Friendship, as I explained in an earlier post is as important as family. You simply cannot put a price on good friendship. With that in mind, that call from my friend Richard to check if we were ok was most welcome. For those who are learning Italian, then please note that the Italian for ok, is ‘ok’.Anyway, Richard's call to us at Hotel Residence GRIFONE at Via Gaetano Pilati, in Firenze was really appreciated. We know that there is not much that he could have done to help us, but the fact that he placed the call, shows the friendship.
I was pining for ‘the Beast’ this morning. Like a lost child, I wanted him to return home. I know that he will be lonely in the garage near the Airport. I also know that a Volvo main dealer will take good care of him. But however hard they try, no one looks after what is important to you, as well as you will look after them.
We could have stayed in and pined away, but I insisted that we put our best foot forward. It was a case of, English stiff upper lip and all that. We headed for Fiesole via the Number 14 bus to Marco Square and the Number 7 bus up the hill. Our destination being the Citta Di Fiesole and the Civic Archaeological Museum. The site contains a cafe, Museum, Roman Baths, temples from different periods and an amphitheatre. Entry to the site cost us 24 Euro. The ice-cream cost us another 4 Euro and the drinks in a shop nearby 4 Euro 20 Cents. But the historic site is breathtaking. We followed our ice-cream with the picnic and drinks from the local bakery at 11 Euro, and politely thanked the lady for cutting my Prune cacen into four slices. As a whole slice it would have been a disaster, but as four bits it was easy to handle and more importantly easy to share with Pauline.
The sun beat down on us today, and once or twice we had to find a chair to sit and rest. It is a pity that the Roman Baths had not been filled with water. Can you imagine what a tourist attraction that would be? The Baths had an entrance porch, a cleaning area, a shaded area, bathing pools, cooler room, medium heat room and a hot room with the ovens behind and the heat coming in under the floor. A bit like a modern sauna, but the difference being that, instead of you controlling the heat by turning a dial, you control the heat by moving from room to room.
And on the subject of movement, it was astonishing to note how geared up the site in Fiesole is to the disabled. This is an historic site which has modern devices strategically placed so that they are not intrusive or divisive. Well done to the designers of grounds of the Fiesole historic site. The (what I believe to be) Germanic artwork did nothing for me. In my opinion it did not add anything to the ruins and its setting. In many ways the modern artwork distracted from the relevance of the historic site. It came across as if someone had unnecessarily tried to add something to something that was already perfect.
We dropped back down to the city via the Number 7
This time it was to Chiesa di SS Annunziata. This is a stunning church with a humble almost civic building frontal facade. The entrance area had some superb fresco’s and the stonework in the scene on the one in the right hand corner takes on a three dimensional look. The quality of the artwork is so good, that I had to place my head against the wall and check that the paint had been applied to a flat surface.
Inside the church, we both lit a candle, but for different reasons.
I then wandered amongst the astonishing artwork, and remembered to look up to the ceiling now and again. Everywhere you look, you are faced with an item of beauty. It must be so inspirational to worship inside a building that contains so many outstanding pieces of art.
European touring important points:
You can’t do enough planning
Today’s important points were:
Buy cheap and buy twice
Watch out for double service charge i.e. setting your place, and % charge
