52 Weeks, 52 Half Marathons - Stage 34
Firenze - Back in Time
Thursday, September 5, 06:05 AM
Leonardo da Vinci was born a little over half a millennium ago, 20 miles west of Firenze, in the small town of Vinci. I should not have touched one of his amazing contraptions last night, because when I left home for my run in Firenze, it had warped the space-time continuum, and unexpectedly, I travelled back in time. Thanks Leonardo, I am in for a treat!
Fortunately I read the instructions, and to get back to my present time all I had to do was to follow a progressively accelerating running pace. Start at 6:00 min/km and go down to 4 min/km - at least that was the plan, to shave 10 seconds off my pace every km.
Via Santa Reparata - space-time warp clearly visible at the start of my run
My running Christmas Eves are always a sleep challenge, and especially not sleeping in my usual bed - I barely slept. I am going to need extra vacations from my vacations. After a week of an incredible heatwave touching 38º C (or the much more menacing 100º F) Leonardo’s trip came in handy. It started to rain as soon as I started running and it was much cooler than on the previous days. I cursed the rain during the first km, then I remembered that I had installed an APP to connect to another of Leonardo’s devices, and sure enough requested no rain - it worked.
It’s not long before I arrive at the Mercato Centrale Firenze. Some early workers are already pulling their cart-booths around to set them up in place for another day of tough sales. They do not have an easy life, coming in very early, leaving late, and working very hard to persuade people into making a purchase - who wants a leather jacket in the middle of a heat wave?
Mercato Centrale Firenze - early traders are preparing to set up their booths.
I have arrived in Firenze in the perfect time zone and season of the year. Starting the runs at 6AM just as the sun light starts to come up on the horizon is priceless. By the end of my vacation my 10 days in Italy felt like 20 days because of me running every day at 6AM. Two days will go by in a single Ptolemy Sun orbit. We are still at the 1st km and Firenze is already shining in its full power. The beautiful arches of Santa Maria Novella greet us before our entry into the Piazza. The undesired rain was probably sent by Michelangelo to paint splendid reflections in the photos.
Heading to Piazza di Santa Maria Novella
Il Duomo di Firenze is something that has to be seen in person. The architecture has so much personality and uniqueness making me state that the Basilica di Santa Maria Novella has been built with leftover stones from the Duomo. The Piazza is beautiful still with a very dark sky behind it. My time travel jump somehow brought along some of the 21st century light which helps the composition.
Basilica di Santa Maria Novella
I had been running everyday in the 21st century Firenze to prepare me for Leonardo’s trip. Every single day I soaked in the breathtaking views of the river as the sun rises in the horizon. It will never get old or stale. I was eager not to miss it today, even though the sky was packed with Michelangelo’s clouds. I did stop to take my first photo so that the long exposure could absorb as much light as possible.
First contact with the river margin
Running along the river in Firenze this early in the morning is hard but not in a cardio sense. The views of the city, the skies, the river and lights compete with Leonardo and Michelangelo’s masterpieces. It’s hard to keep a steady pace with so many distractions and impossible to become indifferent to this romantic city. All is so picture perfect that I am tempted to call the magnificent duo Leo and Michael, cheaters. They “only” had to copy and paste what was before their eyes and I could have shot with my eyes closed and still get a great photo.
A portrait from the River Arno in Landscape
A portrait of the River Arno in Portrait
I am at the 2.5km mark and could have already called it a day with the quality of the photographs from the Arno. It’s hard to imagine that this streets one day will be packed with cars and motorinos and still remain truthful to its origins - quite a feat. The overcast conditions are taking much of the light away from me, which makes it harder to capture photos while on the go. Either that or the distortion field from the time travel.
Firezene seen from the south margin of the Arno
I could have remained going east and west on the river margins, crossing all the bridges back, and forth and still have a magnificent run. But I wanted to explore some of the future IG spots free from the pollution of the 21st century crowds. Using Leonardo’s contraption is the equivalent of getting on Space X’s Dragon. Inspired by Galileo I calculated my orbit around Firenze, and the timings, to avoid meteor crowds, evade the heat from solar flares, and to land as many solo shots as possible.
Via Maggio slightly distorted by time travel disruptions
Downtown Firenze is flat. The roads and sidewalks are not perfectly even but still a joy to run. Just keep your eyes ahead of your steps and you will be fine. We are on our way to Palazzo Pitti in time purchased by the powerful Família Medici (because we are in Italy after all). The paint and art collection inside this building is astounding. It’s like they used paintings from masters as wallpaper to cover the walls - think of a famous painter and you will find it in there.
Pitti Palace
We are at km 4.5 and it was all too easy to get here. It has been hard to stick to my plan of keep increasing my pace because of all the stops and pauses to enjoy the views. The palace and its gardens are a must to visit, but not during a heatwave. From the Pitti to the river margin again to glance at the exquisite Ponte Vecchio. The bridge/building is home to number of jewellery businesses and will become one of the city’s main attractions.
Ponte Vecchio
We get back at following the river to the east, on a mission to climb to Piazzale Michelangelo to see the sunrise. As a premonitory message the sun on my photo seems to be burning through the clouds creating a surrealistic painting of the sky (Michelangelo and Leonardo really had it easy). The past few days in the future have been of unbearable heat under the sun. Italy in the summer is no picnic.
Burning sunrise in the Arno
Dirac will not be born until the beginning of the 20th century but sure enough there is one already for my enjoyment in Firenze. I had not been to the Piazalle before and had no idea that the climb would be so “Diracian”. A couple of 21st century runners got sucked into my travelling vortex and I see them already halfway through the climb. Perfect setting for my “vengeance”.
