Welcome to Prato and Florence, Italy

October 11

We said goodbye to Lucca and our lovely neighborhood.

The train took us to Prato, a very small town about 20 minutes from Florence. We checked in to the Art Hotel Milano which is only a short walk from the Prato Centrale train station and just a 5 minute walk to the city center. There is an Ancient Roman wall that once surrounded the city, similarly to that in Lucca except, in the case of Prato, only remnants of it are left scattered around the city. The town center is more spread out than that of Pistoia but still very manageable by foot. We stopped off at the Prato Castle, which is now only the outer façade of a castle. We walked in the main entrance to find an open grassy area surrounded by four stone walls which at the top, approximately the height of a three story building, allows for people to walk the entire perimeter and observe the spectacular views of the entire city. There were a bride and groom taking pictures and the bride surprisingly was wearing an iridescent green dress rather than the traditional white variations. I thought it was quite spectacular and a daring attempt to stand out.

We then proceeded down a few small streets and came across a crafts fair with artists selling jewelry, clothing and handmade artistic creations. There were some food vendors as well with cheese, vegetables, fruit and meats. I was so tempted to buy some cheese but I refrained as we have a long trip ahead of us and dragging pungent milk products along with us is far from practical.

I came across a stall where Helga & Francesca were selling their own handmade knit creations. I fell in love with some scarves which were brightly colored and fun so I had to get two for myself. They were just so inexpensive and to have met the designers was so much fun. For those of you who know my compulsive nature well you can imagine than that I have already plotted in my head which two of my winter scarves in New York will be going to the Housing Works Thrift Shop to make room for the new ones. I am very excited to wear them although winter is my least favorite season. I suppose having new clothes to wear that you love can make even the winter season more palatable.

While deciding on exactly which scarves to buy I tried on a few hats which, as you can see from the pictures, it is a good thing I didn’t buy either. Melody was virtually hysterical with laughter when I put them on. It is never a good sign when I dear friend is unable to control their laughter even if they wanted to spare your feelings.

We stumbled across the BD Trattoria in Palazzo Banci Buonamici and had a fantastic lunch there sitting in their shaded outdoor eating area. My spaghetti fra diablo was superb as well as my salad with tuna.

After lunch we walked a little around the town which had virtually no people out and about as most everyone was home for midday dinner and siesta. It turned out to be a great thing as we got familiar with the city without all the pedestrian congestion on the tiny streets. We got some great pictures and the Palazzo Pretonia, an Ancient Roman structure currently being refurbished to house a museum collection with its impressive tower and brick façade.

The Duomo (Saint Stephen’s Cathedral) also impressive from the outside was open when we arrived and fortunately there were very few people in it as well so we could enjoy its exquisite beauty with very few obstacles. From the outside the green and white marble stripe motif is striking but it was the beautifully carved pulpit on the left hand corner near the main entrance that was particularly interesting. It is adorned with carvings of groups of angels joyfully dancing around in celebration of the relic of Mary’s Sacred Belt which is preserved in this church. The Belt was worn I understand like a sash around the Virgin Mary’s waist. Above the pulpit is an almost umbrella like canopy which is intricately carved

Inside the Cathedral is the Chapel of the Sacred Belt gorgeously adorned with frescos, gold and silver carvings, an elaborate multi-colored alter and a beautifully ornate rod iron gate surrounding it. My favorite artistic element is a small (only about 3 feet tall) marble sculpture of the Madonna and Child by Giovanni Pisano. The expressions of both Mary and the baby Jesus are playful and engaging.

This cathedral holds many treasures and the Scared Belt is certainly one of the most important ones to the devote followers. For art lovers another very important feature is the frescos behind the main alter executed masterfully by Filippo Lippi in the 1400’s. The renderings of the life and martyrdom of both Saint Stephen and John the Baptist are touching and exquisitely detailed with vibrate colors thanks to a very recent restoration project.

The tour guide explained, in French, which thankfully Melody understood enough of to get by, said that Michelangelo, before beginning the Sistine Chapel, saw the works of Lippi in Saint Stephen’s and was so inspired that some of the work he created for the chapel at Saint Peter’s is very similar in design. I was truly impressed with the work for more than just the obvious talent that Lippi possessed but for the fact that I now had a better idea of what such a great artist like Michelangelo thought was great art and even worth copying from.

You might be thinking now that this is all quite enough for one cathedral to boast about but there is even more. The parish of Saint Stephen’s closely embraces modern art as well as preserving the great works of the past and this is clearly reflected in the installation; on the main alter, of three works by contemporary British artist, Robert Morris. He created a pulpit that uniquely captures, in bronze, the look of a robe (the one like Saint Stephen would have worn when he was stoned to death), a was a modern three-pronged, enormous marble candle holder and a new alter chair of glass, silver and bronze for the presiding priest to sit during the mass. There is a very nice sense of balance here. The Madonna of the Olive Tree made of terracotta and the old pulpit by Fiesole/Rossellino round out some of my favorite works.

As you can imagine since I have a new found respect for Lippi’s work and we were determined, once finding out that a museum (The Museo di Pittura Murale ) existed in town with more of his fresco work, to go see it. I am now officially enamored with his art and although I am sure I have seen his work before in passing at the Met Museum in New York, not having known anything about him, I was clearly not taking the time to appreciate his talent or body of work. He was born and raised in Prato so this was the perfect place to come to discover and appreciate him.

