Amy and I woke up Easter Sunday in Florence with an impressive site-seeing list to tackle. Our plan was to head to the Basilica di Santa Croce for Easter mass (I know, first Passover, then Easter mass...I am a religious fool!). However, our walk was impeded by metal barriers and an overwhelming crowd of people who seemed to be waiting for something in front of the Florence Duomo.
Before I explain, I must tell you that the Italian cathedrals, often referred to as a ''Duomo,'' are stunning - even for someone who admittedly thinks churches are pretty but rather boring in the grand scheme of site-seeing. Milan was my first Duomo experience, and it was truly impressive. However, it did not prepare me for the imposing beauty of the Florence Duomo. Fortunately, Florence is a small city and we were able to walk past the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, as it's more formally called, more than once (or four times...).
Back to the crowd... when we saw men dressed in what could only be described as colorful bishop's clothing making their way through the crowd and into the Duomo, we decided to stick around. With so many people, it was impossible to tell what was going on, but after 30-45 minutes of standing around and straining our ears and necks, we finally heard it - a massive explosion. It's an Easter tradition in Florence, the ''Explosion of the Cart.'' After mass and a ceremony involving colorfully-dressed people and flags, an elaborate cart drawn by oxen is riddled with fireworks which explode for a good 25 minutes. It's nothing like 4th of July - there are a few colorful sparklers that make their way into the sky, but for the most part, it's literal explosions. What a morning welcome!
After our ''explosive'' morning (that pun is for you Dad), we started our whirlwind tour of Florence, including more churches, the Pitti Palace, Piazza della Signoria, and most importantly, Accademia Gallery to see Michelango's original David. As I'm not usually overly impressed with churches, the same goes for statutes. However, the David was different. Wow. The second you see the looming, graceful, carefully detailed statute of this (very) able-bodied man, you can understand its place in art history. Amy and I made sure to carefully scrutinize every inch of David, making a slow 360 to soak in the ''back'' history. ;) Ok my puns are out of control today.
Even more surprising was my fascination with the sculptures of Lorenzo Bartolini, also located in the Accademia Gallery - so well-sculpted were the folds in clothing that they looked like actual cloth. Our day of tourism ended with a hike up to Plaza di Michelangelo for an incredible view of the city. After our non-stop day, we deserved a good dinner, and boy did we get one.
About Me
- Michelle Hershman
- Washington, D.C., United States
- Michelle Hershman has always been enthusiastic about eating, but it took her a little longer to become passionate about cooking because she wasn’t allowed to use the oven unsupervised as a child. Her first cooking experience involved baking a cake in the microwave. But, Michelle persevered. She attended Virginia Tech, where she received a Communications degree and mastered the quesadilla. Then, she headed to University of Richmond Law School, and when she wasn’t hitting the law books, she devoured cookbooks and food magazines. In 2007, she began a job as a Presidential Management Fellow with the Federal government. Her love of food reached an all-time high when she was sent to Paris for work. She spent four months eating creamy cheeses and crusty baguettes and frequenting farmer’s markets for fresh produce. She ate pasta in Italy, Hagis in Scotland and street food in Istanbul. She vowed never to eat a frozen dinner again. Now, she works as an attorney during the day and experiments with recipes for her food blog, Healthy Recipe Ecstasy, at night. In her spare time, she’s planning a wedding with her wonderful patient fiancé, Alasdair Cain.
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