La Dolce Vita Part 2
Trip Start
May 24, 2005
1
10
25
Trip End
Ongoing
Florence,
Italy
Sunday, June 12, 2005
Our couple of hours in Verona over we were on the train to Florence. Having spattered the trenItalia with bread crumbs, we shame-facedly got out in what must be one of THE most beautiful cities in the world. Yes, we add our names to the ever-growing list of people who have strolled past the Palazzi, spent hours in the galleries and parks, eaten in the restaurants, subscribed to Italian courses and taken art classes and wondered, sighing, why we hadn't chosen to come here for a university year abroad.
The Uffizi, Galleria del'Academia, the Gardens of Boboli and the Ponte Vecchio aside, there is plenty to distract and attract. In addition to sightseeing, we managed to squeeze in a few Italian lessons at the highly commendable Academia del Giglio (thanks guys for fitting around our camping schedule!) and a couple of Life Drawing sessions at an exceptional art studio on the south bank of the Arno.
We were particularly enchanted by the Cemetery at Piazzale Donatello. Stuck in the middle of the roundabout, the land on which the graves of Elizabeth Barret Browning and many another foreign poet, sculptor, princess and sanitary reformer are slowly deteriorating was bought in the early 19th century by the Swiss church so that the bodies of protestants no longer had to be carted to the 'gardens' at Livorno (a stinking task in the heat of summer).
Sadly, the last of the myrtles and herbs have been removed from the once-landscaped plot, and the graves are roped off with red and white tape to prevent the occasional visitor, intrigued by the inscriptions, being felled by crumbling marble.
And after the wine...
Although the Swiss church no longer has the funds - or will - to keep the cemetery from completely disintegrating, one woman is leading a modern crusade to maintain the memory of those Russians, Prussians, Brits and Americans whose bodies lie in this neglected corner of Florence.
Sister Julia Bolton-Holloway has worked hard to bring together supporters under the umbrella of the "English Cemetery in Florence" society. She hopes that with donations and the sale of books and cds (a limited edition of 250 books of Elizabeth Browning's poetry have been personally bound by Sister Julia and her helpers using paper marbled with Irish seaweed) and the help of students from Florence's school of marble restoration, this historical gem (the earth continues to yield pieces of Roman and medieaval pottery) will survive for generations to come. For more information on the cemetery and interesting places to visit in Florence, try www.florin.it (we hope it works - when we tried it wasn't the right site at all!)
Beyond Florence, we took the advice of a fellow dish-washer at the campsite tap (another recommendation - Camping Michaelangelo may be some trek up the hill on the south side, but the view from our tent encompassed the Duomo, Palazzo Vecchio and the sprawl of terracotta rooves) and spent a Sunday visiting Lucca (v. posh with lots of expensive antiques) and Pisa to the west. After a day's walking we were delighted to find a patch of fresh grass at the foot of the leaning tower and took the requisite naff photos of us propping up said monument.
On another recommendation (this time from almost everyone we met) we said our goodbyes to Florence and made for Siena.
Eoghan helps to hold up Pisa's tower
The day we arrived there was a bus strike and the uphill struggle was made even sweatier by Helen insisting we go in the wrong direction, fitting in a couple of circles, before our guardian angel - a girl from Rome who had spent a year in, of all places, Eoghan's homeland Inish Eoghan in Donegal. If only the place she lead us to had been heavenly. Colleverde campsite was a huge disappointment, but at least there was a great pizza place nearby. The next morning we shook the aches from our bones and sped down to the centre of town. Remarkable. Remarkable. We only had time to visit the Duomo and its acres of marble etchings on the floors and walls, paintings, books embossed in the fifteenth century with gold leaf. We would have stayed longer but an accident involving heavy consumption of prunes dictated our departure.From Siena, one luxury bus ride followed by another bus journey - during which the driver spent more time checking out the ladies in the rear view mirror than he did checking ut the road ahead - and we dropped our bags at the door of Eoghan's aunt Subby and uncle Massimo in Umbertide. A huge vote of thanks goes out to the whole family who moved beds, rustled up feasts and generally went out of their way to make us feel at home. Thanks also to Marco, Matteo and Romina who introduced us to the Medieaval festival in Bevagna where, seated at tressle tables on cobbled streets, we ate enough salted breads, meats, sweet cakes and drank enough delicious wine to tide us over til the ferry ride to...
Well, where to? would it be Croatia, Albania, Greece...? Tired, slightly woozy, but very happy we agreed to leave the decision to the ultimate moment...
Comments
Grazie from the school!
Ciao ragazzi!
siamo quelli dell'Accademia del Giglio. Grazie per i complimenti alla scuola (the photo of the stairs is not the best I've seen...). We are following you on the internet.
Take care.
Cecilia, Roberto e Lorenzo