The article puts an unexpected twist on the typical article written about the "beauty" of Florence, his introduction sets this unique perspective; "Before you go to Florence, people who have been will inevitably say, 'Oh, Florence is beautiful'. You won't be the first to wonder upon arriving what they're talking about". He goes on to give several examples of other famous historic figures who felt strongly against the city, while I did not recognize the names I didn't feel that I needed to for their inclusion to be meaningful and applicable. Clancy continues down this unusual path; "The Duomo and Giotto's bell tower are jaw dropping in their gaudy marble, the Baptistery and example of the school of design whose manifesto is that a thing worth doing is worth overdoing. But beautiful"? Again, the use of terms like "gaudy" and even the mere question of whether or not these landmark monuments are actually beautiful peeks my interest, I had kind of just assumed that by default these sights were indeed beautiful. Clancy goes on, "Looking to the heights surrounding the city, you might wish to be up there and not down in the dun-colored town walking in the hive-like streets swarming with mopeds driven by maniacs (It's no accident that 'vespa' in Italian means 'wasp')". Clancy is again using strong word choice with the likes of "dun-colored", "swarming", and "maniacs". At this point I'm almost starting to question, do I even want to keep this place on my travel itinerary? The interesting little factoid that he adds about the meaning of vespa in Italian makes the description of the streets that much more vivid, as I picture the streets filled with loudly buzzing , motorized wasps with horns for stingers.
At this point though he refers to Florence as "the capital of the Renaissance", reminding the reader that the city does have, even if maybe nothing else, a rich and undeniable history. He then provides a brief but manageable and useful history, that any reader could follow and find useful in understanding why Florence is such an English-speaking "friendly zone". He follows his history lesson with a lesson on dealing with the swarming mopeds. This is where I really began to fall for Clancy, his descriptive, while simultaneously humorous writing style is almost impossible to ignore. So forgive me while I quote a brief passage, but for those of you who have not read the article I simply must provide you with a literary taste: "First, a tip on how to avoid being run down or getting freaked by the demonic bikes. In the narrow medieval byways it's often necessary to abandon the crowded sidewalks and take to the street. Your first experience of this can cause panic as you hear the idiot whine of mopeds bearing down on you. But just keep walking in a straight line, don't look back (because for sure they're gaining on you), and they will pass you. Pass you in a blur, but they will pass. We live in hope". How do you just not love that?
In case you were beginning to think that Clancy has lost his way and begun to ramble about the dangers of mopeds he brings you back to Florence in one swift transition; "When you start to think, hey, it must be a serious blast to buzz around on one of those things, then you've made peace with the place. The moped in many ways represents the spirit of Florence, which is the spirit of the adventurous young... Look closely and that spirit will attach itself to you, no matter what your age, it you'll let it. With this Clancy gives us a glimpse of the supposed "beauty" of Florence we've all been told about as he slowly begins to peel back the noisy outer layer.
He then goes on to briefly discuss eating at the market of Sant' Ambrogio and suggests going to the nearby antique and flea markets of Piazza dei Ciompi; "Have coffee in even the most dubious cafe with a jam stuffed doughnut and you'll stare at your cup and think: I've never had coffee until this moment". Here, he is providing us with another peak at the "beauty"we've been told to expect of Florence. From there he goes on to discuss culture, and of course discusses the Galleria dell'Academia where Michelangelo's infamous David statue resides, Clandy remarks that, "Standing before it in its own skylighted gallery, you'll be overwhelmed at the scale of the thing, the nakedness, the drama of the stone... Seeing it in the flesh (and the enduring and seductive mystery of classical and Renaissance sculpture is that marble has become naked flesh) allows one of Italy's gifts, Humanism - the belief that the divine is within us - to shine". Once again, not only are Clancy's word choice and descriptions perfectly formed on the page but he effortlessly shifts from talking about coffee to art, in a way that seems natural.
From talking about David and the historic art of Florence he brings the reader back into the present by mentioning Daniel Gravers, director of the Florence Academy of Art; "A visit to the gallery, with its black cloths, softly falling light and hushed intensity of the artists, will allow you a peek into something unchanged for 500 years, a glance into the Renaissance of Florence...".
Finally, after another smooth transition from the gallery to talking about the strenuous, but rewarding climb up the Duommo he ends by saying, "If the word 'beautiful' comes to your lips, don't be surprised", and just like that he has brought the reader full circle, but just to ensure that we'll act on our newfound understanding of the city's beauty there is a small informative section that covers how to get there, where to stay, eat and shop along with information on music and art. I can happily say, in falling for Clancy I do believe I have fallen for Florence.
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