Strangler and La Donna in Florence

One reason not to dread a Monday: your good friends from LA are coming to town. Strangler played guitar in one of my all-time favorite LA bands and is also part of the prodigal Disney family. Donna, his wife, is a gorgeous and fun gal who I've probably known as long as I've known him!

In the morning I went to the studio to do more work on my Pompeii print. At 1pm I took the bus to Strangler and Donna's hotel. It's always the best feeling to see old friends! We decided to go for lunch in Santo Spirito, so we walked along the Arno on a beautiful blue sky day. Crossing the bridge, Strangler pointed out a beaver in the river. But it was actually one of our crazy river rats! It looks just like a river otter but it's a very large river rodent. As we checked out the river life, including people sunbathing on the concrete walkways, we caught up on our current lives. And at one point Strangler stopped us and said "How cool is this, meeting up on the other side of the world, in Italy!" And he's so right!

We sat outside for lunch in the piazza at Osteria Santo Spirito. Upon being seated they present you with a stellar bread selection and olive tapenade. Donna ordered what I think is their signature dish, homemade gnocchi baked with cheese and truffle oil. I've never had a pizza there, so I ordered a pizza with grilled vegetables; Stranglar chose the salad with artichokes, olives and salamini piccante, another favorite dish of mine. We were also given three mystery cheese things which were heavenly little morsels that just melted in your mouth. All of this accompanied by a bottle of red wine and fabulous conversation. They are on a whirlwind tour of Europe, including a stay at the Ritz in Paris, which I loved hearing about. The posh hotel where they stayed concurrently with calcio (soccer) and pop royalty, David and Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham, and their small mob of paparazzi stationed at the hotel entrance. For dessert we sampled a dreamy tiramisu and creme brulee flavoured with apples.

We strolled the Oltrarno and found a shop with Missoni, which I love-love-love. I didn't buy anything, but we fondled the various scarves and Donna bought the most gorgeous scarf. The doors to Santa Felicita were open, which is another Florentine gem. A quaint, simple church with a miraculous Pontormo painting to the right, when you enter. For one euro coin you can light the sucker up and it must be one of the best deals in a city known for its escalated church and museum entrance fees. The colors in this painting are exquisite as Pontormo is one of the great masters of Mannerism.

We continued along the Ponte Vecchio and watched some kids playing calcio at the rowing club. They kicked the ball into the Arno and consequently had to untie a boat and row to retrieve it. The sun started to do that fabulous late afternoon, early evening thing, where it translates the city into a gold-tinted marvel. We continued on through the Uffizi corridor to the Piazza Signoria, where the David was holding a pigeon on his arm. Context truly defines meaning as now he appeared to be a tranquil bird lover, rather than a city symbol of the humble man at the ready to attack the mighty. I loved this day because Strangler's an artist and Donna's more studied in art history than most people I know, so the conversation was high energy and I learned as much from them I'm sure as they learned from my relatively newly-found Florentine knowledge.

Badia Fiorentina was also open, so we wandered in to view the Fillipino Lippi painting and the intricately-carved wood ceiling. These small churches feel like an oasis in a crowded city. At one point we were the only three people in the church. We lit candles, Strangler taking the sweet spot at the top of the candle holder. (Bravo!) The door to the cloisters was open so we took in the peacefulness on the second level of the courtyard. There were two monks sitting on a bench on the courtyard level. Their robes were a gorgeous midnight blue color. The frescoes were in amazing condition and on the far side of the cloister we found the incomplete sketches of the frescoes. Strangler is a storyboard artist by trade, which if you think about it is the equivalent of a modern day sketch artist for frescoes. We reveled in a discourse on the thought process involved in the creation of the fresco compositions.

Our next stop was the model and toy shop. The girls had their Missoni moment and for the boy: the largest toy store in Florence. Which surprisingly didn't have a Smart Car toy car, with the exception of a postage stamp-sized collector piece!

We crossed town to visit the studio, which is a place I always enjoy sharing with friends as it's my second home in Florence. I showed them some of my finished works and works in progress, then we viewed Picasso's litho stone. Show and tell was followed by a reluctant farewell and buon viaggio, as the next stops in their grand tour are Milano and Venezia. I hope to visit them in LA this summer as I feel as though we bonded again and friendships like these should be treasured.