Our group in Florence
Buongiorno from Florence! Tiny Luther here.
What a WUNDERBAR day in this Italian city.
At one time it was a walled city but now, as you can guess, it is not. It runs along the scenic Arno River. This northern region is known as Tuscan.
Florence is a cradle of the Renaissance. Renaissance means "rebirth". The Roman collapse caused dark ages where intellect was not in the forefront of the times. Florence was the center of the Renaissance, especially when it came to art. DaVinci, and other impressive artists worked in Florence 1400-1500.
The Medici family (MED-e-ch-e) was HUGE in this city. The family is known as in Italian banking family and it's political dynasty in Florence, dating back to the 15th century. The family originated in the Tuscan countryside, gradually rising until they were able to fund the Medici Bank. The bank was the largest in Europe during the 15th century, seeing the Medici family gain political power in Florence, funding much of the art coming out of the Renaissance.
Interesting fact, the Medici family had Michelangelo stay in their palace with them. He came here at 6 years old.
Pinocchio is from here, no lie!
Before becoming a part of Italy, it was its own republic. Florence's Old Palace held elections once every 2 months!
But enough of that. On to what we did and saw this day.
First we went to a gold and leather shop called Misuri. There we had a presentation about gold and how to spot real leather while you're shopping.
As far as gold goes, 18k (75.5% purity) is the favorite of Florence. A tip from a Florence jeweler: Never buy gold that already has a price tag on it. It should be priced by weight and craftsmanship.
We had a presentation on how to tell real leather from fake. Real leather will be soft and on the back will be suede. If it's fake it will be soft and shiny on both sides. Italian leather is made of lamb skin or goatskin because of it's soft texture.
We had some of our group model some of the fine Italian fashion for us, as you can see below.
Then we had some lunch. Real, Italian spaghetti and lasagna. Mama Mia! Very tasty! Fun fact: The first written account of a tomatoe in Italy dates to 1548 in Tuscany.
Door of Paradise-bible stories on it for the poor because they did not have bibles and many could not read.
Then we went in straight to Acccademia Gallery to view Michelangelo's The David. We saw beautiful pices in all the gallery, including some unfinished works by Michelangelo. But the highlight of it all was seeing the 14 ft. tall work The David.
Quite frankly, it was breathtaking. To see God's work flowing through the artist's hand is something quite spectacular. Standing 14 feet high and with 5.5 tons (12,478.12 lbs!!!) in weight, it was made of one single block of marble from the quarries in Carrara in Tuscany, one of the whitest in the world.
One of the children on the tour, Annabelle, asked why he wasn't wearing a robe. Answer: David is nude because in the time of the Renaissance nude meant perfection, or purity.
Want to know more? Read the full article on Michelangelo’s David to read about the creation of the statue and the story of its meaning.
Here are some pictures by Herr Pastor Aaron.
We finished the day with dinner at the hotel and walking around on our own. See some pics here, but more at https://palphotos.smugmug.com/Europe2017/Florence.
But "Martin".......how's the vino??
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