The Chattanooga Girls Choir

Day 6: SIENA/FLORENCE
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
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It was lovely to be able to sleep in a bit later this morning and then be treated to a breakfast buffet that included scrambled eggs! Since we didn't have to be on the bus until 11:00 this morning, some folks even got in a little extra shopping before we loaded up and headed for Florence (Firenza), less than an hour's drive away.

When the bus arrived in Florence, it was still too early to check into our next hotel, so we called a taxi and loaded it up with the concert dresses and our members with leg problems (Alyson and Phyllis) and sent them on ahead with Marie-Agnès and Amy (me) to the church where the choir would be performing later, Santa Maria dei Ricci, where we stored all the dresses in a back room, then slowly walked to where we would meet the rest of the group in front of the first of two major art museums we were to visit today, the Accademia Gallery, part of the Accademia di Belle Arti (the Academy of Fine Arts). Meanwhile, everyone else walked to the church, then spread out to grab a quick bite to eat and shop a little before meeting us at the museum.

At the Accademia Gallery we met our local guide for Florence, a friendly Italian man named Bernardo--"Bernie," for short--who had been called up on short notice to help our group when the scheduled guide was unable to meet us. What a lucky break for us, because Bernie was so enthusiastic and knowledgeable that he made the entire afternoon fun and interesting for everyone. He led us through the Accademia Gallery, telling fascinating stories about the origins of various pieces of art and helping even the most art-naive among us understand why certain pieces were considered such treasures. The Michelangelo section was especially impressive, especially the famous towering statue of David.

After we left the Accademia we put our slow walkers on a taxi to the next museum and the rest of us began to walk. As we made our way to the town center it began to rain for the first time this tour, lightly at first, then a total downpour by the time we reached The Duomo of Florence, the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiori. The girls put on their red jackets and huddled under as many umbrellas as we had and waited for a chance to go inside out of the rain. Meanwhile, the street vendors who moments before had been hawking brightly colored scarves were suddenly now offering bargain prices on plaid umbrellas! ("Only 4 euro! For you, miss, three umbrella only 10 euro! No wait, I like you, free umbrella for a keess!") We hustled the girls away from the vendors and into The Duomo, where they drip-dried and marveled at the striped marble pillars and the gold trim and incredible art everywhere.

The rain had eased a bit by the time we went back outside, so we looked at a few more points of interest (the Campanile bell tower and the Baptistery, Florence's oldest building and its first cathedral) before walking the rest of the way to the Uffizi Gallery, one of the most famous art museums in the world, with paintings by da Vinci, Botticelli, Raphael, Titian, and many others. The museum is so huge that there was only time to see some of the highlights, but Bernie did a terrific job in helping us to explain some of the most significant works so that we weren't just seeing painting after painting, we were seeing the evolution of art over time. He also pointed out the Ponte Vecchio, the old bridge near the Uffizi, and told the story of how the bridge helped the Allies to win World War II.

We finally had to leave because the museum was closing, so we walked to the nearby Ristorante Uffizi for a quick meal. After dinner the choir sang Chattanooga Choo-Choo for the staff, who nodded their heads in surprise and pleasure and clapped loudly when the girls were done. We then had to hurry to Santa Maria dei Ricci church so the girls would have time to change into their dresses and warm up before the 9 p.m. concert. As they began singing, it became obvious why this church is a favorite for concerts because the acoustics were amazing, bringing out the richness and depth in the choir's voices. The performance sounded great and the audience continued to grow until nearly every pew was full, but the audience was eerily silent (not applauding because it was in church?), though they seemed to be enjoying each song. Then, at the very end, the choir actually messed up on the ending of Children, Go Where I Send Thee (they didn't finish at the same time!), and when the girls burst into giggles, the audience burst into tremendous applause! After that, the people enthusiastically came up to thank the girls and LuAnn for a wonderful performance. One big surprise: there was a former member of the Chattanooga Boys Choir in the audience, in Florence on his honeymoon! We got his name and address and promised to get back in touch. Such a small world...

It was late by the time we returned to the hotel, so everyone was quickly asleep after a very full day. We leave tomorrow for Venice!

Alyson's lovely blue crutches make quite a fashion statement.

Our Florence guide Bernie made our rainy day enjoyable.

The ceiling of the octagonal dome of The Duomo is painted with scenes from the Last Judgment.

The girls entertain the restaurant staff with Chattanooga Choo-Choo.

The choir sang beautifully at Santa Maria dei Ricci.

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