This work, meaning ‘Miracle’ in English, was created by Marino Marini in 1952 and was cast in bronze. As with many other works by the artist on this theme, it’s a horse and rider in what looks quite a precarious position. Marini comes back to this throughout his career, and he starts with a horse and rider under control, and throughout time, as the artist despairs with the world, the situation becomes more chaotic. Quite a nice metaphor, it could be argued that we need something similar given the political situation that we face today.
Author: admin
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Florence – Marino Marini Museum (Giocoliere)
This is Giocoliere, a bronze sculpture by Marino Marini in 1939 which is one of just three in the world which the artist cast. Giocoliere means ‘juggler’ in Italian, and although I’m not sure what is being juggled here, there is meant to be a wider message about humanity and the individual struggle. Anyway, another one of these three sculptures sold in 2018 for just under £80,000, not a bad little result.
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Florence – Florence Cathedral Museum (Death Mask by Andrea di Lazzaro Cavalcanti)
This is the death mask created (or cast, however he made it….) by Andrea di Lazzaro Cavalcanti, also known as Buggiano, a sculptor who lived in Florence between 1412 and 1462. The element that interested me is that during this period of Florence’s history, it apparently became popular for people to have death masks on display in their homes. So here we are during a great renaissance period of art and the local denizens decide to buy themselves some death masks to display. Buggiano worked on numerous buildings, including Florence Cathedral, with this death mask dating from 1446.
The death mask is of Buggiano’s step-father, Filippo Brunelleschi, who was responsible for much of the construction of the dome of Florence Cathedral. Brunelleschi was buried in the Cathedral in 1446 and his tomb was lost for many centuries, only being rediscovered in 1972.
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Florence – Florence Airport (Aeroporti VIP Club Toscana)
I arrived into the lounge at Florence Airport aware that most people were leaving the airport as their flights had been cancelled. I was a few hours early arriving, but the member of lounge staff said that I was welcome to come in, but I should be aware that as things stood my flight was likely to be cancelled. There didn’t seem much point worrying, I checked that Accor had hotels in Florence available should I need them and then concentrated on exploring the lounge.
There were a range of different seating areas, with the lounge being nearly empty when I was there, although it got much busier later on.
I decided that I should pretend to be an executive and so I sat here.
The food selection, with pastries, sandwiches, cakes and the like, but it was the doughnuts that were the most exciting. I checked all of the flavours, there were four, several times. There was briefly some hot food brought out in the form of pasta, but this didn’t last long and wasn’t replaced.
There were sandwiches, salads and fruit boxes in the fridges, with the salad being fresh and the cheese was rather moreish.
There were two different beers, although they tasted the same to me, just generic and nearly tasteless Italian lager. I didn’t explore the wine selection, but I overheard others saying it tasted of a decent quality.
There were also coffees and fruit juices, along with a fridge full of canned drinks such as Coke, Fanta and also some energy drinks.
And some sweets.
The lounge was clean throughout and there were books, newspapers and magazines to read. The staff went around relatively regularly collecting empty plates and glasses, whilst there were also plenty of power sockets available to use. There were numerous screens displaying flight information and there were toilets inside the lounge complex. All told, this was an above average lounge with plenty of choice of food and drink, although it did seem to be nearly full at one stage so it might be more problematic during busier times of the year for the airport.
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Flights – Florence to London City Airport (British Airways)
When I arrived at Florence airport, most of the flights from that afternoon were being cancelled due to high winds, so it didn’t bode well for my later departure. Nor was the sign of a lady sitting on the floor outside of the terminal screaming particularly conducive to calm travel, although at least the Italian military and police were on hand to deal with the situation. The staff at the airport lounge were friendly, although warned me that my flight was likely to be cancelled, but as the afternoon turned into evening, all started to look better.
The inbound BA flight to Florence was delayed, apparently the pilot said due to a technical issue rather than air traffic control or the winds, but the departure was only around an hour later than it should have been.
The boarding process was a little confused as customers weren’t really shown where to wait, although to be fair to the staff, they didn’t have a great deal of space as there was another flight boarding at the neighbouring gate. There was a vague effort at boarding by group number as I did hear one announcement, but it was ineffective. Although it didn’t make much difference anyway as there was a bus to the gate rather than an air bridge. The boarding gate staff were polite and helpful, with the process being prompt if nothing else.
The BA flight to London City Airport before mine had been cancelled, so the aircraft I boarded was completely full, although I’m not sure where the other passengers were sent from the earlier flight. The crew member made some authoritative, but essential, statements that baggage must be placed into the lockers quickly and everything other than large bags should be placed under the seats. I like my bag by my feet, but it’s perhaps still a little unfair that BA reward those with large luggage by having the area under their seat clear, whilst those who pack light have their foot room impeded.
