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July 27, 2009Someday I will have to be sure and thank Pier Giorgio for choosing to admire holy men and women who happen to be from such great Italian cities! His interest in Girolamo Savonarola would take us to beautiful Florence for what would be a rather fun part of our journey.On the way, we encountered a major hailstorm with spectacular lightning. The driving conditions were so bad that a car had gone off the road and traffic was backed up quite a bit. But one of our daily gifts on this trip was how the weather would be perfect by the time we arrived at our destination. Florence was no different.
We reached our hotel in the early evening and a group of us headed out for a walk along the river to the famous Ponte Vecchio. It was a such a full and somewhat surreal day – starting out in Rome, spending the bulk of it in Siena, and ending the night with pizza in Florence.We were off to an early start the next morning with our Florentine guide, Cristina. The church of San Marco was closed for restorations (a common situation when traveling in Italy) but the museum/convent next door was open. This was really our main destination in Florence. Not only is it the home to the many great works of art done by Fra Angelico, but upstairs you can visit 44 cells of the Dominican community from
the days of
Savonarola.
He was the head of the community and was quite a controversial figure at the time. We were able to see the cells he occupied, his mortification belt, his cape, his preaching standard, his rosary, a piece of the wood from where he was burned, and so on.
Our guide was very knowledgeable about Savonarola and did a wonderful job discussing the controversy, the role he played in Florence politics, and the effect of his execution. After getting to know Savonarola a little better firsthand, it is all the more fascinating to think about Pier Giorgio having such a devotion to this somewhat radical friar that he even took his name upon becoming a lay Dominican.
Our tour of
Florence took us also to the main cathedral in Florence (
the basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore), the
Gates of Paradise and the
Piazza della Signoria where Savonarola was executed. We celebrated Mass in the Franciscan
basilica of Santa Croce – the location of the tombs of Michelangelo and Galileo and a beautiful sarcophagus dedicated to one of Pier Giorgio’s favorite Italian poets, Dante Alghieri. We prayed day four of our group novena outside of Santa Croce and then had time to explore a little more of Florence without our guide.
Some went to see the original statue of David by Michelangelo in the Galleria dell'Accademia. Some took time to shop. I tagged along with the youngest member of our group to climb to the top of the Duomo cupola and enjoy a spectactular view of Florence.Pier Giorgio made his presence known that evening when we regrouped for dinner at a place not far from our hotel. At the end of our meal, the server brought us a complimentary bottle of limoncello – my favorite Italian drink after cappuccino! In true Tipi Loschi fashion, we each took a photo wearing a paper hat made from our placemats. It was a good round of spontaneous silliness and fun that Pier Giorgio would have approved of. One of the attractive qualities of Pier Giorgio’s spirituality is that he could appreciate the art of Michelangelo, the poetry of Dante, the charism of a fiery Renaissance preacher such as Savonarola, and the joy of friendship. We managed to do the same in our visit to Florence.
Off to Bologna tomorrow. Verso l’alto!
