Another sunny and exceptionally hot day was on tap for our last full day in Italy.
After eating hotel breakfast, we found a spiral staircase that led up to a secret roof room that looked out over the Duomo.
There was this kid there too....
There had been "Extreme High Temperature" warnings in effect for just about every day that we had been in Italy. It was more of the same for this day.
It just kept getting hotter and hotter.
As we walked to our first destination, we noticed ambulances lined up in the Piazza del Duomo.
There is no shade where the lines grow to enter attractions in the piazza.
People could be standing in full sun for an hour or more.
It was nice to see them prepared to help if needed.
It was also scary to realize that it was going to be THAT hot.
I had to research this one as I had seen the gentleman in this painting before.
Turns out I stumbled into the world of "Blub", a street artist based in Florence.
Who knew?
You can buy his art here!
This is "Portrait of a Young Man" by Vannucci.
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This is "Portrait of a Young Man Underwater" by Blub.
Ha!
I had to research that piece of street art because it was annoying me that I couldn't figure out the original art. I stumbled into the world of "Blub", a street artist based in Florence.
Who knew?
You can buy his art here!
As we were walking, we saw a British couple get scammed by a bracelet selling dude.
They stopped to admire a bracelet.
The dude slipped it on the ladies arm and then demanded payment.
As we were walking away, they were politely telling the scammer that they didn't have cash to pay for the bracelet and the scammer was making a scene.
Moving on.....
Our first stop of the day was the Museo Nazionale del Bargello.
Originally built as a police barracks and prison (people were executed in that courtyard you see below), it was converted into a museum in the 1800's.
The entire building retains its medieval/Renaissance charm.
The third floor of the building was dedicated to bronze and terracotta works.
Here's a bunch of birds.
This room housed giant religious terracotta wall hangings.
Crazy.
So fragile.
This was a whole room full of hundreds and hundreds of bronze figures.
There was quite the display of coins on the third floor as well.
I took a picture of these not because they were portraits of twelve Roman emperors, but because you could see how fat and lazy they got over the years.
No air conditioning in this place.
Unless you count the windows.
Is there any picture that says "Italy" more than this one?
Jeez.
The second floor of the building had a few gorgeous, vaulted ceilings.
This room was an old chapel.
Alrighty.
Let's get to the reason we were here!
THREE MORE DAVIDS!
Yes. Three!
There are lots of incarnations of David.
And, since you're reading my blog, you're going to learn about three more.
BWA-HAHAHAHAHAHA!
As a recap, so far you have met....
"Superman David" by Bernini
And "JoJo David" by Michelangelo.
Let me introduce you to a marble David by Donatello.
Donatello sculpted this in his early 20's.
This rather safe interpretation was commissioned by a church.
Because of his ordinary and not very exciting presentation, he has been dubbed, "Boring David".
Now, THIS is the David you most likely associate with Donatello.
Quite a striking difference from Donatello's early attempt at David.
It is the first unsupported bronze sculpture of the Renaissance, AND the first fully nude male sculpture since Greek and Roman times.
In celebration of his unique sense of style - a flamboyant brimmed hat, knee high boots AND NOTHING ELSE! FABULOUS! - and his confidant swagger, he has been named "Foppy David".
Check out that buh.....
......buh-rootal double edged sword!
He was very selfie worthy.
Out of the five, this is by far the youngest representation of David.
It is rumored that Verrocchio used his young pupil, Leonardo DaVinci, as a model for this sculpture.
How old do you think David is in this depiction?
I would say thirteen, maybe.
And, as such, he shall forever be known as "Percy Jackson David".
Which is your favorite David?
There were a few other amazing sculptures around the large room.
This is Saint George, by Donatello.
A bronze Flying Hermes by Giambologna.
Bacchus by Michelangelo.
Notice the slight pot belly.
Say hello to Cosimo I de Medici.
You've read a lot over the course of these Florence blogs about Cosimo the Great.
