The Art of Begging

A regular in Piazza Maggiore

 “Begging is much more difficult than it looks. 

Contrary to popular belief, it’s a high art form 

that takes years of dedicated practice to master.” 

~ Sol Luckman

Begging—or beggars—are a problem all over Bologna, but I should point out that Bologna is not alone in facing the problem.  I haven't been to any large city in any country, including my own, that does not have a problem with beggars. Those of you in Las Vegas will probably agree that we have more than our share all over the city, not just on the Strip. In other words, it's nothing new, but I want to talk about the ones in Bologna a bit tonight.

Il cowboy

I think I mentioned before that there seems to be a "beggars' code of honor," if you will.  Everyone has his or her own place, and they don't impede on each other's turf.  The gypsy woman in the photo at the top of this post seems to get around, though.  I see her in Piazza Maggiore a lot, but on market days, she works Via d'Independenza, too.   She stays away from the cowboy (photo above), though.  Every Saturday and Sunday, he dons his terra cotta paint-covered clothes and make-up and stands for hours in the middle of the street for tips. (The city closes the two main streets, Strada Maggiore and Via d'Independenza, to all but bike and pedestrian traffic all day Saturday and Sunday.)

The bubble blower setting up.

The cowboy is just one of a number of people who dress up to get money from anyone.  There are two or three guys who stand in Piazza Maggiore every afternoon and blow bubbles (photo above).  They don't exactly blow bubbles. They have a bucket of soapy water into which they dip rope on sticks. They then flip the ropes, and huge bubbles appear (photo below).  Crowds form. Kids run to break bubbles.  People take photos. Buskers get euro.

The bubble blower in action

Usually I just walk by beggars, or I'll say, "No." I was saying, "No, grazia," but I started thinking that I shouldn't thank them for my refusing to give them money.  If one seems to be a little aggressive, I say, "Nein. Nein."  It sounds a little more abrupt than a plain, old, "No."

I should explain that by aggressive, I mean that they get into your face or interrupt you personally. I've been here five weeks, and the same guy is always standing on the same corner no matter when I walk by.

"Please, signora," he pleads. "Some euro." He's not aggressive, and I just walk by now.

Another guy has been standing outside of the grocery in the afternoon lately, and he will walk right up to me (and anyone else).

"Can't you give me your change?" he asks.  That, to me, is aggressive, so I answer, "Nein! Nein!" because, as I mentioned a few weeks ago, German sounds a little more terse.  I also have stopped going to that market if I see him hanging around.

Get your own corner, Dude.

I had the unique experience of witnessing two arguments between beggars today.  The first was rather gentile, as arguments go.  I was walking through the old section of town when I heard one guy yelling at another (photo above).  The guy sitting down is always on that particular corner, and the guy standing was trying to beg from just a few feet away. The seated guy got a little perturbed and told the other one to find his own place.

Interestingly, the interloper is the same guy that I saw another beggar yelling at about two weeks ago for the exact same thing on a different corner a few blocks away.

I decided today to have lunch out.  I have not eaten in a restaurant except for cappuccino and pastry for a month, and I thought I would enjoy lunch in Piazza Maggiore.  I also wanted to take photos of people walking by, so the restaurant afforded me a good spot from which I could do it.

I had just started eating when a young gal dressed in white and with white paint on her face walked up to the table.

"Signora," she said, "some euro?"  I shook my head.  "Some centavos?"  She put her hand close to my face.

"Nein. Nein." I said, and she moved to the next table and asked the guy sitting there for money.

"Nein," he said a little loudly.  She shrugged and left, and he said something in German to me.  Oops.  I just smiled.  The waiter brought out my food, saw the girl walking up to another table, and yelled at her.

"Get out," he insisted. "Let our patrons eat in peace. You know you can't come here."

I was in the middle of my lunch when I heard shouting about 20 or so feet away from me. I looked up to see the gal in white standing by two gypsies who were obviously not happy with one another (photo above).  I have no idea what they were fighting about, but the gal in yellow was the really angry one.  She kept screaming something I couldn't understand, and the other one would answer with something I didn't understand.  Neither was speaking in Italian, as far as I could tell.

