Wednesday, June 27, 2018:
Savoring the Stone Towered City of San Gimignano:
The first leg of our journey was uneventful. We enjoyed drinks and onboard dinners on Air France before we saw a movie each and then tried to get some shut eye. No such luck. When we touched down at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport at dawn, we only had enough time to change gates and board our ongoing flight to Florence—a much shorter one, undertaken in broad daylight. It was thrilling for both of us to cross the ice-capped Dolomites on the border between Switzerland and Italy before we arrived in Florence.
It did not take long to find the taxi stand outside the tiny Leonardo da Vinci airport that sped us off to the hotel at which Delyse would be staying (Hotel Andrea at Plaza de la Independencia) with Nafisa and Shahida who had checked in, the previous night. Twenty minutes later, after Delyse had stashed her bags away, the three of them joined me in the cab to drive to my hotel (Hotel San Gallo Palace, about five minutes away at Plaza de la Liberte). There, I left my bag in the storage area, paid the cab driver and bought bus tickets from the hotel receptionist who guided us to the nearest bus stop that would get us to the main train station of Florence near the Church of Santa Maria Novella—for we were wasting no time. We were headed to the Tuscan town of San Gimignano (SG) for a day trip that would be a fitting introduction to the glories of Italy. San Gimignano is renowned for the stone towers that characterize it and give it a distinctive character.
The No. 1 Bus came along within minutes and, five minutes later, we were in the main bus stop buying our tickets for SG that would leave 40 minutes later. It gave us a chance to get introduced and to know each other and, before long, we were in the bus speeding under a Tuscan sun past vineyards and sunflower fields, orche-colored farm houses and tall cypress trees before arriving at the interesting main gates of the walled medieval city of SG. The sun beat mercilessly down on us—we were grateful for our sunhats and cool cotton garb. We soon found that gelato or Italian ice-cream is never hard to find and is a fine antidote to the sweltering heat.
Past the medieval entry gates into SG, characterized by a Moorish balcony that floats high above twin towers that guard the city, tourists saunter along a narrow street flanked on both sides by rough-hewn stone structures that provide local accommodation and house shops at street level. These shops provided our first introduction to souvenirs—colorful Italian ceramics, cotton tea towels, postcards, magnets, and gourmet foods (cheese, wine, salami), etc. We browsed through some as we kept our eyes peeled for lunch possibilities. It was in a pizzeria that we ended up buying Italian ham and mushroom pizza slices (Delyse and me) while our Muslim companions chose a vegan version with artichokes and red peppers. It was one of the best (thin-crust) pizzas I have ever eaten and it fueled me for the endless walking that would characterize our first day. We passed by the façade of a medieval church that still sports the iconography of the Lamb of God (Agnus Dei) that houses today a gourmet food shop. SG lay on the pilgrim route towards Rome and the Vatican—which explains why so many ‘pilgrim’ houses developed in the city.
Exploring the heart of San Gimignano:
Penetrating deeper into the city by basically following the tourist hordes, we arrived at the Piazza de Cisterno, a huge triangular stone square whose focal point in a stone well that once provided the city’s water supply. In a large square, ringed by pizzerias, fancy restaurants and gelaterias, we made our way to the well to take group pictures. The city is atmospheric and its antiquated charm hits the visitor at many levels.
It turns out that while it was still in the process of being constructed, the city was abandoned by its first inhabitants in 1348 when the Black Death (plague) decimated its population and drove the remainder population away. We saw many medieval churches in Italy where commemoration of the Black Death resulted in interesting memorials to the victims of the disease. As a result, it still sports the half-baked look of a medieval Italian city. In this piazza, we could see the first of the many stone towers for which the city is famous. While there were once 76 towers, each built by one of the most prominent medieval families to swell their own sense of importance, only 14 of them remain today—and many of them noticeably lean to one side or the other ; but these are certainly more than might be found in any Italian city today.
Our walk took us to the next piazza—Piazza del Duomo, where the main church of SG is located. It is also known as the Collegiate. It has the broad flat, unadorned façade of churches of the period. The patron saint of the city, San Gimignanus, is seen standing in a bishop’s mitre in a sculpture high above the broad stairs that lead to the front entrance of the church. The church also honors St. Fina (also known as St. Serafina) whose casket and effigy is housed in a chapel in the Collegiate Church which is finely adorned with frescoes on all sides by Domenico Ghirlandaio. Giotto-style frescoes in the dimly-lit church feature The Last Judgmentby Tardeodi Bartholo, scenes from the life of St. Fina (including one on her deathbed) as well as The Annunciation done by a contemporary artist are striking.The ornamentation of the interior was breathtaking not only because it was so profuse but because it was wrought by master artists and are generally very well-preserved. We were able to enter the church and take in its incredible frescoes by paying 6 euros’ entry fee to a lady at a counter in the adjoining bookstore.
Adjoining this church is the City Hall or Palazzo Communale, with its national and regional flags—tours of the interior are offered for payment. Tourists spend a lot of time on this piazza hanging out and taking pictures of the many towers which are most visible at this point. Their crenellations bring a Gothic flavor and medieval ambience to the city.
