Tracks of the StoneBear Odyssey ROF = Ring of Fire: February 2016

Monday, February 29, 2016

Florence, Italy 2D DOMA

ITL Florence 2D 

Tracks of the StoneBear  Copyright MMXV ALL Rights reserved

ROF= Ring of fire journey

ITL= Italy Journey 

Sunday November 15, 2015 

Florence, Italy 2D Doma     

Our hotel was near the Liberta circle arch... 

The Piazza della Liberta arch.  ....built in 1738 to celebrate the arrival of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty in Florence. I love this European history. 

We walked in the evening down several blocks to a local market.   

We could see The Dome... The Doma.  It's majestic. it draws you in. You can't help but walk/ gravitate towards it. 

Oh my god!  This is powerful.  

You get up closer and it's even more overwhelming.  

My god... this has to have been the center of the universe in the middle ages.  

I built houses, construction,.. for 30 years and know what kind of attention to detail it takes to build a residential house. It takes planning,... somewhat vision to see what could be. 

... but this is beyond comprehension.   

?What kind of vision produced this?  ... and in the middle ages. 

The scaffolding required.... that alone would be phenomenal.  

Just the masonry structure...

This is the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore; The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flowers... the IL Duomo di Firenze as it was originally called, begun in 1296 and completed in 1436.  

The basilica artisan detail is beyond elaborate and is still the largest brick masonry dome in the world.   

Up close you see the phenomenal size.  The detail.... 

several blocks away looking back... maybe 1/4 mile away... maybe more.  I zoom in on the top crest.... those are people walking around the crest promenade.

These pictures don't come close to capturing the power of this cathedral. 

Inside is even more phenomenal. 

The Doma was commissioned/ built by the DeMedicci family.  

... As the opening stroke of the Pazzi Conspiracy, he was assassinated on Sunday, 26 April 1478 in the Duomo of Florence, Santa Maria del Fiore, by Francesco de' Pazzi and Bernardo Baroncelli. He was killed by a sword wound to the head and was stabbed 23 times.[1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuliano_de%27_Medici

This is western civ history at it's best... maybe worst... but phenomenal. 

*******************

The Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore (Italian pronunciation: [katteˈdraːle di ˈsanta maˈriːa del ˈfjoːre]; in English "Cathedral ofSaint Mary of the Flowers") is the main church of Florence, Italy. Il Duomo di Firenze, as it is ordinarily called, was begun in 1296 in the Gothic style with the design of Arnolfo di Cambio and completed structurally in 1436 with the dome engineered byFilippo Brunelleschi.[1] The exterior of the basilica is faced with polychrome marble panels in various shades of green and pink bordered by white and has an elaborate 19th-century Gothic Revival façade by Emilio De Fabris

**************

You never drink twice from the same stream.

Florence, Italy 2 The DOMA

ITL Florence 2 

Tracks of the StoneBear  Copyright MMXV ALL Rights reserved

ROF= Ring of fire journey

ITL= Italy Journey 

Sunday November 15, 2015 

Florence, Italy 2 Doma   

Our hotel was near the Liberta circle arch...   

The Piazza della Liberta arch.  ....built in 1738 to celebrate the arrival of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty in Florence. I love this European history. 

We walked in the evening down several blocks to a local market.   

We could see The Dome... The Doma.  It's majestic. it draws you in. You can't help but walk/ gravitate towards it. 

Oh my god!  This is powerful.  

You get up closer and it's even more overwhelming.  

My god... this has to have been the center of the universe in the middle ages.  

I built houses, construction,.. for 30 years and know what kind of attention to detail it takes to build a residential house. It takes planning,... somewhat vision to see what could be. 

... but this is beyond comprehension.   

?What kind of vision produced this?  ... and in the middle ages. 

The scaffolding required.... that alone would be phenomenal.  

Just the masonry structure...

This is the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore; The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flowers... the IL Duomo di Firenze as it was originally called, begun in 1296 and completed in 1436.  

The basilica artisan detail is beyond elaborate and is still the largest brick masonry dome in the world.   

Up close you see the phenomenal size.  The detail.... 

several blocks away looking back... maybe 1/4 mile away... maybe more.  I zoom in on the top crest.... those are people walking around the crest promenade.