The gal in white continued to hold her hands on her hips and just stand there until the Yellow started to get physical.  If you look closely, you can see that Yellow had a bottle in her left hand. It wasn't water, believe me. She was shaking her fist and moving toward the lady in blue who, by that time, had stopped speaking all together.  (To be honest, Yellow was so upset and so loud Blue would never have gotten a word in edgewise anyway.)  What you can't see, by the way, is a man standing a little behind White-face. He was part of the quartet, I guess, because when Yellow and Blue started circling, he and White-face held Yellow back.

The guy and White-face had to drag Yellow away. They pulled her to a little courtyard area, and Blue walked silently away in another direction.  From the courtyard, Yellow continued to scream for at least six or seven more minutes. I'd love to know why and what she was screaming, but that will remain mystery.

Five Fun Friday Facts: Markets

Guaranteed Made in Italy scarves that I've seen in the US (Made in PRC)

 "You're not spending money there.

It's all just a bunch of crap*"

~Unknown American Tourist

1. Most cities and towns hold a weekly market. Some may be food only while others may be a combination of food and goods. Others, including the Bologna market, are goods only.


The Red Bus passes the plaza where Bologna holds its weekly market on Friday and Saturday.  Since I was on the bus Saturday, the market was in full swing as we drove by.

"Oh, my gosh!" An American woman said to her husband. "We'll need to find our way back there." You may recall that I mentioned the Red Bus driver didn't make the appointed stops on his route, so the tourist knew she'd have to walk back.

"You're not spending money there," her husband retorted. "It's all just a bunch of crap."  I started laughing and couldn't stop. The first thought that went through my mind was that he was right, and he partially is right. He's also partially wrong.

Need a hat?

I've shopped a lot of the weekly markets in Italy, and the number and variety of products that the vendors sell never ceases to amaze me. I've gone to the Bologna market every week that I've been here, and I've noticed that many of the items are the same, but that many of the items have changed as the season changes. 

For example, when I arrived at the beginning of August, most of the clothing was either cotton or linen, short-sleeved, and lightweight. Last week, long-sleeved and heavier clothing appeared.  A few booths were even selling those bubble-type winter jackets.  Scarves, suspiciously absent for a few weeks, are now all over the place, and today I noticed one booth selling wool hats for women and men (photo above).

When the "Tutti=1 euro" sign goes up, get out of the way.

2. Buyers need to be conscious of what they're buying.  Much is not first quality, but it still may be well-made. It also may be poorly made.

Some of it, as the American tourist said, really is not well-made. Vendors throw a bunch of clothing on tables, and women go running to see what they can pick up for a euro or two (photo above). From what I can tell, most of that stuff has holes, torn seams, and/or no hems. The colors might also be off. One of the scarf vendors had some nicely made scarves for 1 euro, but the only color he had was a horrible orange.

Household goods

Still, there are a lot of booths that sell clothing and items that are well-made. When I was walking around today, I noticed a few booths selling pots and pans that were the same as the ones in my apartment. They're heavy-duty and cook evenly. 

Pottery and tableware

Of course, they cost more than the lighter-weight stuff, but you get what you pay for. In addition to pots and pans, the housewares booths sell a variety of items that include everything from silverware to dinnerware to towels to bedding.

Shoes

 If you're in the market for shoes, you can find some for as little as one euro, although the more fashionable ones cost five euro. Seriously, some of the better-made shoes can sell for upwards of 100 euro (as can some of the clothing). I'm still not sure that I'd buy shoes at a market, although I see a lot of people trying them on and leaving with them.

Remember that I posted a photo of an item with a TJ Maxx price ticket on it?  I have a better story, but I couldn't get a photo to prove it.  I'm going to try to get a photo tomorrow.
  
 3. If you need underwear at a good price, you can find it at the market.

Underwear

A good number of the vendors—and I do mean a good number—sell underwear. You can't walk more than two booths without seeing men's boxers and briefs, women's bras and panties, nightgowns, undershirts, and kids' undies piled on tables and hanging from the tent ceilings. Many also have corsets and such that help women and men suck in the gut a size or two. 

Undies hanging from the rafters

"Look," I heard one lady say today, "Dolce & Gabbana bras." I looked over, and the sign did read "Dolce & Gabbana." Skeptic that I am, I had to see if D&G does make underwear, and it does. I doubt, though, that they'd sell it from a huge, dusty bin for 1 or 2 euro.

