Fabulous Firenze

We are staying in a 4th floor flat in Florence... 51 steps... So it's a great cardio workout, and I'm really glad I did some working out at the Y this summer! The flat is absolutely lovely, and I was thinking today that hanging laundry on a line while leaning out the window of a 4th floor kitchen, is not for the faint of heart. That was while I was doing it, actually!

I'm not sure if I mentioned that I am travelling with a friend from BC, Serena, and we are staying with her dear friend, Sarah Dunant, who's written many books on Renaissance Florence. Her book, The Birth of Venice, is the first of a trilogy looking at women's place in that world, and we took the train to Prato yesterday to hear her give an illustrated talk on women in Renaissance art. It was excellent! After the talk, there was a reception, and we met two young women from Canada who both married Italian men 20 years ago, have teenage children and live and teach English in an Italian school in Prato. Laura from Vancouver, and Carmen from Montreal. I'm reading her book, Blood and Beauty right now, about the Borgia pope, Augustus 6th. Wonderful detail and well-researched. She brings history to life.

That talk was at the end do a truly rich day yesterday. We started the day by going to the Sant' Ambrogio market to shop for used clothes. What fun! Serena and I each bought a couple skirts, and some gorgeous scarves for a Euro a piece (about $1.50)
But on the way to the market, we popped into a mosaic shop where they cut the stone to create extraordinary stone mosaics. It's a centuries old technique, and some of the new work is at least as complicated as the old. Serena asked if there were any stones from Cahada. He thought a moment and said "labradorite!" And showed  us how they used it to show blue sky reflecting in windows..... The perfect blend of grey and blue, with the illusion of depth.

After our cappuccino, we wandered and came across a wonderful jeweller who has been making jewellery as long as I have: Carla Montemerli. She also makes lovely white lamps and hanging sculptures using  gesso, on fibreglass I think, and showed us pictures of a beautifully lit show she'd had in church. My mind has started popping with jewellery ideas, not specifically from what I'm seeing, but just from the full-surround immersion in art. It's everywhere.

Tonight we are going to hear The Swingle Singers in the Duomo, which has the MOST amazing acoustics. Sorry to be using so many superlatives, but that's how it is. I heard a mass in the Duomo in 2009, and the sound echoed through the church so long that the priest waited for the sound to fade before he started the next prayer. So imagine hearing beautiful a Capella harmonies.

The flat is close the Santa Croce church and piazza, and the church bells sound lovely and resonant in the evening.

To be continued.
Buona Sera from hot and humid Florence!