Today we got to sleep late (8am) and had the worst breakfast ever at the new hotel. They have only a few things that are available and the things that are available are unappetizing because they have been lying out all morning with the patio door open and flies landing on things. Our AC doesn’t really work either and there is more and more heat coming our way this week. then get ready to go to the Duomo in Florence. John had to go to the train station to
get the tickets for Pisa trip while we went down to see the doors on the Baptistry. Ghiberti’s doors of paradise are copies, his other doors only showed 3 panels of the 40 in the doors, and Pisano’s doors on the 3rd side were not shined at all and dark. I honestly didn’t take many pictures of the doors because I figured we’d be seeing the real doors later in the day at the museum, but guess what?
Florence has closed their museum of the duomo to build a bigger museum and none of their treasures are on display anywhere now. Was the price of the ticket reduced? NO! Was this information available on their website that we checked many times before coming here? NO! Thanks Florence. Not only can I not take pictures anywhere, but you won’t even put the things that you do have on display on display. So, we went
through the duomo, and got in line to climb the dome. John and I had been reading about this dome in book club and while he climbed it last time, I did not. 463 curling, winding, steps to the top. The only time to really stop and look around is when you come out in a tiny circular walkway around the painted part
of the dome. I got yelled at to keep going, but this was my favorite part, being this close to the painting that you can’t really see from below.
The readings about the dome helped me out because we could recognize a lot of things that Brunelleschi did to make this dome within in a dome work like big cross beams, herringboned bricks, things like that. Florence started this cathedral not knowing how to complete it and even once they figured out how to put the dome on, it was still 300 years before the façade of
marble got put on the front. Now, they play a constant game of upkeep on this beautiful building. I wonder if our culture could ever even comprehend building something and waiting for the solution instead of throwing it up like a strip mall and tearing it down again when it doesn’t look good anymore. I mean this town worked on this one building for over 500 years
Some amazing
views from the top of the dome, but I have to say that one of my thoughts when
I got to the top was, “good, I don’t ever have to do that again in my life”.
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