I'm thinking that the Medicis would not appreciate our renaming of the Davids.
"Cosimo is NOT amused."
The guy below looked way too familiar.
Remember that large dude on a turtle in the Boboli Gardens?
This is the SAME guy!
With the help of the label below and a little research, we learned that Morgante was his name.
Morgante was the most famous and well-loved little person jester in the court of Cosimo I.
He spent his time entertaining at the Palazzo Pitti.
The Medicis loved him so much they commissioned this bronze by Giambologna of him riding a sea monster as well as the sculpture of him loving life on the back of the turtle in the garden.
It was already hot.
We decided to enjoy the shade and sit in the courtyard of the Bargello for a bit.
We spotted this helicopter flying over head.
We opted for an early lunch.
On our way there, a bracelet guy tried to get Mikey to acknowledge him by smiling, reaching out a hand as if to shake his and yelling happily at him,
"CIAO, SALAM ALAYKUM, WHERE ARE YOU FROM?"
Mikey, wise from seeing the travails of others, did not engage and kept walking.
We decided to hit up Mr. Pizza for lunch again.
We weren't very hungry due to the heat, so we shared two pizzas.
It was just as yummy as the first time.
Katie had some GF tiramisu.
We hid in the hotel room for a bit and watched Food Network.
We watched a show called "Fatto In Casa Per Voi" - "Homemade for You".
She made this Italian pasta sauce, called amatriciana, that we had fallen in love with. I took a picture of the ingredients on the screen.
I have yet to recreate it fully. Sigh.
On Italian Food Network they played the same commercials over and over.
There was the coffee machine commercial and then this one for a duster that uses static to attract dust to it and it fits EVERYWHERE.
That afternoon, we had an appointment to visit the Medici Chapels which are nested into the Church of San Lorenzo.
The entrances to the chapels were located in an underground floor of the church.
It was SO NICE AND COOL in there.
We took our time wandering and looking at all the displays.
Most of them were relics of saints.
Remember those?
They are pieces and parts, like bones, teeth, peices of cloth.
Some were extra fancy.
The first of the Medici tombs that we entered was called the New Sancristy.
This mausoleum was designed and crafted by Michelangelo himself.
It was specifically to house two Medicis, each having his own tomb.
Lorenzo, flanked by Dusk and Dawn.
Giuliano flanked by Night and Day.
With conflicting projects and political upheaval and drama, the mausoleum was never completed.
Recently, they discovered a side room that is thought to be a Michelangelo Man Cave.
In it, they found graffiti sketches on the walls.
The dome overhead was pretty.
"MORE Michelangelo? WHAT?!?!
Bro was busy."
We left the New Sancristy and headed into the Chapel of the Princes.
If you could think of the most lavish, over the top, tomb for the Medicis, THIS would it.
Yes. This is real.
The entire room is covered with marble. Most of it imported from foreign countries. That was a big deal back then. Foreign marble equals RITZY!
Bronze and gold were everywhere, as were inlaid precious stones.
When we visited, most of the bronze sculptures of the six Grand Dukes interred here and the family crests above them had been removed for restoration.
The actual remains of them, and their families reside in a crypt below the floor.
You can get a sense of scale by looking at the people in the photo below.
Underneath each statue is a "pillow" with a crown nested on it. The pillow tops an ornate sarcophagus.
Check out the stones embedded in the pillow.
Yowza.
The Medici family crest inlaid into the marble flooring.
When we were done basking in the glory of the Grand Dukes of Florence, we headed out into the wicked heat.
We decided to see if the line to enter the archaeological site at the Duomo would be nonexistent because it was so hot.
The lines were still there.
The one to get into the archaeological site wasn't too bad.
We couldn't bring in bags, so Huzbend dropped our backpack off at the hotel.
It was only a few minute walk away.
We got in line, hid under an umbrella and waited about 10 minutes.