The aircraft was G-LCAA, an Embraer 190 which was used by China Southern Airlines from 2011 until May 2019, when it entered BA’s fleet. I find it quite intriguing to know that this aircraft has spent most of its life shuttling around China before being entirely refitted by BA.
The pilot then made a friendly announcement and in that he mentioned that there was a slight rush as we had headwinds against us and a need to get into London City Airport by 22:30 because no incoming flights are allowed in after that due to their curfew. As a slight spoiler to this post, the aircraft landed at 21:54, which meant that all was well and we avoided having to land at London Southend Airport which would have been over an hour by bus transfer. London City Airport usually closes at 22:00, but it remained open to deal with our flight.
Back to the flight itself… British Airways have, for the many years I’ve travelled with them, managed to perfect inconsistency. I’m aware of what the offering would be, since I read the timing of the flight and associated menu on Flyertalk, but it was a near pointless effort compared to the excellent meal provided on the outbound flight to Florence. I had eaten in the lounge, but most other customers hadn’t, perhaps expecting something similar to what they had received on their previous flight.
And into London City airport, safe, sound and only a little later than anticipated. The curfew at London City Airport is an absolute one, so all told, BA did well to get this aircraft back given all the problems there had been at Florence airport during the day. A bus journey from Southend Airport is something that I could have done without, so I’ll forgive BA for their limited catering arrangements on this flight….
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Florence – Porta San Niccolò
Above is one of the fountains alongside Porta San Niccolò, a city gate first constructed in 1324. Other gates in the city were lowered during the sixteenth century, but this was one was left at its original height.
This is from what was the inside of the gate, with Piazzale Michelangelo visible on the right-hand side of the photo. There were debates about demolishing it in the nineteenth century, with the nearby city walls being taken down, but the gate was saved because of the excellent views of the city from its top. Visitors can still climb to the top of the tower, but only during the summer months.
And this is what the gate looked from the outside, quite a formidable structure.
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Florence – Amorino
After a busy morning of touring museums and galleries, it was time for an ice cream. Amorino is very well reviewed and centrally located, so seemed a sensible choice.
I had thought that the cafe might be quite busy. But it wasn’t. This is one of the joys of travelling out of season, comfort is far more likely to be assured.
The range of ice cream flavours, with many tempting options laid out in front of me.
For a little extra money, they put a macaron on top, in this case a pistachio one. The three ice cream flavours that I went for were black cherry, lemon and the lime & basil. The latter was one of the more unusual ice cream options that I’ve tried, but the combination worked well. It wasn’t the cheapest ice cream, costing getting on for £5, but it wasn’t an unreasonable price compared to other similar locations. And the quality was reasonably high, with the environment also being clean and comfortable. Perhaps my only complaint is that the richness of taste of the ice cream wasn’t as good as some other shops, but it was still pleasant enough.
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Florence – Flight Home Looking Unlikely….
Flights from Florence are mostly cancelled for this afternoon, with the member of staff in the lounge warning me that all other flights are likely to be cancelled. The afternoon’s BA flight to London City Airport has already been cancelled, with mine being the evening one and that’s in some considerable doubt. I’ve been allowed in the lounge earlier than usual, with pretty much no-one here, entirely unconcerned as what will be will be….. But hopefully it ends up with me getting home having eaten a lot of crisps because that’s what travel is all about.
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Florence – Museo della Misericordia (Misericordia Brothers Collecting the Wounded)
Further to my post about the work of the Misericordia Brothers, the below photograph shows them picking up a wounded person in Florence as one of their acts of charity.
It seemed to take a lot of people to collect the injured person, but there we go, I’m sure that it was a publicity shot. Not that any of the individuals would benefit from the publicity given they were anonymous, but at least the organisation’s work was highlighted.
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Florence – Museo della Misericordia (Misericordia Brothers Offering Charity)
As a background, the Museo della Misericordia is a museum in Florence which highlights the centuries of charitable work from the Brothers of Mercy. The charitable work had to be conducted anonymously, which personally I’d consider a right nightmare, I’d at least want to be recognised for all my goodness. Although I suppose it makes it easier for those who get bored offering their charity, they can sneak off and they won’t be recognised.
Anyway, it’s that requirement for anonymity that is behind this painting of the charitable work which the members of the Brothers of Mercy were responsible for. To this day, the charity is still engaged in helping the injured and sick, providing social transport, medical help at sports matches and home care. This artwork is by Pittore Fiorentino and was painted in the second half of the nineteenth century. At first, it all looks a bit sinister, it’s only when looking for longer that the selfless acts of kindness are noticeable.
