Heart of the Renaissance

People lived in the Florence region in Rman times, Mars was their protector. Christian travelers from Greece arrived here around 200.After that, John the Baptist became the patron saint - they like strong protectors! They are celebrating John the Baptist.s feast day. YLast night, we found the Florence Marathon. Hundreds of runners sped through town. Wwe stood on a bridge over the river Arno at sunset. A band was playing as the runners streamed by towards the finish line. The super moon shone over the River Arno, and a planet shone over the western part of the river, above the sunset and mountains. I really have to work on getting a description of this moment, where everything in the world seemed present.

This town is astounding. We wandered today, through a Jewish neighborhood where the synagogue still hs bayonet marks from Fascist days. We walked into a basilica where we found the tombs of Michelangelo, Dante and Galileo - òMachiavelli is around too, but we didn not find him. We wandered the Hills above town- unbelievable views of Florence, its Towers, domes, and very old houses following the river banks. I will work on a better description, and will get some pix up. We thought about Museums, but the lines were ridiculous. You see plenty of Renaissance art wandering about (including the city itself.)

Florence began as a textile manufacturing center, and gradually became affluent during the late middle ages after surviving the plague. The Medicci family (pardon me if my spelling is off, I am hurrying) becan as a proletariate clan, but got rich as bankers. Florence was in throry a republic, but the Mediccis were in charge of purse strings and got their way. They were big partons of the arts and sciences. Savonarello (sp?) got power briefly, and would hold Bonfires of the Vanities on the main plaza. He encouraged the penitent to bring their artwork and books to burn - the vanity of the heart and intellect, I guess. The Renaissance continued after he lost power and the Mediccis returned to power.

We want to come back here, there is much to explore. On to Venice Tomorrow... I will check in from there.