I slept a little on the overnight train to Firenze and we arrived at 5:45 AM. After a lot of kerfuffling we booked into a pensione in a nice old place near Ponte Vecchio
We had a bit of a look around and then after a passeggiata had dinner at La Mangiatoia restaurant, a local trattoria near the Pitti Palace. We found a disco and decided to go. It costs 20 mL each plus a drink - it was a real scene and so we left after one hour - not our cup of tea.
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| Dining on the rooftop terrace |
The next day I woke up at 10 AM! After hasty breakfast we went to Palazzo Pitti (modern gallery) and Fort Belvedere for a great view over Firenze. We had lunch on the rooftop terrace of La Scaletta and then after a rest it was passeggiata time again. The place was really busy then with people everywhere.
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| La Mangiatoia |
We had dinner again at La Mangiatoia (good again) and chatted with three guys sitting at the next table: left to right Michele, Savarino (Who did all the talking) Antonio, and the waiter Salvatore.
Almost everything was closed and so we spent most of the morning walking around Firenze. I rang my mum in Australia, but I had a headache for most of the day so I had a lie down-in the afternoon. We change rooms to a single which is much quieter.
We had dinner at Trattoria Casalinga (a real locals trattoria) which had good food and very reasonable prices. Of course we then had to join the passeggiata and have some gelato.
As part of my purpose for the trip we to visit ethnographic collections, but had no luck with the curator, Curuzzi. I decided to go to the University Museum to try and see the collection but still had no luck. In desperation, I rang the director, Professore Furieri, who gave permission, but Curuzzi still wouldn't let me in! Really depressing.
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Renovations at
Palazzo Vecchio |
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| A little disappointing |
I rang the Basel Museum and that scheduled visit seems OK to go ahead. Together, the three of us visited the Ufizzi Gallery and although the art was there, presentation was minimal. It looked more decrepit then I remembered from the 1970s.
We also visited Palazzo Vecchio, but there was lots of restoration/renovation going on and it just didn't remind me of the Firenze I saw 12 years ago. I was still feeling seedy - maybe because of a virus.
We had dinner in another Trattoria, Quattro Leoni (very close to La Scaletta) which was the cheapest yet. The food was not bad and again, a very local style.
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| San Miniato |
I rang Professore Furieri to try to get to the University Museum but he still said it was up to Curuzzi who wasn't available until tomorrow morning. We decided to walk up to San Miniato – a church and monastery on a hill overlooking Firenze and meeting a place of young couples and some not so young.
I took some photos, of the scenery, and then had to wait for it to open. We lunch at the Parlour of Florence, a cafe overlooking Firenze where we had a slice of pizza and a cappuccino. The church was interesting and in that it split into two levels inside.
We went to La Mangiatoia again that evening but Salvatori wasn't there – he appeared late and half asleep, and proceeded to drop things until he woke up!
I rang Curuzzi but she wasn't available!! Today I took a different tack and approached photographic sections, firstly at the Ufizzi and then the Museum Archeologico. The staff were friendly and open after their initial reluctance to entertain a stranger. They showed me thier work areas and equipment and it was great to compare experiences in photographing ethnographic material and managing photographic documentation and retrieval. The day was most productive and a great morale booster after the last few days. It was also a welcome change to be alone for a day. My Italian has improved although grammatically it's still terrible. I feel more confident conversing now and less worried about mistakes. We ate again at Casalinga and then Len and I went for a gelato at the usual place "Queen Victoria". I intended take a photograph of the girl there, she was very Italian – unfortunately I never did.
Ufizzi Gallery:
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| Copy camera in the Ufizzi Gallery |
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| Enlarger and darkroom |
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| Staff at the Ufizzi |
Museum Archeologico:
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| Searching via contact sheets |
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| The filing system |
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| Museum Archeologico Photographers |
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| Len is the one standing |
The next day we went to the Bardini Museum which was a church converted into a palace during the Renaissance, then Len and I went on to the Capella Santa Croce.
We then went to the Museum Archeologico which was not as extensive as I expected, mainly Egyptian mummies, Etruscan and Roman bronzes. It included an exhibit occupying the first floor of the five year reconstruction of a bronze man and horse.
It rained in the afternoon so not very much got done, just a bit of reading. We all then had dinner at Casalinga I Hope to leave tomorrow for Roma if the trains are running. I sat for awhile in a nice park Piazzo Massimo D’Azeglio which was a welcome change from walking and dodging traffic. I also sent some postcards back to family and friends in Australia.
The following day, I finally got to see the University Museum – it was worth the wait. It was huge, 26 rooms, and a great collection of material culture of the past two centuries from all over the world. Although it was forbidden I took two rolls of photos with the Ricoh camera and made whatever notes I had time to. The information I gathered there proved useful for the staff back at the Australian Museum. It particularly confirmed the common practice by explorers such as Ugo Biondi who exchanged cultural material collected from different parts of the world to aid academic research and for teaching purposes. Most of the ethnographic material on display from Melanesia, Polynesia and Australia would have been acquired in this way rather than having been collected in the field.
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| Material donated by Ugo Biondi |
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| Aboriginal material |
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| Malagan from New Ireland |
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| One of the display rooms |
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| A map of "Kook's" voyage |
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| From Capt. Cook's 3rd voyage |
I parted ways with Len, Roge and Michaela who would be making their own way to Roma over a couple of days while I travelled straight there by train.
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| Sabrina Fusco |
My suitcase weighed a ton so was quite an effort to navigate the station and platforms to catch the afternoon train. Fortunately, I chatted with a young secretary named Sabrina Fusco who was sharing the carriage which made the trip pass more quickly.
When I arrived at Roma Termine it was the usual chaos and I was tired, so I took a chance and used one of the many commission guides touting accommodation outside the station who took me to the Hotel Valee in Via Cavour.
