We went to Plaza Vecchio after that, and there were many men playing drums and dressed in Renaissance style clothing. We watched them parade, then went to the piazza in front of the main cathedral by 9 a.m. There were already people lining up against metal barricades, and we were two people back from the barricade. We waited and waited, and more and more people arrived. By 10:15 or so four large white oxen, preceded by marching drummers and flagmen, all dressed in Renaissance era clothing, pulled the Cioppo in front of the cathedral. For about 45 minutes the priests chanted and announced prayers in Italian while other men arranged the rockets, fireworks and parts for the Cioppo. While they did this the bishop passed through the crowd, blessing people with holy water. Directly in front of us was a wooden cart filled with flowers, branches from olive trees and eggs. After the bishop passed through, volunteers passed the flowers, branches and eggs out. We were given multiple flowers and branches and passed them around.
By 11 the crowd was in full press, and probably 50 people deep behind us. As Lucia mentioned, the personal space of Europeans in this situation is much less than American standards, and we were very VERY close to our fellow tourists. I personally had a European woman putting her elbow on my shoulder and taking video over my head with her cell phone/camera.
A wire was strung from inside the cathedral and a rocket was attached to a dove made of possibly papier mache, and when the dove hit the Cioppo, the other fireworks went off. When the fireworks began, the spectacle was something to behold, and we had a very good perspective, thanks to standing for two hours. The BOOM of the bigger fireworks startled more than a few people, and we were all enthralled and taking photos and videos. It lasted a good 7 minutes, and the crowd cheered when the three flags at the top unfurled and it was all over.
We turned to leave, but the crowd was so full that it was impossible for an individual to move. We held hands and attempted to leave, but it was cheek and gowl. I thought Julia was going to get squeezed too tightly, as I was holding her hand and trying to pull her through. We were all laughing and joking, as we were getting pressed towards the less populated parts of the street. After 5 minutes we managed to escape. We made it back to the apartment and took naps and ate snacks bought from the Italian supermarket.
The market was a bit of an experience. My father managed to knock over a bottle of beer and shatter it in front of a small crowd of Italians. Later, after we checked out, Mariela told me to leave through some glass doors to the street as a short cut, but it turns out that it was the emergency exit, and the Italian clerk kind of let me have it in Italian in front of a crowd. The Italians in line were much amused, as I asked 'perdona me, perdona me'.
Mariela's mother, sister and nephew arrived right when Mariela and I were walking home with the groceries. After getting settled, my brother Matt and his girlfriend Judith (who live in Germany and were visiting) arrived, and we chatted for an hour. After that, we walked around Florence, which was really crowded, and we said goodbye to Matt and his girlfriend Judith as they headed off to the train station. The remaining group of 11 ate some nutella filled crepes, took many photos along the river at sunset and then made it to the restaurant near our apartment, where we enjoyed good food, but managed to annoy the waitress by asking for four separate checks. Tomorrow we have tickets for the 8:30 train to Venice, and we plan on spending the entire day there.
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