about 30 years ago and I have a very fond memory of eating spaghetti by gaslight at a restaurant on a hill outside the city watching the sunset-just like a painting. The streets were the same narrow cobblestone of memory, but there were differences that were immediately apparent - a lot more graffiti, a lot few cars, a lot more scooters, the carabini were now armed and there were no Roma around at least none that I saw. But Florence is a very old city and the entire downtown is one giant historical district so really, how much different could it be?
Anyway the Fortezza da Basso was where show was held so my first stop was there-it was at least a mile from my hotel which wasn't too bad a walk. Fortezza da Basso is a convention center not a tourist spot so there was no entry. But there was a lovely duck point on the East side of the structure and it was in the mid 50s F so I joined the locals enjoying the park on this sunny day.
On this first day I also went to the Mercado Centrale and was amazed to see dogs in there - I should not have been of course, it's Europe.
I heard I would need a reservation to visit the Uffizi, but I headed that way via San Lorenzo and Piazza de la Signora. In an "It's a small world" vein, I ran across I doctor from Phoenix AZ taking pictures of the statuary. It turned out I was able to walk right into the Uffizi so I once again marveled at Venus on the Half Shell, the Caravaggios, Titians, etc. comparing the chastity of earlier depictions with the somewhat more lusty nudes painted later in the Renaissance. They also have a lot of statues and of course Raphael's etc. but I am not fond of iconography. There was a great view of the River from the third floor of the museum too. Anyway after a whole day of walkabout I went back to my hotel and collapsed again.
After a good rest I woke up and it was about 10 PM so I went roaming around at night. There was a lot more activity that I would have thought for the middle of the week in the off season. Also the city was in the process of decking out for the holidays, but Piazza Repubblica was still much quieter than I recall. The signs in the store windows read Merry Christmas.
Random Art Pictures
Next Day: December 3 Installation Day
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