A trip to Florence for the Stibbert Museum :D

[daeva_neesan]

So, I'm just back from a short trip to Florence, where I went to visit the Stibbert Museum, a little gem dedicated to armours and weaponry and all the other little fixations of Frederick Stibbert :D

So, the first thing that I did once in Florence was TO HAVE LUNCH XD
I picked this place that had a nice touristic menù, so I could keep myself light and still enjoy the typican Tuscan delicacies, included the Fiorentina steak (a really tiny one, though, just a mere 500 gramms but of rare, soft meat °°D: So good--)

(Looking at the pics makes me hungry all over again T^T)

Then I took care of the check-in procedures of my hostel and headed to the museum.
I couldn't take pictures inside, but I'm a sharing a few shots from the guide that I bought :D
I went there for the huge collection of Japanese armours and weapons (the eldest and biggest outside Japan), but my heart was completely captured by the luxurious building itself and the suggestive "Ride", one of the main features of the museum:

Please, note the figure in the background on top of the room-- It's Saint George, dragon corpse included XD AWESOME!

Here's my booty:The book about the collection of Japanese fairytales is awesome! I'll share one once I decided which one to pick XD

The museum has a huge garden set as a public park, so once the visit was over I took my time to explore the place and take some pictures:












Special feature of the garden is the "Little Egyptian Temple", one of those things that were popular in Italy in the XIX century, and that of course also Frederick wanted in his mansion!





--Of course the place included kitties XD

And to end this post, a few random pictures of spots that picked my interest ;3









The last pictures are dedicated to Santa Maria Novella since it was in front of my hostel and definitely worth a watch :D

And, well, this is all :D

Comments

[m3n747]

Hey, we have a St. George too! :D Fun fact: I first learned about him when reading a Polish children's book titled Scenes from the Lives of Dragons - one of the dragons mentioned meeting a man named George who kept trying to attack him. I love that book, it's one of the foundations of my childhood. I mean, just look at those gorgeous illustrations: 1, 2, 3, 4. :D

As always, those are some nice pictures. And now that I've had a bunch of history of art classes, I can appreciate the even more! ^^

[daeva_neesan]

Well, the one of the museum is not a statue, it's a 1/1 scale reconstruction of the guy, wearing a real Medieval armour with fitted horse and weaponry-- And the dragon looked embelmed XD ! It was so cool and kitsch at the same time XD --I want the money that this guy had ;_;

Wonderful illustrations :DDD
The colours are so vivid, it's like seeing a demon of Luca Signorelli rendered as a cartoon ^_^ !!

[m3n747]

Too bad you didn't make a close-up photo of him. One of these days I'm really going to have to visit Italy and marvel at all of your art. ^^

Oh yes, the illustrations are fantastic. I still have this book, BTW.

[daeva_neesan]

Yeah, it's a pity-- But it was impossible to get a proper pic anyway, it's too up above and far away for my shitty camera >3< !
Though, I found some pictures on the web!
On this page scroll to "2005 MUSEO STIBBERT FIRENZE restauro San Giorgio e il drago"

Please come ^o^/ If you come by Rome let me know, I'll take you on a tour!

[m3n747]

Looks pretty good!

One day, time and money permitting, I sure would love to! ^^ Money, of course, is the biggest issue, as I'm coughing up some serious dough for school now. But it's a plan I hope to realise. ^^ (Plus I think you owe me a kebab. XD)

[daeva_neesan]

Money is a problem everywhere XD But a trip to Italy is something that can be manageable nowadays (well, unless you want to tour all the Gucci stores XD) :D I look forward to it XD

LOL, time ago a friend with her Japanese boyfriend came to visit, we were walking around the train station and we found ourselves surrounded by kebab shops XD
And I was like "Here, typical Italian food :D"
A the Japanese boy: "D: !!"
x'DDDD

[m3n747]

Well, seeing how ethnic food is usually customised for the local tastes, it's not all that untrue. XD I once heard about some Polish guy teaching his Italian friend how to make bigos. The first time she tried it, under his guidance, it turned out just right, but when she did it on her own, she made something she liked better, but he didn't much like at all. XD So yes, I fully expect Italian kebabs to be somewhat different in taste. ^^

[daeva_neesan]

Italians don't make kebab, the immigrants do it :D --And they usually make pizza together with it too XD It's very popular!

[m3n747]

In Poland there are many places where immigrants make kebab too, but even they put pickled cucumbers and red cabbage in it. You see, it's not about who makes it, it's about who pays for it. XD It's the same with pizza - we're used to lots of toppings and a good amount of sauce because, like Germans, we want our food to be good and filling. I once read an interview with someone running a pizzeria with genuine Italian-style pizza - he said people were complaining there wasn't enough to eat, so he had to modify the menu to satisfy the local tastes. Such are the joys of cultural differences. XD

[daeva_neesan]

"like Germans, we want our food to be good"
There's something wrong with this sentence XD !

Anyway, what you're saying is true, but I don't think it applies to kebab. It's so good as it is, and there's a limit to how "filling" something has to be to be good, for our tastes, as you noted XD
But of course other cusines are really toned down for this reason-- Indian and Chinese cooking, for example, I've been told that in Italy they are pretty much flavourless XD --And I'm kinda grateful, once I went with some friends in an original Indian restaurant attended by Indians only and I almost had an anaphylactic shock because of the extreme spiciness x'DDD

[m3n747]

Hey, I happen to have enjoyed the German cuisine during my visits. Those Jägerschnitzel were so delicious... T_T

It might apply to kebab to a lesser extent, but I still don't think that Turks put pickled cucumbers in their food back home. We love our cucumbers, though, so they comply with our tastes.

As for the Chinese food, I really love it! There are places which are run by Asians who barely speak any Polish - and when they do, their heavy accents make them insanely difficult to understand - so I guess they have no reason to care what tastes we enjoy and just make their food the way they like it themselves. XD I can't be sure, though.

The Indian food, I only ate it three times if memory serves. I liked it, but I'd need to try more of it to have any proper well-informed opinion. I don't think it was all that spicy, but I can't tell if it was toned down for the intended target or if we just ordered something mild. I like spicy food, however, so I wouldn't mind trying something with more spice to it.