 The Bologna market doesn't have anything in the way of food because there is a daily food market a few blocks away.  There are, however, a few vendors who sell fresh flowers (above) for a relative fair price.


4. Markets are normally cash only, and the prices are usually negotiable.

Fresh Flowers

If you go to one of the markets, you can probably haggle over prices somewhat.  The Florence market is one place where they expect you to do so.  I overheard the following conversation in a booth in Bologna a few weeks ago.

A woman was looking at a nice top in one of the booths. "How much?" she asked the guy working it.  He asked his sister, and she told him 25 euro.

"25 euro," he answered.

"How about 15?" the lady countered. Normally, one would go lower than what he/she is willing to pay.

"Hmmm," the guy said.  From his body language, I think he was about to accept the 15 euro. He turned to his sister and said, "Can we take 15 or 20?" The lady and I were standing right there, so he wasn't trying to be coy or secretive.  His sister grabbed the top.

"Are you crazy?" she shouted at him. "I said 25. We're taking nothing less." She shoved it back on the rack.

I left because even if I had wanted something, I would not have bought it from someone with that attitude.

A lot of the booths with better-made clothing have price tags on the clothes, so that and the above conversation lead me to believe that most of the prices are pretty firm.

5. The markets and the area around them are total chaos.

I talked to my son last night as he is in Las Vegas for a few days, and he told me that his plane ride was horrible because the guy next to him kept bumping him.

"I hate when people touch me like that," he said.

"I can't stand when people bump or push me, either," I replied. "Sorry, you get it from your mother. Another great thing I passed on."  He snorted.

The truth is, crowds make me absolutely crazy. I refuse to go shopping on Black Friday because of it. That said, I love going to the weekly markets. There are times that I want to haul off and push someone back, but I try to remain calm as I don't want to end up in an orange jump suit in an Italian prison. Orange is just not my color.

The other thing that drives me nuts at most of these markets is that people stop right in the middle of the aisle, start talking to someone else, and block the way. The two women in the photo above were a good example. I saw them walking up the aisle together when they just stopped and started talking. What you can't see on the left is that I'm against a table, and there are a few people looking at merchandise on the table beyond me. They had nowhere to go.

"Excuse me," I said.  The bike lady and her friend ignored me.

"Excuse me," I said a little louder.  They continued to ignore me. 

I took out my cell phone and snapped that photo, and they huffed off.  Hello. People would like to move.

I also love the idiots that try to ride bikes through the markets.  The place is chaotic as it is, and adding some old geezer on a bike is nuts. At least clueless in the above photo was walking her bike.

One final observation:

When we go to the Sulmona market (Sulmona is the "city" near my grandparents' village.), we notice that all of the men and women dress up. The older women all wear skirts or dresses, and the men wear nice slacks and shirts. I don't see as many people dressed up for the Bologna market, the lady in the photo above being an exception.  Every time I have seen her, she has on a hat, skirt, nice shoes, etc. She is the exception as most of the women wear jeans, leggings, or some other type of slacks here.  And, I rarely see men shopping in Bologna...except for that old geezer riding his bike.

Playing Tourist in Bologna

Bologna from San Michele in Bosco

 “I don’t know whether I drove out of Bologna 

today or was driven out."

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I played tourist in Bologna last weekend.  Even though Mike and I had taken the Red Bus tour last year, I decided to take it again because the company supposedly improved it. To tell the truth, I wouldn't know if they had or not because there was only one stop I remembered.

I headed to the Tourist Information Office in Piazza Maggiore because there is a separate area where a vendor of sorts sells tickets for tours and events. When I got there, one of the agents was busy with a British lady, and the other was busy texting someone. She was not happy that she had to give up her phone to deal with a customer.  (Please note: Italicized = Italian)

"I'd like information on the Red Bus," I told her. She put her phone down, got up, walked three feet, picked up a brochure, and thrust it in my face. I didn't need the brochure, but I took it. "How much is it?"

She huffed. "Thirteen euro."

"Does the bus go to San Luca?" I asked her. Seeing San Luca was one of the reasons I wanted to take the bus. She looked at me as though I were stupid.

Hop-On, Stay-On Red Bus

"No. For that you must take the San Luca Express. The combination ticket is 18 euro," she sneered.  "It is good only for today. You must do both trips today."

"That's fine," I told her. "I'll take one combination ticket." 

