To the Top...

We've been in training since June 1st. You've heard us complaining! You've heard us counting! Well today was the day. We lined up at the start line (well, not actually, there wasn't anyone else in line!). We inserted our tickets into the stamper--and we were off! Our climb up to the top of Il Duomo. When I say Il Duomo, do you know what the "Il" is? It's the Italian equivalent of "El" in Spanish (and said the same way).

"The Dome" - one of the most famous in the world. When they built the church, they just left a big round hole in the top because no one knew how to build such a big dome yet. Brunelleschi figured it out and won the competition for the right to build it and came up with the largest dome in the world which was completed in 1436! It was a radical new idea with a dome within a dome. Michelangelo copied this same design when he then built the larger dome on St. Peter's in Rome. Michelangelo said "I can build it bigger but not fairer".

Well, anyway, it is a mere 463 steps to the top. I must say, it went rather smoothly after so much training! Near the bottom of the climb, there were many spiral steps, going straight up the sides of the cathedral. Then there was a landing at the base of the dome which led into the interior of the dome. On the inside we found ourselves literally surrounded with the fresco on the inside of the dome. A 3600 square meter painting of the Last Judgement is also one of the largest paintings of the Renaissance time period. Unless you actually climb the dome it is difficult to see the fresco because the altar area is roped off to tourists.

Back in and up we go! This time, we go in longer, straight stairways--kind of zig-zagging back and forth, and we reached another landing--this time much higher on the dome on the inside again. Now we're seeing the enormous size of the characters in the painting! Look at the picture looking up. Look around the opening on the top (where we are going). There is a "false" dome painted there (the darker area) with people sitting around and even people hanging out "into the dome".

As we continue up, we now enter the curved space between between the inner and the outer domes. We can see the curvature, and we are having to stoop over sometimes as the headspace narrows. Everything we have seen on the insides of the stairways and the domes is stone and brick. We have, of course, stone stairways and walls, and then as we enter the actual domes, we start to see red bricks as well.

After a few "straight up" stairways (these stairs are very narrow, maybe only 6-8") we finally exited out onto the top. There is a small coupula on the top of the dome, made out of marble of course, and a walkway around the outside of it. Great views of Florence all around, and of course, by now we can name all of the major sites around town! The Cathedral's bell tower is just a short distance away and the top seems about the same height where we are standing. One of the dissappointments of the climb was that all along, the walls were covered black marker graffiti, and the top was as well.

Later for lunch, Maridee suggested that we go to the Mercado, to visit the inside of it. It was also very interesting. The entire first floor was covered with meat markets (and a few resteraunts). The entire 2nd floor was covered with fresh fruit and vegatables. So that's where they are! We have noticed that there are hardly any fresh fruit and vegatable markets in town. They seemed to have about anything you could want there--including our much craved avocados! We found a soft one and brought it home for dinner!

The same was true downstairs as well. There was about any kind of meat you could want. We're talking about big, open, exposed, hunks of beef. We're talking about whole skinned rabbits. We're talking about whole pigs and and partial pigs (like heads, and legs, and feet). We're talking about whole chickens--heads and feet and all! There were some meat counters that specialized in organs--and I won't even begin to describe the stuff they had in there!

We found a nice, safe lunch area and Maridee had gnocchi with artichokes and I had spaghetti. We did buy lots of fresh fruit and had a great fruit salad for dinner along with cheese nachos and guacamole ala Italia! Print this post