Review of the Friends' Study Tour to Florence
Review of the Friends' Study Tour to Florence
Fra Angelico exhibition and more
Review of the Friends' Study Tour to Florence
Review of the Friends' Study Tour to Florence
Fra Angelico exhibition and more
The recent Friends of the Whitworth tour to Florence was a resounding success! The once-in-a-lifetime Fra Angelico exhibition was outstanding but Florence has so much more to offer and we visited several art galleries and churches to view their frescoes - but probably only scratched the surface of what was there.
Our guide, Nirvana Romell, was incredibly knowledgeable and really put things in perspective. Our two local guides -Loredana (at the Uffizi, Santa Croce, Horne House and the Vasari house) and Flametta (at the Fra Angelico exhibits) - were also excellent.
Every day we had some great experiences but, as expected, the day spent focussed on the Fra Angelico exhibition, both at the Museo di San Marco and at the Palazzo Strozzi, was stunning. This really is a once-in-a-lifetime exhibition which took over 4 years to put together. We could see why as we walked through the two exhibition sites. Glorious altarpieces, which, in many cases, had been literally cut up and sold in parts across the world, had been reassembled. Loans from major galleries across Europe and the United States came together to show again the brilliance of Beato Angelico.
From the Uffizi gallery we walked along the recently re-opened Vasari Corridor, an elevated closed passageway of 750 metres built in 1565 by Giorgio Vasari for the Medici family. The purpose of the route was to allow the powerful Medici family to travel between their Pitti Palace residence across the river Arno to the Palazzo Vecchio undisturbed and without running risks to their safety.
Apart from what was on the itinerary for the tour, Florence is very walkable and at this Christmas time it was a pleasure just to absorb the atmosphere of this elegant city.
Some of us visited the Botanical Gardens which were an unexpected oasis of calm in which to spend a pleasant hour away from the city bustle.
We all received a 3 day FirenzeCard (Florence Card) which enabled us to gain entrance to many of the main locations in the city. Once this card expires (but not before!), one is able to extend the card for a further two days. We had great fun on day 4 working out how to effect this two day extension and, it is fair to say, not everyone managed it (although, in the event, this wasn’t an issue).
All-in-all, this was a great tour, enjoyed by all. We now look forward to our visit to Helsinki next June!
Mike Tierney
The recent Friends of the Whitworth tour to Florence was a resounding success! The once-in-a-lifetime Fra Angelico exhibition was outstanding but Florence has so much more to offer and we visited several art galleries and churches to view their frescoes - but probably only scratched the surface of what was there.
Our guide, Nirvana Romell, was incredibly knowledgeable and really put things in perspective. Our two local guides -Loredana (at the Uffizi, Santa Croce, Horne House and the Vasari house) and Flametta (at the Fra Angelico exhibits) - were also excellent.
Every day we had some great experiences but, as expected, the day spent focussed on the Fra Angelico exhibition, both at the Museo di San Marco and at the Palazzo Strozzi, was stunning. This really is a once-in-a-lifetime exhibition which took over 4 years to put together. We could see why as we walked through the two exhibition sites. Glorious altarpieces, which, in many cases, had been literally cut up and sold in parts across the world, had been reassembled. Loans from major galleries across Europe and the United States came together to show again the brilliance of Beato Angelico.
From the Uffizi gallery we walked along the recently re-opened Vasari Corridor, an elevated closed passageway of 750 metres built in 1565 by Giorgio Vasari for the Medici family. The purpose of the route was to allow the powerful Medici family to travel between their Pitti Palace residence across the river Arno to the Palazzo Vecchio undisturbed and without running risks to their safety.
Apart from what was on the itinerary for the tour, Florence is very walkable and at this Christmas time it was a pleasure just to absorb the atmosphere of this elegant city.
Some of us visited the Botanical Gardens which were an unexpected oasis of calm in which to spend a pleasant hour away from the city bustle.
We all received a 3 day FirenzeCard (Florence Card) which enabled us to gain entrance to many of the main locations in the city. Once this card expires (but not before!), one is able to extend the card for a further two days. We had great fun on day 4 working out how to effect this two day extension and, it is fair to say, not everyone managed it (although, in the event, this wasn’t an issue).
All-in-all, this was a great tour, enjoyed by all. We now look forward to our visit to Helsinki next June!
Mike Tierney
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