She sighed heavily. "You can get it on the bus." I realized she really wanted to get back to that text.

"I thought I could buy it here."

If looks could kill, I wouldn't be writing this post tonight.  "You can if you want."

"I want the combination ticket."

"It's good only today if you buy the combination," she repeated half-holding the ticket back from me.

"I understand." I grabbed the ticket. 

I think it's Porta Castiglione. We were driving too fast.

I'm sure you all know what the Red Buses are: The Hop-on, Hop-off (HOHO) tour buses that almost every major city has.  Mike and I tend to take a Red Bus whenever we go somewhere because we like to get a sense of a city that we don't know.  We'll ride the entire route once and then get off at places we want to see.  We also will use it for transportation at times if the city is huge.  Usually the tickets are pretty inexpensive—$15-20 for a 24-hour pass, and $20-30 for a 48-hour pass. It's worth it in very big (read: expensive) cities.

So, as I said, we like to take the Red Bus so we can get off at one place or another.  If you look at the sign on the bus in the photo above, you'll see that it even says, "Stop and Go."  Stop. Go.

Apparently the driver I had Saturday had no idea what "HOHO" or "Stop and Go" mean. He started that bus at 10:45, and the only stopping he did was at red lights. The recording, both in Italian and English, indicated that we could get off at such-and-such a stop to enjoy this or that, but I guess we would have had to dive off the top in order to actually do that.

One of the oldest buildings in Bologna on Via Azeglia

We did get to San Michele in Bosco, the one stop I remembered from last year, and the driver did slow down then. Of course, he had to slow down because the road ends at San Michele, and he had to turn the bus around.  The parking lot was not that big, and the bus was not that small. At least I got a few good panoramas of the city (top of the post).

After he turned the bus around, he headed down the hill and back through the historic center of the city.  We rushed by a building (photo above) which is one of the oldest in the city and where I *think* they said that they used to hold university classes hundreds of years ago. I'm not quite sure, though, because at that point, the recording started to skip. It probably didn't matter since we were rushing by so quickly.  (Side note: I walked back to the building the next day to get the photo.)

The bus continued to fly through the city even running a red light (cheered on by a group of German tourists on board). I rushed to the front of the bus and asked the driver to stop when we got to the place to catch the San Luca Express. Had I not, I'd probably still be riding around the route.  As it was, he finally stopped about 50 meters from the actual stop.

A small portion of the portico of San Luca

One of the reasons I wanted to see San Luca is because of the entire complex of things involved with it.  The basilica, Santuario della Beata Vergine di San Luca, sits on a hill about 300 meters above Bologna.  Since the 12th century, a church on the hill has housed an icon of the Virgin Mary brought to Bologna from Constantinople. The current basilica dates to 1723 or so.

Every May for the past 700+ years, they bring the icon down to the cathedral in Bologna and leave it there for a month. At the end of that time, the process from the cathedral in the city center to the basilica on the hill, a distance of 5 kilometers.

The Madonna Grassa (Fat Madonna), a shrine in the portico

 Beginning in the 17th century, the faithful of Bologna starting building a portico from the Porta di Saragozza to the basilica in order to protect the Madonna during the procession.  it took more than 100 years to complete the 3.5 kilometer portico, the longest continuous portico in the world. Originally, there were icons and chapels all along the route (depending on who was the patron of a particular area), and a few still remain. 

A lot of athletes train on the route. While we were heading up and down the hill, I saw runners sprinting through the portico. I'll be honest. I thought about walking up because 3.5 kilometers is less than what I usually walk everyday.  However, the thought of hiking 300 meters UP a hill scared me, and when I saw the condition of some of the people who were walking in that heat, I was glad I took the San Luca Express.

The portico

Don't let the name fool you, by the way. The San Luca Express is a Disneyland-like train that jerks its way up and down the hill. It took almost 25 minutes to go up the hill in that thing, and that was with a driver who must have had the same instructor as the bus driver because he didn't stop at any of the prescribed stops.  I got a view of the basilica when he, you guessed it, turned the train around.

Santuario della Beata Vergine di San Luca

 When we got back down the hill, I asked the gal who was the guide on the train (In other words, she sold tickets for the ride.) where to catch the bus since Speedy Gonzalez had not stopped in a regular area when I got off.  She pointed me down the road about 50 meters, and I headed that way.

