Falling for Firenze

The people are what make Florence what it is.  Yes, we are surrounded by some of the world's most beautiful art, but the people give it energy.  The last several days I have found it easy to let the works of Michelangelo envelope me - which is exactly what I wanted even before we landed in Italy.  I have been seeing works of art that I have studied in class and seen in books that I have wanted to see for years.  The last two nights something almost more beautiful than the art clicked for me.  Last night we were walking through one of Piazzas.  It was dark and the city was alive.  Street vendors were throwing these light up toys in the air, creating this show of colorful dancing light.  People were dressed up ready to enjoy what the evening had to offer.  People on bicycles flew by as though they were riding quickly on wings of an eagle.  Everything was fast and seemed effortless in its swiftness.

This evening as we were walking back from south of the Arno we explored the area around the Ponte Vecchio we couldn't help but feel the energy emanating from everyone just soaking in the evening.  Today has been our first sunny and warm day since we have been here.  The bridge was swarming with tourists, with very few people speaking the same tongue.  As we moved through crowd I made a couple interesting observations.  All of the tourists understand how wonderful a place Italy is, offering to take pictures for each other.  Couples in love, families vacationing together, and friends enjoying the evening all crowd to enjoy the river as a local musician plays in the setting sun.  Everything seems to picturesque.  The artists of the city have emptied from the seams in hopes that a willing tourist will purchase some of their work.  And right beside the many talented men and women creating quasi-orginal work are the street vendors lining up their poster prints of the famous artwork that reside inside the city walls.  New and old collide everywhere you go.  Originals and reproductions find a way to live side by side.

Today we toured the museum in the Palazzo Pitti where art seemed to be overlapping and layered on top of other art.  The palace is beautiful and there isn't a single square foot of wall that isn't covered by an important work of art.  I couldn't help but notice as I walked through its hallways that the artwork was hanging on walls that had been placed in front of the original walls of the palace.  The walls beneath are obviously ornate, but has been transformed into a museum for the masses to explore.  This represents Florence and Italy in a peculiar way.  You have this city that is full of antiquity and beauty, yet it is unlikely that you will go down a street without finding graffiti.  We have talked in class about why this is.  Native Italians live amongst all of this perceivable beauty, growing up almost blind to it.  So it makes sense that graffiti is on some of the oldest walls, and painting cover up paintings.  There is so much art, but what is even more beautiful are the people that fill the cities.  The people who congregate to see some of the greatest creations brought about by the hands of a human being.  One of the first nights in Italy we "talked" with a group of women in a small hill town.  We didn't understand a word they said, but their presence welcomed us more than I am sure they realized.  Humanity speaks louder than art, it just takes a moment (or a week) to really breathe it in.