As we were standing in line, the guys selling scaves found me.
I was wearing a sleeveless shirt and capri pants.
Church rules require you to have your shoulders and knees covered when entering.
They kept harassing me and telling me that I wouldn't get in while imploring me to buy one of their scarves to wrap around my shoulders.
I refused.
I was not going to buy their dumb scarves because they were so pushy and annoying.
If the church didn't let me in, so be it. Huzbend or Katie could take pictures.
You can't imagine how persistent they were.
The 10 minutes in line was an eternity.
It turns out, security didn't bat an eye and let me in.
Hmph.
This is the ancient basillica of Santa Reparata.
Underneath the still standing Santa Maria del Fiore cathedral and its dome above can be found literal layers of time.
The current cathedral was built upon the ground that housed an early 4th century Christian church named Santa Reparata.
That means back during ROMAN times.
Here's a fancy peacock mosaic.
There were also mosaics dedicated to named sponsors of the church.
As the archaeologists dug down to the Roman layer, they realized that the church had been rebuilt at least four times through the ages.
The tomb of someone who died a long, long time ago.
There were lots of tombs down here.
Through a hole in one of the walls, I spotted the coolest of all reliquaries we had seen so far.
A skull.
Who's was it? We'll never know.
(I tried to research it and was led to many dead ends. Pun intended)
After visiting the archaeological site, we stepped outside and just about melted.
This was the tempurature.
Crapola.
GELATO!
We took a quick detour and hit up a local GROM gelato store.
After a little chilly pick-me-up, we slunk back to our hotel to hide from the intense heat.
Katie took the opportunity to take a bath in the giant tub.
She then took a nap.
I was busy trying to check in for our Air France/Delta flight the next day.
It kept having me scan our passports and then did not register them.
I scanned them over and over and over.
UGH.
It was frustrating.
Finally, I was able to get it to work and to check in.
As the sun slowly began to sink behind the buildings, we headed out to get dinner.
We walked back past the Basilica di San Lorenzo, the church that housed the Medici Chapels.
We were pretty sure that we ended up at the wrong restaurant.
There were two restaurants right next to each other, both with "Lorenzo" in the name.
The first restaurant we stopped at was like, "Why, yes! Yes. That's us." and ushered us right in.
Oh well.
The place we ended up was called La Piazzetta di Lorenzo.
Only after arriving home and looking at Google Maps did we realize that both restaurants were the same restaurant.
One is just indoor seating and the other open-air.
La Piazzetta was the open-air spot.
Katie ordered a hot chocolate with her meal.
A. HOT. Chocolate.
Remember the 100-degree heat?
Says Katie,
"NO MATTER!
I will drink chocolate. And, signore, make it HOT!"
Italian hot chocolate is thick.
Almost like melted pudding.
The waiter lamented her cup being so plain and asked to add whipped topping to it.
Katie did not say no.
Mikey had direct sight of the table behind us which, according to him, contained, and I quote, "Leonardo DiCaprio with an English accent and a guy that looked like Goose from Top Gun with their girlfriends."
Katie's concurs on "Leo" but says she thought the other guy looked like, "Deputy Dewey from Scream".
Apparently, "Leo" had fabulous hair and had his button-down shirt open to show off his chest. He was also wearing gold chains.
Mikey ordered the meatiest of all meat sauces.
I ordered four cheese gnocchi.
Sadly, I don't have picture of what Huzbend ordered.
And Katie ordered the...
Fried chicken fillet and French fries.
Ugh.
To her credit, it didn't really sound like it would just be a big flat fried chicken piece on the menu.
Katie selected to have a "basket of phyllo pastry with cream and seasonal fresh fruit".
Mikey once again chose the cantuccini and avoided the vin santo.
I had...something.
I have no idea what this is.
I'm sure it was yummy.
We headed back to the hotel early to shower and pack up.
Before we did, we asked Mikey to take a photo of us.
Came out pretty nice.