These pictures don't come close to capturing the power of this cathedral. 

Inside is even more phenomenal. 

After a lifetime of odyssey some things can't be put into words.

Throughout this lifetime,... this brief time between the eternities has been a gift of journey,... an odyssey of the roads less traveled on the way to Emmaus.

******************

The Doma was commissioned/ built by the DeMedicci family. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Cathedral

... As the opening stroke of the Pazzi Conspiracy, he was assassinated on Sunday, 26 April 1478 in the Duomo of Florence, Santa Maria del Fiore, by Francesco de' Pazzi and Bernardo Baroncelli. He was killed by a sword wound to the head and was stabbed 23 times.[1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuliano_de%27_Medici

This is western civ history at it's best... maybe worst... but phenomenal. 

*******************

The Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore (Italian pronunciation: [katteˈdraːle di ˈsanta maˈriːa del ˈfjoːre]; in English "Cathedral ofSaint Mary of the Flowers") is the main church of Florence, Italy. Il Duomo di Firenze, as it is ordinarily called, was begun in 1296 in the Gothic style with the design of Arnolfo di Cambio and completed structurally in 1436 with the dome engineered byFilippo Brunelleschi.[1] The exterior of the basilica is faced with polychrome marble panels in various shades of green and pink bordered by white and has an elaborate 19th-century Gothic Revival façade by Emilio De Fabris

**************

You never drink twice from the same stream.

Venice, Italy 2

Tracks of the StoneBear  Copyright MMXV ALL Rights reserved

ROF= Ring of fire journey

ITL= Italy Journey   

Friday November 13, 2015

Venice, Italy 2

The Venice Canal IS Grand! And it's the main transit of Venice. 

But on both sides of the canal are the city and it's streets. 

some of these streets are what you'd call an alley. Some a 5' walkway. All are in cobblestone.  

The streets are not laid out in a grid,... not one you could see anyway. 

Venice is a hodge podge collection of cobbled together blocks with different size blocks with winding streets. Venice is preserved pretty much the way it was cobbled together back in the middle ages. 

There are some 400 bridges over all the small neighborhood canals. 

You never drink twice from the same stream. 

Venice , Italy Sunday Mass

Tracks of the StoneBear  Copyright MMXV ALL Rights reserved

ROF= Ring of fire journey

ITL= Italy Journey 

Sunday November 15, 2015

Venice, Italy 3 Sunday Mass before Grand Canal, onto Lido 

Up at 6;30 with a look around view of the Grand Canal of Venice.  Cool 12*C. Stir around and go to the breakfast room @ 7;30. 

A wonderful buffet in the dining room. ALL glass windows at the end with the balcony overlooking the Grand Canal. Absolutely breathtaking.  

Too cool.. chill to sit our on the balcony... but for a few mins a great place to take a few pixs. 

Back into the warm dining room & a wonderful breakfast. 

Made a samich to go... toasted bread... a layer of prosciutto ham-- god are these Italians good at prosciutto-- ... a layer of cheese, some scrambled eggs and it;s official!!! a travel samich to go... wrapped in an unused shower cap from the room.  Yes I do know how to travel and make the most of the resources available. 

Regroup in the room and head back out to see the rest of Venice. 

About 2 blocks of the winding alleyways and we come to the local square.. There are town squares every few blocks... neighborhood squares. 

 the fountain is not working.... the tall building to the left is a Catholic church. 

We go into the plain doors on the square... and then my god it is this magnificent cathedral... local to this square. 

A few people are there... maybe a dozen. Some musicians are warming up w/ scales on an acoustic guitar.

And at 2 minutes to 10;30 the cathedral is full.  

This was a regular ,... local mass.  The priests spoke in Latin. It was beautiful!!!

The choir with acoustic string guitars and 7 -8 members choir sounded fantastic.

They gave communion and I lined up .... not being Catholic didn't take the communion... but crossed my arms in reverence to receive blessing and stepped aside. 

I was honored to be there and participate.  ...to participate in a real Sunday morning Catholic mass in Venice, Italy... it was one of the highlights of my life. 

This was a gift to be in this Catholic cathedral this morning and receive blessing. 

Thank you for this great day!  

You never drink twice from the same stream.