The museum is located in a building off to the side of Saint Domenic’s, a church which at first glance appears rather simple but on further investigation you come see the adorable angles that hold open the curtin that is hanging over the alter. It reminded me of the curtin hanging over the stage in the theater.

To get to the museum you walk through a columned private garden area. Ever since we arrived in Lucca I have been enjoying all the surprise gardens that seem to pop up in the least expected places and sometimes just when you turn a miscellaneous corner. The museum is small but truly worth a visit and you have the pleasure of learning about how they can remove them from their original walls anywhere and transport them to a secure location to be restored. We got to see the original drawings of some of the Saint Stephen’s frescos and learn that the artists would take the time to render a sketch of what they were thinking and the patron commissioning the piece could then give their thoughts and often the fresco would change in ways that included adding the likeness of the patron or if already there making the likeness more pleasing to said patron.

The Lippi’s were remarkable and among them were two drastically different renderings of the Madonna and Child. Both beautiful done but one, on wood, had a more introspective feel and the other was more light and airy with a luminescence.

We also saw what I would liken to a medieval pop-up book that was tube like when completely open and folded closed like an accordion. When it was open you would look through the front opening and following along the cut-outs and see the passion of Christ unfold. It was no longer than a foot when completely open but the detail in every cut-out image was awe-inspiring.

Right before leaving the museum the guide stopped us to explain a little more about what we had seen. He was so enthusiastic about the works and he found two very willing listeners. He also, having seen how much we loved what was on view, took us to a side room where a art historian and restoration expert was working diligently to repair centuries old urns that were found in the rafters of the church and originally placed there almost like insulation.

It was getting late so we decided to head back to the hotel before we took the 2o minute train ride in to Florence. As we walked toward our hotel we stopped at Mattei’s bakery on Via Ricasoli to pick up some of the famous twice-backed biscotti for me to take to visit my friends, the Muscalo’s tomorrow. When we first walked into the crowded bakery I observed an interesting aroma and when I commented to Melody about it she said yes, its melted butter. I don’t think I’d ever had a craving for melted butter but at that point it was all I could think of. Thank goodness they had sample cookies on the counter as the line was extremely long and you even had to take a number when you first stepped in just to be sure there was no arguments between the patrons. The biscotti is famous for a reason and it took all my restraint not to indulge in a second sample.

The walk back to the hotel was nothing like that walk into and around the city a few hours before. The streets were jam packed with people strolling and socializing with other locals. It was wall-to-wall people and, although the energy the crowds were producing was exciting we were on a time crunch and needed to be back to the hotel as quickly as possible.

Prato is much more of a happening place than we imagined from our encounters early in the day. There were tons of men and woman walking arm in arm as well as woman and woman, men and men and parents and children doing the same thing. It’s all so civilized here and I love to see everyone greeting each other with the double kiss, one on each cheek.

We arrived in Florence around 7:30pm and headed straight for the Ponte Vecchio so Melody could run an errand there. We did make one stop at the Santa Maria Maggiore church to take part in the mass.

We then buzzed by the Neptune fountain and the replicated statue of David done by one of Michelangelo’s students as well as the Uffizi Museum all in our guest for the bridge.

We arrived in time for Melody to visit some of the jewelry stores but unfortunately she did not find anything to her liking so we admired the charming second floor windows of the buildings on the bridge as well as the bridge itself and then headed for the Duomo.

The Duomo has always taken my breath away each time I’ve had the pleasure of seeing its majestic presence in the square. It is no less impressive in the evening and although it was closed we walked its entire perimeter and then sat at the café on the side of it and had a snack including gelato which lately has been a daily indulgence.

We made it back to the train station in plenty of time to hear that the train was almost an hour delayed. We ere exhausted but that is the way things go so we just grinned and bore it. The train station is a reminiscent of the early part of the 19th century and seems untouched by time.

On the subject of trains and train stations we have learned some important things about train travel in Europe that might be helpful to anyone else attempting such a trek. (1) Be aware of where your train is originating from and what its final destination is. This is very important because when you get to the station you will look for which track your train is coming in on by checking out one of the many screens placed through the stations. The screen will almost always only display the starting point of the train and its final destination point. If you only know what the name of the little town station is that falls somewhere in between the first and last stop you may find it difficult to locate your track and if you are on a time crunch you may miss your train altogether. (2) Always ask if there is more than one station stop in your destination city as we found out the hard way that sometimes there are two stops even in the smallest of towns and although they may only be a minute or two apart by train they can be a good 15 minute hike with luggage in tow. I’ve enjoyed the train travel very much and it is almost always easy to get through the stations but be aware that many of the smaller stations may not have elevators and pack light as I have been dragging much to much luggage with me and if it were feasible I’d just leave everything behind and start fresh as not to have to carry the monstrosity I brought up and down several flights of stairs on an almost daily basis. I love these life lessons I only wish I’d learned some of them earlier.
We finally got the train and arrived back to the hotel by 11:00pm and went straight to bed as it had certainly been an eventful and exhausting day.