So after I toured the Uffizi that morning, I went home and had a nice lunch and changed because the weather was starting to get ridiculously warm. Then I walked out to Piazza della Signoria because there was going to be a big kind of car show thing. Apparently it is a kind of demonstration "race" called the Mila Miglia, I believe. I think it is supposed to mean 1000 miles. These old cars do this whole long course through Italy that lasts for a few days. So at 2pm on Saturday they were scheduled to be driving through the center of Firenze. I'm not usually so interested in cars but my classmate Yuki was so excited when she was explaining this event to the class that I figured it would be a fun thing to see. So, CAR LOVERS, this post is for you! Here I was back at the Palazzo Vecchio, which I had been photographing earlier in the day from the terrace in the Uffizi:
Here is Yuki:
I had never seen her in her traditional Japanese kimono dress. I asked her why she had dressed up and she said because it was a VERY exciting day for her--to see these cars. You would never guess it but this girl is a huge fan of Formula One racing! It's called Formula Uno here, however. Cracks me up. So she dressed up for the cars. Wild.
I was standing on the other side of the street where she is in this photo:
But then she said, no come over in the shade with me it is better. So even though I thought the angle was probably better from the spot in the sun, I came over to stand with her. Then as the time drew nearer, she realize it might be better from the other side and went over there. In the meantime, another classmate Yoko had joined us so she and I stayed put--the shade was much nicer. Leading the procession was a polizia on a motorini:
Followed by a regular police car:
Then there was the Mercedes pace car:
And then the fun began:
They were filming from this "car", sadly, from my work at ET it reminds me of the 'woman without a face' who we profiled on Insider time after time. I think she is doing better now so hopefully I am not a horrible person for drawing the comparison. But I can't help it, every time I see this picture I think of her. This car was quite functional for filming however, since there was no windshield or doors...:
It was so fun to watch these cars driving through the piazza because cars do not drive there. And to see so many old ones driving by was really a treat. I thought there were going to be maybe 20 cars but I think there were actually a couple hundred or so!
A few modern cars snuck into the race:
Then the garbage truck that is regularly driving through the city drove on the course:
And everyone cheered loudest for him! The garbage man soaked up the attention--he was waving his arm outside the window of the truck and working the crowd:
My personal favorite, the old firetruck:
Back of the firetruck:
Finally, I decided I had fulfilled my responsibility to the car-loving reader(s) of my blog so I headed off to the one of the other free museums I wanted to see that day. I couldn't resist walking along the course and kept stopping to take more pictures:
This is on the main (usually pedestrian) road that runs from Piazza della Signoria to the Duomo. I can't stress enough how fun and unusual it was to see these cars driving through:
The Duomo on the right and the baptistery on the left in the middle, this just isn't something you see in Firenze everyday, lots of people were lining the streets enjoying the spectacle, including a bunch of bewildered tourists:
The facade of the Duomo again:
Finally, I made it to my destination--the Medici Chapels:
These are some major chapels (just like everything else the Medici's had--major and ostentatious) which are really more like crypts. There are some Michelangelo sculptures on some of the tombs. It was neat to see again, but I do remember visiting it last time. This time, however, I noticed the room where they kept the fingers of various saints. They would take the bone of a finger and put it in a glass case with a decorative holder. Weird and more than a bit creepy. So then I headed back out because I wanted to visit one more museum that day. I was destined for museum overload. I had been in the Chapel for awhile but when I came back out on the main street running out of town, the cars were still coming!
So I walked back along the route, past the Duomo:
Then I turned off onto another main pedestrian street to get close to the Ponte Vecchio. Look at the crowds on the bridge (you can't really see that it is a bridge but it is where all the people are):
Tourist season is in full swing.
Then I followed the course south of Ponte Vecchio on the Lungarno (road running next to the river Arno, here the river is on the left):
And across the Ponte Santa Trinita for a nice view of the Ponte Vecchio and these old cars that just kept coming:
Finally, I really decided that enough was enough of those car pictures. It was really fun to see though! I hightailed it to the Pitti Palace for my third museum visit of the day. You can't take pictures in there but I will have my exterior pictures of that place up tomorrow!
Here is Yuki:
I had never seen her in her traditional Japanese kimono dress. I asked her why she had dressed up and she said because it was a VERY exciting day for her--to see these cars. You would never guess it but this girl is a huge fan of Formula One racing! It's called Formula Uno here, however. Cracks me up. So she dressed up for the cars. Wild.
I was standing on the other side of the street where she is in this photo:
But then she said, no come over in the shade with me it is better. So even though I thought the angle was probably better from the spot in the sun, I came over to stand with her. Then as the time drew nearer, she realize it might be better from the other side and went over there. In the meantime, another classmate Yoko had joined us so she and I stayed put--the shade was much nicer. Leading the procession was a polizia on a motorini:
Followed by a regular police car:
Then there was the Mercedes pace car:
And then the fun began:
They were filming from this "car", sadly, from my work at ET it reminds me of the 'woman without a face' who we profiled on Insider time after time. I think she is doing better now so hopefully I am not a horrible person for drawing the comparison. But I can't help it, every time I see this picture I think of her. This car was quite functional for filming however, since there was no windshield or doors...:
It was so fun to watch these cars driving through the piazza because cars do not drive there. And to see so many old ones driving by was really a treat. I thought there were going to be maybe 20 cars but I think there were actually a couple hundred or so!
A few modern cars snuck into the race:
Then the garbage truck that is regularly driving through the city drove on the course:
And everyone cheered loudest for him! The garbage man soaked up the attention--he was waving his arm outside the window of the truck and working the crowd:
My personal favorite, the old firetruck:
Back of the firetruck:
Finally, I decided I had fulfilled my responsibility to the car-loving reader(s) of my blog so I headed off to the one of the other free museums I wanted to see that day. I couldn't resist walking along the course and kept stopping to take more pictures:
This is on the main (usually pedestrian) road that runs from Piazza della Signoria to the Duomo. I can't stress enough how fun and unusual it was to see these cars driving through:
The Duomo on the right and the baptistery on the left in the middle, this just isn't something you see in Firenze everyday, lots of people were lining the streets enjoying the spectacle, including a bunch of bewildered tourists:
The facade of the Duomo again:
Finally, I made it to my destination--the Medici Chapels:
These are some major chapels (just like everything else the Medici's had--major and ostentatious) which are really more like crypts. There are some Michelangelo sculptures on some of the tombs. It was neat to see again, but I do remember visiting it last time. This time, however, I noticed the room where they kept the fingers of various saints. They would take the bone of a finger and put it in a glass case with a decorative holder. Weird and more than a bit creepy. So then I headed back out because I wanted to visit one more museum that day. I was destined for museum overload. I had been in the Chapel for awhile but when I came back out on the main street running out of town, the cars were still coming!
So I walked back along the route, past the Duomo:
Then I turned off onto another main pedestrian street to get close to the Ponte Vecchio. Look at the crowds on the bridge (you can't really see that it is a bridge but it is where all the people are):
Tourist season is in full swing.
Then I followed the course south of Ponte Vecchio on the Lungarno (road running next to the river Arno, here the river is on the left):
And across the Ponte Santa Trinita for a nice view of the Ponte Vecchio and these old cars that just kept coming:
Finally, I really decided that enough was enough of those car pictures. It was really fun to see though! I hightailed it to the Pitti Palace for my third museum visit of the day. You can't take pictures in there but I will have my exterior pictures of that place up tomorrow!
2 comments:
omgosh -- that car show thing is so cute!!!! i love it!
That was so cool. i can't believe I missed that.
Post a Comment