Firenze (belated)

Here is an account of my experience in Florence, written October 21 on the train on the way back to Perugia:

Sul treno. Firenze was COLD! The weekend got cold of Fri nite, just in time for my arrival. My first night was my favorite. I walked around the city and saw all the monuments lit with the warm glow of city lights. Before sunset, I saw the Duomo and the Baptistry. Oh. My. GOD! I literally stopped in my tracks, my mouth hanging wide open. Such beauty, grandeur, splendor. I spent the better part of 20 minutes just wandering around the colossal thing and gawking.

Statues peeked out from EVERYWHERE on the Baptistry. Mary and baby, flanked by the 12 apostles, crowned the first floor of the building. Delicious green details etched all over the facade - not one inch left undecorated. It took them what, like 6 or 7 hundred years to complete this building? Yes, it's true. The inside was finished first, during Gothic times, while the outside was left for later masters to complete in the 18th century. (dates are wildly apporximate...don't quote me!)

My favorite Firenze moments:

I have never heard such magnificent street music as in Firenze. An opera soloist behind the Duomo. Violin duet near the statue garden of Piazza della Signioria. And my favorite: A young girl singing Italian opera ("Con te partiro'") in the Piazza della Republica, accompanied by an accordion player. It was so moving, i had to buy a cd.

I also had fun dancing on the pavement with this older woman wearing a red sweater. She was clearly in love with her boyfriend, face glowing and shining with the eternal presence of youth. We had fun together, romanticizing the lyric opera with the motions of our bodies.

Meanwhile, in the background, in the night, a merry-go-round spun with a slow song. Something out of a carnival from long ago. I snapped a picture.