I was standing there when the same Red Bus I had arrived on whizzed right by me.

Let me put it this way: I may be middle-aged (Gosh! I hate admitting that.), but I can run down a street.

It'll all be in the book.....

PS.  I'm considering trying to walk up the portico after all....It depends on how the weather is this weekend.

Five Fun Facts For Florence, or Firenze, Part II

Ponte Vecchio

“She was shocked by how dirty Florence was.” 

 ~Christobel Kent

I rode the Red Bus around Bologna the other day, and a young couple from Texas happened to sit in front of me at one point. They mentioned they had just come from Florence and Rome.

"How did you like them?" I asked.

The both frowned and shook their heads. "They were too crowded and hot," according to the husband. The wife added, "And dirty."  I won't go into the rest of the conversation here except to say that I suggested that they check out the Chiesa Santo Stefano (an old church complex of seven churches), and the husband replied, "We probably won't. We're sick of museums and churches and old buildings and history."   The wife again interjected, "And dirt."  I just smiled. I carry handwipes to be safe.

Maybe it does get old, although I've wandered through all of these places numerous times, and I always find something interesting that I didn't see or know before.  Let me share a few things I discovered on this trip to Florence.

1. There are three bridges that span the Arno River in central Florence, the Ponte Vecchio (photo above), Ponte Santa Trinita (photo below), and Ponte alle Grazia (no photo). The best known is the Ponte Vecchio, which spans the Arno at its narrowest point. There has been a bridge there since Roman times, although the present bridge's construction dates to the 14th century.

Ponte Santa Trinita

The Ponte Vecchio, which means Old Bridge, always housed vendors of some sort, although in the beginning they were butchers and other merchants who set up tables to display their wares. According to historical documents, if a vendor did not pay his rent or bills, soldiers would smash his table (banco), literally breaking (rotto) it so that he could not sell anything. The vendor then lost his way of making a living.  The name of this practice? Bancorotto, from which bankrupt comes.

The Ponte Vecchio was the only bridge in Florence that the Nazis didn't destroy as they fled the city during World War II.  Supposedly, Hitler forbade them from doing so.  They did, however, blow up building on both sides of the bridge to block access to it.

Jeweler on Ponte Vecchio

2. In the late 14th- early-15th century, the shops and either side of the bridge appeared. In 1560-something, Vasari designed a private corridor for Duke Cosimo d'Medici to walk from the Pitti Palace to the Uffizi. The smell from the butcher and fishmonger shops on the bridge offended him greatly, so in 1593, he signed a decree that prohibited them from selling on the bridge.  Goldsmiths and jewelers quickly took over, and they remain there today.

Locks on hook on Ponte Vecchio

3.  I mentioned the other day about going to Verona and seeing all the locks (and gum and bandages) adorning the walls and gates around Juliet's House.  The first time I had ever noticed the practice of  putting locks on bridges or gates or whatever was in 1997 when we were in Florence for the first time.  I noticed a few on an iron hook, and somewhere I have an old photo of it.

When we went back in 2011, "Love Locks" covered the handrails on the bridge, near the bridge, on the street next to the bridge.  Somewhere, I have a bunch of photos of those, too. I'm glad I have some remembrance of them because the practice is now illegal. Local authorities cut the locks off and passed a law that makes it illegal to put a lock on the bridge or rails or whatever.  Few people are willing to risk the 160 euro fine for doing so, and the only locks I saw last week were the ones attached to the hook I saw in 1997 (photo above).

Legal street vendor

4. Florence has legal—and illegal—street vendors all over the place. A legal stand will be somewhat permanent (like the one above).  Illegal vendors are usually guys who have spread a blanket or cloth on the piazza and invite you to look.  Usually, if they see police, they grab their goods and run.

Some people think that buying fake designer goods (sunglasses, purses, scarves, etc) from these guys is great. They pay a lot less and get what they think is a good knock-off.  There are two problems, though. First, a knock-off will not last long because it's poorly made.  Secondly, and even more importantly, it's illegal to sell knock-offs in Italy (or anywhere else in the world, for that matter). In addition, it's illegal to buy them.  If police catch you buying knock-off goods, you'll pay a hefty (I hear it's over 1000 euro.) fine.

