I am so glad I chose to stay in Florence for Easter and see the explosion of the carriage ( La Scoppio del Carro). Even though I was denied an hour's sleep because of the change to daylight saving time, I was up bright and early and headed first to Piazza della Republica to watch the parade of brightly coloured costumed (mainly) men with feathered hats marching or drumming along the streets to the accompaniment of festive music.
I then darted through side streets to Piazza del Duomo to await the fireworks at 11am. I managed to get an awesome spot only about 5 rows from the front and overlooking the section between the Baptistry and the Basilica Santa Maria del Fiore where everything was about to happen.By the end of the event, the massive crowd behind me must have been 100 rows deep...and that was just in the section I was in. It was crazy with people.
Even just watching the guys set up the explosives on the carriage was entertaining. According to the touristy blurb, the carriage is drawn into place by white oxen. I didn't see any oxen but watched as 2 men in a cherry picker on the back of a fire engine were raised over the top of the huge carriage while they precariously leaned out to place a crown of fireworks on top of the carriage. The crown erupted into applause once it was finally set in place. Then another man carried a ladder to one side of the carriage, climbed up to the top step and placed a wooden rod interspersed with fireworks onto the first side of the carriage. He did this with knees seeming to knock together all the while( maybe it was his first time or he had stage fright?!). This process was painstakingly repeated on the 3 remaining sides of the carriage. There wasn't a safety harness or a single orange witches hat cone in sight. I guess Italy isn't so over the top with health and safety regulations like we have in New Zealand. While this was happening, a cable was connected from the Bascilica to the carriage so that the mechanical white dove (columbo) could easily make its flight at the right time. Every so often the colourful costumes flag bearers would do a Mexican wave with their flags for some reason ( maybe to hold the interest of the crowd while the show was being set up).
At exactly 11am the church bells furiously rang,the choir sang 'Gloria" and the dove performed its vital role. Traditionally,the smooth flight of the dove to the carriage symbolised that a good harvest season would follow.
For about 15 minutes we were treated to colourful, spectacular and loud fireworks - complete with Catherine wheels which looked amazing with the grey Tuscan skies that just managed to hold off the threatening rain. Tradition has it that once all the smoke has cleared, we begin a new era symbolic of the new era when Jesus rose from the dead on the first Easter Sunday.
Later in the afternoon, once I had escaped the maddening crowd, I visited Palazzo Strozzina to see an exhibition entitled " Un'Idea di Bellezza" ( an Idea of Beauty). I was especially interested in a video about Edi Rama -a former painter - who, after the collapse of communism in Albania, became mayor of the capital city, Tirana. The film talked about people who have no choice but to live in a particular city. They are there by necessity, not choice. He had a vision to demolish all the illegal buildings around the city centre to return the city to its pre 1990 state by brightening the city in vibrant colours. So state housing block facades were transformed into colourful works of art and gradually people began to embrace the idea of beauty through colour, and society began to change.
Later I sat in Piazza della Republica watching a man who radiated sheer joyful happiness by creating numerous bubbles with a huge bubble wand ( when my children were little we called them bommy knocker wands) and children followed him shrieking in delight as they tried to catch the bubbles. Teary eyed, I remembered the fun I had with my children with boomy knocker wands years ago on our front lawn in Silverstream.
I also enjoyed listening to a trio who seem to busk everywhere playing the cello, guitar and violin with songs mainly from the 1960s and 70s which are fun and uplifting. They play with passion and great rhythm.
I leave Florence tomorrow morning after an amazing month of immersion in the language and culture. I will miss the mystique of this gorgeous part of Tuscany.The only thing I won't miss is the dog poo everywhere. This was my fourth visit to Florence and I was not aware of this issue other times. Come on you lazy Floretine dog owners, clean up the mess after your dogs and let Florence's beauty shine without this negative issue created by A minority.
Next stop... Treviso in the Veneto region of northern Italy.
Ciao!
