Weekend #2 in Florence (continued)

(From 11/16/10)

Last weekend I had the greatest pleasure—showing my two favorite places in Italy to three people I love very much. As if I was not blessed enough to be studying here for three months, I had the added blessing of a visit from my mom and grandparents. They arrived in Florence on a Wednesday, and I met them there after my classes on Thursday afternoon. In case it was not obvious from my previous travel journals, I love Florence, and it is my favorite place in Italy, next to Sansepolcro, of course. The only challenge in going there was deciding which of the outstanding museums and sights to take my family members to see. Eventually, I decided on the Uffizi (because no trip to Florence would be complete without it), the Galileo Science Museum (because it is newly renovated and, I heard, quite lovely), the Pitti Palace (because it is huge and has lots to see), and the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo (because I was longing to visit it). In my previous journal from last week, I talked in depth about my favorite sculpture, Michelangelo’s last Pietà, so now I will try to suppress that ardent love and focus on the many other happenings of the trip.

Seeing my grandparents and, especially, my mom, was very exciting, since I have been away for two and a half months, now. When I arrived on Thursday we spent the afternoon and evening talking, catching up, and enjoying each other’s company. We ate dinner at a fairly decent restaurant downstairs—touristy, but nicer than what I usually eat on my travel breaks (cheap to-go pizza). Friday morning we woke up early and I took mom, Noni and Poppop on their first Italian city bus experience. In the morning we visited the Galileo Science Museum which was, as I had been told, a beautiful new museum and definitely worth the money.

There was scarcely anyone else there, so we were free to enjoy the exhibits in peace and quiet and at our leisure. At most museums, there are usually employees seated in every doorway. I think they might be there to answer questions, but usually they only play crossword puzzles and tell camera-happy tourists they are not allowed to take pictures. At the Galileo Museum, however, there was an extremely friendly and knowledgeable staff member who walked through the exhibits, stopping to explain them to you or anyone else who wanted to hear. This was especially helpful when something was only labeled in Italian, because he spoke nearly perfect English. He also was able to give a much deeper background about each of the things on display than was written on the display itself.

One of the things I learned about was an armillary sphere. This is an incredibly complex spherical instrument that plots the paths of planets and the sun as medieval Europeans envisioned them. It is quite gargantuan, probably around five or six feet in diameter, and is comprised of endless gears and detailed parts. In this model, the earth is in the center, and everything spins around it when a metal crank is turned. This piece was for the Medici and took 40 years to create, a substantial chunk of time to spend on something that would turn out to be incorrect. The irony of it is that, at the time, the man who designed it knew the earth was not the center of the universe, but the sun was. However, because of pressure from the church, he continued to pour his life into something he knew was wrong while he waited for Galileo to finish finding proof of this new, controversial theory. This massive armillary sphere is one of only three in existence, and is a new addition to the museum.

I also saw two telescopes that Galileo himself built. They were only a 30x magnification, but that was enough for him to make observations about the stars and planets that, at the time, were astonishing. For example, he found some of the moons around Jupiter and rings around Saturn, as well as a few other discoveries. He also damaged his vision looking at sunspots on the surface of the sun. In another display case were two of Galileo’s fingers and his tooth. Yes, this was quite a strange exhibit and it surprised me at first. After Galileo was shunned from the church because of his claim that the earth is not the center of the universe, he was given a burial in dishonored cemetery. Later, when everyone realized he was right, they dug up his bones to bury him in a more respected place. At this time, people tried to take fragments of his bones to have as relics, and this is how Galileo lost his fingers and tooth.

Visiting museums was both enlightening and fun, but also very, very tiring. At the end of the day, all four of us were eager to find the bus and return to our hotel. But this was easier said than done. Finding bus stops can be very difficult, as they are often hidden in the most unlikely spots, and figuring out what route to take can be even more confusing. After we walked a good deal we found the bus stop and got on the bus. After a few minutes we reached our destination. However, the bus stopped slightly earlier than I had expected it to and, anticipating another stop, we remained seated and did not get off. It did not stop again, however, but turned around and continued its route’s loop. I thought it would be best to remain on the bus and loop back around, rather than getting off and going through the complicated process of finding another bus. Little did I know that the bus’s complete route took an hour and a half, went in the complete opposite direction we wanted to go, and even went off my map of Florence. Needless to say, we had quite an interesting tour of the city and it’s outskirts. At one point, I began to doubt if we would ever return to our stop, so I asked the bus driver, “Santa Maria Novella?” In response, he laughed. And that is how I knew we were as far away from it as we could possibly be. It is not good news when your bus driver laughs at your questions. But we made the best of it and tried to appreciate seeing a part of the city we hadn’t planned on seeing. It wasn’t exactly the most comfortable ride, mostly because the city buses are very bumpy and rickety, and also have hard chairs. At one point it got to be so bouncy my grandmother laughed through clenched dentures and said, “I’m afraid I’m going to lose my uppers!”

After our Florence adventures, I brought mom, Noni and Poppop to Sansepolcro on Sunday morning. They say it was the highlight of their trip, which makes me happy because it is my favorite, too. We went out to lunch and ate delicious homemade Tuscan food, I introduced them to Sansepolcran friends, Italian caffè, and showed them what the passagiata, or evening walk, is all about. The next morning, they left to go to Naples, Pompeii, and Rome before flying home. It was sad to say goodbye, but easier knowing that I will be home again in a few short weeks. And what wonderful memories we have to share together now!