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| Michael, in Firenze, July 2012 |
My friend Michael
arrived shortly after Tania and David left for Israel. Michael was my last
visitor and he was a newbie to Firenze but not to Italy. With only 3 weeks left before I headed home, hosting
Michael gave me a chance to be a tourist all over again. Despite the hot
weather, we busied ourselves with visits to the Boboli Gardens, Santa Maria
Novella, Fiesole, the Uffizi (naturally), the Cappella Medici in San Lorenzo, and
even made it to the gym for a workout together.
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| The Palazzo Vecchio and its tower. |
One new
experience I had with Michael was visiting the tower (torre) of the Palazzo Vecchio. I had looked at the tower almost every day
while I was in Firenze because it is the second tallest structure after the
dome of the Duomo, and during the summer months, it’s open to tourists. The torre
served as a lookout, is part of the battlements of the palazzo, has a huge
clock, and also contains two small prisoner cells. The cells were only ever used twice: once to
imprison Cosimo di Giovanni degli Medici (Cosimo the Elder, as he is commonly
known) for a few nights, and then to imprison that nasty priest Savonarola
before he was hanged in the Piazza della
Signoria. It was fascinating to see
this iconic part of the palazzo and I’m glad we walked the 400+ steps to do it!
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| Looking down onto Piazza della Signoria from the torre. |
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| The lagoon, Venice, July 2012 |
Another day, we
hopped on a train for a day-trip to Venezia, because we could and Michael had
never been there before. Venice was not quite as crowded as I expected it to be
for a summertime visit, but it was still bustling with tourists in all the main
spots. We really only had time to do “one
thing” while there, and we chose to see the Palazzo
Ducale (the Doge’s Palace.) I had been
once before, back on my first trip to Italy in the early 1990’s, but is appears
in almost every picture of Venice ever taken.
And with my new, deeper appreciation for Italian art, culture, and
history, the palace was a definite highlight.
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| The Palazzo Ducale, Venice, July 2012 |
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| Inside the Palazzo Ducale. This is the top of the main staircase. |
After only six
short days, it seemed Michael left as quickly as he arrived. With his departure, I had hosted 10 sets of
visitors/15 people during my 9 months in Firenze. I appreciated everyone who came to stay with
me, and I quickly learned that every guest was unique and different, and each
experienced Firenze differently. Having
visitors gave me the opportunity to see Florence and Italy differently than
when I was by myself. I learned new
things about my friends by having them as resident guests, and they taught me
how to be a (hopefully) good host and better friend. Best of all, I got to spend quality time with
the people who are important in my life, and that is the true gift of being the
host.
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The juxaposition of the picture,
taken from the train in Mestre outside of Venice, says it all.
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