Parma and Modena

Yesterday, Kristen returned after spending some time in the U.S. and trying without success to get her visa renewed. Since she flew into Bologna, I decided to meet her there in the evening, and spend the day in the nearby city of Parma.
After walking downtown from the train station, I first had to get something for lunch -- my choice was a sandwich with Parma ham, of course. Parma isn't a huge city, so it was easy to see everything in a few hours. There aren't too many tourists there either -- I guess they're all trampling themselves in Florence. The highlights were the Romanesque Duomo and Baptistry. The latter was impressive due to its height and the frescoes covering the entire interior. The interior of the Duomo was largely Baroque (very much overdone, in my opinion), with famous cupola by Correggio though also with a nice relief by the sculptor Benedetto Antelami. I also briefly visited the Museo Diocesano, which had a few nice sculptures and a 5th century floor mosaic.

Detail of the Parma baptistry ceiling. Note the depiction of the evangelists as half-animal, half-human figures.

Since there was still enough time before Kristen arrived, I took the train to Modena, which is located halfway in between Parma and Bologna, and which is probably most famous for its Balsamic vinegar. It also boasts one of the most important and impressive Romanesque cathedrals of Europe, though, which has made it onto the UNESCO World Heritage list. Unfortunately, parts of the facade and the bell tower were being renovated, and were therefore covered up. Nevertheless, many of the stone carvings by Wiligelmus could be seen, and the (rather dark) interior was impressive.
Then it was time to take the train to Bologna, where I met Kristen and helped her lug all of her luggage back to Florence.

Seeing David up close

Trying to take advantage of the time in which the amount of tourists in Florence is slightly lower than in the summer, we decided to try to go to the Uffizi today (I've been in Florence almost a year now, and haven't been!). However, even in March, the line to get in without prebooking tickets was way too long, and so we postponed this visit until some other time. Instead, we wandered over to the Accademia, where there are also long lines in summer, but where we were able to walk right in. The big highlight here is to no surprise, Michelangelo's David, which looks even larger and more impressive here than the copy in Piazza della Signoria. The rest of the museum was pleasant enough, though mostly filled with medieval religious art (think Madonna and Child, and again, and again...). The only other thing worth mentioning is that the museum was filled with American college students. Seems like it's the thing to do on a rainy Sunday afternoon when you're on "study" abroad.

Palazzo Vecchio

Taking advantage of the fact that the density of tourists is at a seasonal low, we decided to visit the inside of the Palazzo Vecchio, the town hall of Florence for the past 700 years or so. Like most places in town, there's an abundance of art. Here, the frescoes by Vasari, Ghirlandaio and others stand out. For example, in the mayor's office, there's a fascinating fresco of the siege of Florence which shows the city as it was in 1530, and in the impressive Salone dei Cinquecento, the victories of Florence over surrounding cities are documented. Here, there's also a statue by Michelangelo symbolizing the victory over Siena.
One of the most interesting rooms for me was the map room, where the knowledge of the world in the 16th century was on display. For example, here's the section containing "Spira", "Ogersehem" and "Mens".