Il Porcellino

5. The Mercato Nuovo (New Market) is a few blocks away from the San Lorenzo market I mentioned yesterday,  Constructed in the 16th century, Florentines called it the "new" market to distinguish it from the "old" market (14th century). The old market no longer exists and is now Piazza della Republica.

The vendors that sell in Mercato Nuovo have carts that they wheel in every morning and wheel out every evening. During their selling hours, they're under cover of a huge stone loggia. Most of the vendors sell scarves, leather, or tapestries, although a few sell souvenirs.

Outside of the vendors, the big attraction is the 17th century Fontana del Porcellino (Piglet Fountain).  The pig spews water from his mouth, and legend has it that anyone who rubs the pig's snout will return to Florence. I must have rubbed it a few times because I returned.

Supposedly the vendors that sell at MN sell goods that are higher quality than the ones at San Lorenzo. Maybe some are, but when I walked through, I saw one scarf that I particularly liked.  It was a four-color silk scarf that I had seen in the San Lorenzo market earlier.  The vendor saw me looking at it.

"You like, signora?  It's beautiful. Four colors. Let me show you." She removed it from the hanger and whipped it around so I could see the four colors.

"It's beautiful," I said to her.  She twisted it and fooled around with it so I could see how many different ways I could use it.

"If you double it and twist it this way, you can see all four colors when you wear it," she said.  She performed a few more little magic tricks with it. "Or, you can just tie it this way and see two colors."

"How much?" I asked her.

"Usually 35 euro," she said.  "It's pure silk. Made in Italy." She showed me the ironed-on label. "But, I give it to you for 32 euro."

"I saw the same one in San Lorenzo for a lot less." I knew what was coming.

"It was probably not the same, signora. This scarf is unique to us."  RIght.

"I'll think about it," I said and walked away. As I walked through the Mercato Nuovo, I saw a number of vendors with that same scarf priced at 30-40 euro.

I walked around Florence for a couple of hours and finally headed back to the Mercato Centrale and Mercato San Lorenzo on my way to the train station. I bought a few things in the food market and went looking for the vendor who had the scarf that I saw originally.  Just as I was about to give up, I saw him twisting a scarf around a man's neck. He was putting a bit of a bow on the scarf.

"So now you can show your wife how to make the bow," the guy said as I walked up.  Phew. I didn't think the bow looked quite right on the hulking man looking in the mirror.

When the vendor finished his transaction, he came over to me.  "Which do you like, madam? I give you a good deal."  I knew he would.

"The pink one," I said to him indicating the exact one I had seen at Mercato Nuovo.  He pulled it from the hanger and whipped it around in much the same way the other vendor had. He showed me the ironed-on label which looked suspiciously like the one in the "unique" scarf.

"It's 100% pure silk.  Made in Italy," he assured me. He then doubled it and wrapped it around my neck.  "Look at the four colors." He pulled it off, twisted it another way, and draped it over me again. "Now you see two colors, but if you turn this, you can see three colors."

The temperature was in the low 90s, the humidity was high, and I felt like I was going to pass out. He wanted to show me yet another way to tie the scarf.  "No," I said.  "I want it.  I appreciate your help, but it's too hot.  How much?"  I realized that I had said I wanted it.  That's not a good thing to do in the markets.

"It's usually 20 euro," he told me.  "But I will give you a good deal. 15 euro"  Twenty was, of course, much better than 30 or 32 or 35, and 15 was even better.  I knew he'd go lower if I'd haggle.  I'm not good at haggling.

"I don't know," I said.  "That's too high." I acted as though I would walk away.

"I tell you what." He walked around in front of me. "I'll give it to you for 12."

"Ten," I said.

I don't think he exactly said, "Sold," but the next thing I knew, I was walking to the train station with a pink silk scarf in my hand.

Tomorrow: I'm a tourist in my own town.

Firenze=Florence, Part I

Florence for Peace—Sign outside the Florence train station

 

 Everything about Florence seems to be colored 

with a mild violet, like diluted wine. 

~ Henry James

Florence is not one of my favorite Italian cities.  Let me rile you up just a little more and tell you that I'm also not a big fan of Venice or Rome.  I can already hear the virtual screaming that I must be nuts because everyone loves Florence, Rome, and Venice. They are, after all, the center of history and culture and art and music and literature and everything Italy.  

