Polipo and Pinguino
Secondo: Florence!
Florence: Heart of the Renaissance
Our intrepid explorers started their time in Florence with a bang! A parade with Renaissance garb and instruments greeted them on their first walking tour. What a fitting way to experience the living history of Florence and its connection to the time of da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael. The art in Florence could not be beat and the connection to the past was palpable, but Polipo and Pinguino found that Florence was far from stuck in the past!
In historic Florence, art, architecture, and science seemed to all live by the golden ratio. The harmony of the old city transported the travelers back in time. The legacy of the time of enlightenment was evident everywhere! At the Pitti Palace, we learned you should never cross the Medici because their lions are always hungry!
Food in Florence was some of the best and the travelers wanted to try their hand at it. In a private cooking class, Polipo and Pinguino mastered the art of pasta making and insist on taking over dinner duty every night from now on. (We hope you like pasta!)
Polipo adored the Galileo museum and ate a lot of cannoli and Pinguino fell in love with the Duomo and insisted we climb to Piazzale Michelangelo even though we had already done 8 miles that day! We have to admit, the view was worth the blisters.
Florence: City of Art
Between the awe-inspiring Uffizi Gallery and seeing Michelangelo's David "in the flesh", how could Florence be anything but an art lover's dream?
Magnificent statues around every corner and galleries to stop you in your tracks, Florence showed us the glory of the Renaissance in living, vivid
color.
Engaging and knowledgeable guides took us through vast museums to see the greatest treasures in Florence. There is something to be said for a guide who can teach you to "read" symbolism in pre-Renaissance art with one breath and then tie that to The Devil Wears Prada the next. Bringing art to the modern day while still respecting the lens of the time it was painted is a skill that all of our guides possessed in spades.
Polipo was partial to Botticelli while Pinguino argues no one outdoes Michelangelo himself.
Italy's Great Hill Towns: a side quest
On our way from Florence to Rome, our heroes got an unexpected treat! A side trip to the winery that had been in our tour guide's family for generations. The incomparable Cecilia showed us around this gem in the hills of Umbria and even treated us to a wine tasting and delicious treats to pair with all that dolce vita!
Cecilia taught us so much on this trip but nothing illustrated her lesson on "history lasagna" quite as well as her families winery: Etruscan wine caves dug into the tufa that were then adapted by generations to follow and still in use today.