Leaving the Piazza del Duomo behind us, we climbed beyond the bounds of the city to a spot known as the Rocca, a lookout sight, to take in the breathtakingly serene Tuscan countryside laid out before us. Climbing up even further, we found ourselves scaling barriers along winding country roads and steep stepped pathways under stone arches that led us to the rather stark but deeply atmospheric Chiesa de Sant d’Agostino where we were very fortunate to catch an a capella choir from Wadham College, University of Oxford, who provided a repertoire of spiritual English music from the 15thand 16thcenturies featuring the compositions of Byrd, Tallis, etc. It was just marvelous to listen to the kind of ecclesiastical music that was produced at the same time that the church was being build. The church is distinctive and of great interest to medieval art historians as its depiction of The Martyrdom of St. Sebastianby Bennozo Gozzoli features perhaps the only known bare-breasted Virgin Mary in art. Gozzoli also painted the frescoes behind the main altar that depict scenes from the life of St. Augustine.
Having spent 4-5 hours in delightful SG, it was time for me to return on the bus to Florence via Poggibonsi (where I would wait for 15 minutes for my connection). But before I left the city of SG to my friends who chose to linger and did not need to attend a Welcome Dinner at NYU’s La Pietra campus, I bought myself a cup of gelato in my favorite flavor—cioccolato, of course. It would be the first of the many cups of gelato I would eat during the next few days. It was delicious as I sat at the bus stop and awaited my bus that was 20 minutes away. It kept me happy company until my bus arrived and took me back to Santa Maria Novella in Florence.
Welcome Dinner at Villa La Pietra for NYU Colloquium Delegates:
Unable to figure out where my bus-stop to La Pietra would be, I joined a long line of recently-arrived tourists outside the Santa Maria Novella station, to hail a cab. I realized then that it is impossible to hail cab on Italian streets. One must always call them through the cab company for which they work. About 20 minutes later, I hopped into a cab that took me to the main gates of Villa La Pietra where I was about 10 minutes late for the cocktail party that had already begun in one of the most beautiful Italianate gardens that comprise NYU’s property in Florence.
NYU’s campus of Villa La Pietra in Florence:
So here is a bit about Villa La Pietra: It is a sprawling 25 acre property that consists of 5 villas from the 15thcentury as well as formal Italianate gardens that belonged originally to the illustrious Sasseti family. In the 19thcentury, it fell into the possession of Arthur Acton who left it to his son, Lord Harold Acton. Left childless and looking to bequeath it to an educational institution, Harold offered it to Oxford and Cambridge Universities (who turned the offer down) and then to NYU (who jumped at the opportunity to construct a study abroad campus in Italy). Over a 15-year period, during which the Italianate gardens were brought back to snuff, the property became the home of NYU in Florence. It is simply gorgeous: lemon groves, olive orchards, apple and pear espaliered trees, towering cypresses and well-manicured lawns and pergolas provide a verdant and fragrant backdrop for saffron-colored villas that serve as dorms, classroom space, administrative offices and conference rooms. The villa in which the Actons had actually lived—Villa La Pietra—is maintained as a museum (tours of the interior are available) to showcase the Gothic and Renaissance art collection that they amassed. I have visited it, on a previous occasion, and decided to spent my time at La Pietra on this visit enjoying its spectacular gardens.
But first: it was time for drinks and hors d’oeuvreswith my colleagues who had arrived from NYU’s various satellite campuses all over the world—Shanghai, Madrid, Beunos Aires, London, Paris, etc. Waiters went around with wines and nibbles as we reunited with some of our colleagues from New York and met the overseas ones. Then it was time for dinner in a Renaissance loggia that was hung with Murano chandeliers. On candlelit tables that were formally set with china, crystal and silver, we were served a delectable four-course dinner that included a savory pistachio flan, a lemon risotto spiked with flavorful rosemary, beef tenderloins wrapped in bacon with a red wine jus, served with a bundle of green beans and potato gratin and a dessert of vanilla panna cotta with fresh raspberries. Wines circulated freely through the evening as the NYU-Florence site director, Elaine Toscano and the Dean of the LS Program in New York, Julie Mostov, welcomed us warmly to the colloquium and reiterated the aims of the conference. I cherished the evening for the opportunity I had to meet many of my global colleagues as well as some of my New York friends together in a singular setting. But it had been a long and eventful day and it was gratefully that I boarded the shuttle bus that was arranged to take us back to our hotels.
Checking into my Hotel at San Gallo Palace:
It was after 10.00 pm that I finally formally checked into my hotel and had the opportunity to appreciate an absolutely beautiful and very luxurious hotel room. I unpacked, had a lovely relaxing shower, brushed and flossed my teeth and got ready for bed which I hit only at 12. 50 pm. Fortunately, since New York time is much behind Italy’s, I was still full of beans and with excitement and fell asleep rather slowly as my mind flew over the events of a superb day.
Until tomorrow, arrivederci…
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