No offense, but that's not quite true. There are a lot of cities in Italy that have as much history, culture, art, music and literature as Florence, Rome, and Venice. Tourists just haven't discovered these other places yet, and I seriously hope they don't for a long time because I don't want to have to fight crowds everywhere. (Of course, they can go to Modena because I probably won't go back.)

Just because Florence is not one of my favorite cities, though, doesn't mean I don't like it.  I actually do. The architecture is stunning, and the art and sculpture are wonderful.  Consider all of the artists who lived and worked in Florence: Michelangelo, DaVinci, Botticelli, Raphael, Donatello, Della Robbias, Rubens and others. Important writers, including Dante, Petrarch, Macchiavelli, Boccaccio, and Gianni, also worked from Florence.

The façade of the duomo and campanile

One of my favorite sites in Florence is the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (above), or Il Duomo. Construction on the cathedral started in 1296 and took almost 150 years to complete it.  The cathedral complex includes the cathedral, its bell tower (below), and a octagonal baptistry (not shown). The baptistry, which dates to the 11th century, was where all Florentine Catholics, including Dante, were baptized until the late 19th century.

The campanile and dome

The cathedral is massive. It is over 500 feet long by 124 feet wide except at the "cross" section where the width grows to almost 300 feet.  The arches over the aisle are 75-feet high, and the dome, the most famous aspect of the cathedral, is almost 115-feet high.  Giotto's Campanile, the bell tower, is almost 280-feet high and houses seven bells.  (Should you wish to climb to the top, there are about 450 stairs.  Good luck. Send me a photo.)

The dome

The dome, which is the most well-known part of the cathedral, was the final piece put in place.  Part of the reason was that the area it was to cover was so large that no one could figure out how to construct it. I won't bore you with details, but the dome is the largest masonry dome in the world. The octagonal dome includes over four million bricks (weighing an estimated 37,000 tons), and is about 150-feet wide.

The main door to the duomo

 Two final notes about the duomo: The façade is a combination of pink, white and green marble from various areas of Tuscany.  Most interesting is that the façade is not original and dates to the 19th century. 

Second, if you look at the main doors (above), you can see a mosaic above depicting Christ with his mother, Mary. The relief on the door also show an enthroned Holy Mother. The side doors (not shown) also have relief work depicting scenes from the life of Mary.

 

Fresh fruit in Mercato Centrale

 Many tourists who go to Florence know about the Mercato San Lorenzo, but they don't realize that there is a huge covered market in the midst of all the craziness.

Housed in a 140-year old building, the Mercato Centrale houses vendors selling fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, flowers, spices, candies, pastries, and anything else you can think of.  Recently renovated, the market also has a second floor "food court" with enough seating for more than 500 people. Surprisingly, the prices were less than what I found in the Modena market and about on-par with the Bologna market.

A butcher tying up pork roast

A few vendors told me that since cooking shows have become so popular in the last few years, more and more tourists find out about and flock to the market.

Just outside the doors of the market, on all four sides of the building, are hundreds of stalls selling everything from t-shirts to magnets to scarves to, and especially, leather goods.  Most people don't realize that during the Renaissance, it was the textile industry that originally gave Florence a strong economy.  Wool, was the main product, and in the early 14th century, nearly 1/3 of the population worked in the wool industry.  By the end of the century, they added silk production.

A wool coat I would buy if I had an extra 175 euro

In addition to the stalls at San Lorenzo and Mercato Nuovo, there are leather shops all over Florence.  Prices vary from one minute to the next, and everyone swears his/her leather is genuine leather that was "Made in Italy." Unfortunately, most tourists don't do their homework and find out later that their bargain ostrich-leather purse was really made in China. 

I walked through the market on my way to the duomo Friday, and I did stop to look at a number of items. One vendor stopped me.

"Signora. Signora. Where you from? United States?" I hadn't said a word. At least he didn't think I was British.

Leather stand on the street near Mercato Nuovo

"No." I lied, but I knew he was going to do so, too.

"Canada?"

"No." 

"Australia?"

"No."

"Britain?"

"Let me look," I finally said to him in Italian. I particularly loved one jacket that he had, but it was way too expensive at 250 euro.

"It's pure lamb skin...made in Florence...guaranteed." He wanted me to buy it.  "We're the only ones who have this style."

"I just saw the same jacket a few stalls down."

"Theirs isn't real leather from Italy."  Of course not.

I bought nothing, of course, although I will admit that I got caught the last time we were in Florence.  I love the scarves sold at the market. Last time we were in Florence, I bought a number of them because they were "MADE IN ITALY."  We went to Prague, and I saw the same scarves—"MADE IN CZECH REPUBLIC." Then I went home, and I saw the same scarves  in Dillard's—"MADE IN CHINA." Oops.

I guess my advice is this: If you're going to Florence and want to buy leather, do so. Just be sure you know what to look for. You can read how to tell if you're buying real leather here.


Tomorrow: I scarf-hunt in Florence and a few fun tidbits.

Side note: Thanks for your patience for the 12 days I was without internet access in my apartment.

I visit Ravenna, and I don't mean Ohio

Basilica San Vitale—the highest cuppola. It's all mosaic.

 

Travel gives me the opportunity

to walk through the sectors of cities

where one can clearly see the

passage of time.

– Jerzy Kosinski

 

Mosaic on a bend in Ravenna

Since my internet was still out Tuesday (and still is as I write this the following Monday), I decided to head to Ravenna since it’s a short train ride from Bologna, and I thought I would see something a little different.

Ravenna is not one of those cities that tourists usually go out of their way to see unless the city is a stop on a tour or cruise. Located on the Adriatic, it was capital of the Western Roman Empire at one time the Ostrogoths conquered it (The darn barbaric Goths again…). In 540, the Eastern Roman Empire (the Byzantines) re-conquered Ravenna and held onto it until 751 when the Lombards invaded and made it part of Medieval Italy.

 

Piazza del Popolo

There once was a river that ran through the city, but it eventually had more mud than water, and with the mud came the mosquitoes. The people got rid of the river and built a piazza in the city center.  Piazza del Popolo (Plaza of the People) is still popular with locals who gather to talk and watch tourists dodge the bicyclists who ride with abandon through the square. (I’m guessing you know which tourist was huge entertainment last Tuesday morning.)

 

This photo doesn't do justice to the height of San Vitale

The reason I bring all of this history up is because Ravenna’s popularity is due to the Byzantine flavor—mosaics—that still exist in the town. More importantly, some of the mosaics survived all those wars and are intact today.

Mosaic next to the main altar....I thought it was Blessed Mother, but it's an empress.

 

In 526, Bishop Ecclesius ordered the building of the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna.  A Greek banker funded its building which, at that time, cost 26,000 gold pieces.  I have no idea how much that would convert to today’s values.

Cuppola over the tomb of Valentinian

The Basilica of San Vitale is the only major church to survive almost completely intact since that time. In addition, except for Constantinople, the basilica has the largest and best-preserved Byzantine mosaic art in the world. More amazing is the fact that it is still in use, and they hold weekly Mass there.

Detail of mosaic work in San Vitale

  My father was Byzantine Catholic, so I went to his church occasionally and was familiar with the mosaic work in it.  Nothing could have prepared me for the mosaics in San Vitale. Just walking in the door stopped me cold. The sheer magnitude of mosaic work in that church took my breath away, and there is no way I can do justice in describing the basilica.  I’m including photos I took with short descriptions. 
 

Cuppola in Galla Placidia

On the same grounds as the basilica is the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia. The story of Galla is too long and involved, but suffice to say that she was the daughter of a Roman emperor, widow of a Goth emperor, and widow of an Eastern Roman emperor.  She died in 450, and the mausoleum housing not only her tomb, but those of her son, Valentinian, and daughter, Justa. Many experts believe the mosaics in the small building are the oldest and most beautiful in the city.

Floor in San Vitale

 If religious mosaics are not your thing, you can always buy the image of Jimmi Hendrix (See yesterday's post) or a cow, dog, heart, owl, or whatever made of plastic glass mosaics....or you can buy your own package of loose glass and make your own.

For a mere 40+ euro, one of these can be yours

One final note on all of this (or maybe two): The reason this all amazes me so much is because the churches and mosaics have survived for so long.... 1500 years. They still hold weekly Mass in San Vitale.  Galla Placidia is even older than San Vitale, and it remains intact. If you think about it, Italy fought in many, many wars over the years, including two world wars that involved heavy artillery. That the churches and such made it through unscathed is just remarkable.