Back in the 21st century I had been going around being a good boy running Z2. There are a lot of runner in Firenze (many tourists) that kept passing me in my low cardio pace. I had many moments of lip-biting.
The ramps and stairs up to Piazzalle Michelangiolo
I get a lot of wood in the boiler and start pumping up the ramps after my prey. Just two weeks, and few centuries ahead, I had been climbing Sintra, this ramp should feel like picnic. I have to keep focused on the hunt and not let myself be too distracted by the magnificent colours that the sunrise is dumping on the mountains that surround Firenze.
Time to glance at Porta San Niccolò
Ignorance is bliss. The climb up to another replica of David’s statue, is ~500m long and Dirac steep. My prey collapsed in the middle of the last ramp, and I triumphantly passed and beat them to the top, coming from behind, Verstappen style.
Like a diver, whose tank has run out of oxygen, I am sure the whole of Firenze could hear me panting at the top, fist in the air. OMG it was EPIC!
David is omnipresent in Firenze
The view from the Piazzele is superb. Now wonder future tourists will roam here in hoards to watch the sunset in valley. I got a close to solo experience with no interferences in my hasted photos. My broken 3x camera is a hindrance that makes me cry. The mountains around Firenze are mouthwatering for my MTB imagination. It puzzles me how the Arno is able to find its way into Pisa from here without climbing. Firenze is only at a staggering 50 m above sea level.
The view to Firenze with the Duomo standing out. The clouds in the sky are brutal.
I follow a symmetrical path down to the river line to cross the bridge Ponte S. Niccolò, and get another great angle at the river reflecting the city. It’s time to head downtown along the north river margin. The sidewalk gets a little cramped at a given point but Leonardo’s time travel getting me here so early in the morning, guarantees plenty of space and safety.
Crossing the Ponte S. Niccolò looking to west
I arrived at the entrance to Piazzale degli Uffizi, overlooking the good “old” bridge once again, at the 9.6 km. I am not in complete solitude but close. The buildings carry the weight of history, there is something about them that transmits a sense of calm, safety and wonder. I am running in the middle of an outdoor museum.
East view of Ponte Vecchio from the north margin as we get to Uffizi. The sky remains a master piece.
Enter Piazzale degli Uffizi, in the future Galleria degli Uffizi, one of the most famous museums in the world, shining with the best collection in the world from the Renaissance. Little did these talented artists imagine that one day machines would gobble up their styles and start pouring infinite variations and combinations of all of their works. I have some scary theories and thoughts about this.
Piazzale degli Uffizi slightly disrupted by some interferences in the space time continuum - in the future this place will be subject to multiple renovations with cranes in the horizon
Stable diffusion, in its infancy, improving exponentially day by day, is already crippling creativity. The zero-barrier to generating, what is interpreted by the layman, as art, impedes new entrants into the space, empowers the clueless and trivializes the generation of content. The distracted professionals quickly dismiss what is being produced and point out the flaws with a note of levity. They forget that this is an ultra marathon where the runner never gets tired, and is able to improve the pace every single day. It’s not a question of if, it is a question of when. I am left with the question, if machines take over art, a human activity that comes from the soul, what is left? Excess of oxygen in my lungs, time to push the pace further, I am at km 10.
Piazza della Signoria with the statue of David #2
My time travel to the past is pushing images into my mind of what’s to come in the future. As I indulge myself into bringing back as many good photos as possible to the present, I explore another thought that is been distilling in my head. One of the fun problems in mathematics is to find the limits to a function. This boils down to try and find out what the value of a function will be if we evaluate it in infinity. I often make the same exercise applied to technology, human behaviour and society. More often than I wished for I am not happy with the outcome of that function.
Ponte Vecchio from the west - it never gets “old”
I get attracted once more to the river margin, interestingly the same thing happened to me frequently in Lisbon, and get another glance at the good old faithful bridge from another angle. I have enough photos that an algorithm could come up with a 3D model of the bridge and it’s buildings. And that brings me back to my early morning philosopher side. A few billion of us are eager to shoot photos, everyday, from the places that we visit, the people that we gather with, and an unfathomed number of selfies, shared, stored and freely accessible for AI crawling the web (myself included). Between all the photos, looking around to admire the buildings and getting myself lost in my thoughts, my pace remains irregular, even with open streets for my luxuriation.
Where have all the people gone?
We have all heard of the deep-fake bogeyman. And we all should be alert, very alert. The database of photos from all the major landmarks and landscapes, the database of photos from all of us, and the increasing improvement of AI generated images can in the limit mean the end of the camera. What will stop one from asking for a photo of oneself, with a given smile, the clothes of choice, with the perfect lighting casted by the perfect sunrise in Piazza Michelangelo? And just like that I predict that iPhone 40, out of trivial boredom and narcissistic vanity, might have no camera. I double down on my bet if social networks, and the cult of perfection keep progressing at the same pace as they have been so far. I am at Piazza della Repubblica where, in the present, is Firenze’s Apple Store (out of the camera business by 2048?)
Piazza della Repubblica with some distortions visible in the space-time continuum
I am pumped about what I am about to visit next - I am on my way to the Duomo, Santa Maria del Fiore, the crown jewel of Firenze, and I am about to see, it once again, clear from the crowds. It is impossible to describe Santa Maria del Fiore in photos or words. It has to be seen. The scale, the contrast, and the detail of the buildings, are beyond the capabilities of any human representation of reality. And this is a great “segway” for my final dystopian thought of this time travel run. The hyperbolic description of the “Duomo” is romantic, as the city. Reality is that deep fakes will keep improving to infinity and I fear that at one point in time, the only way that we will be safe from a deep fake, is by permanently recording our lives 24x7 to prove that the deep-fake is what it says on the tin. Lose our privacy and freedom to protect them. How wild is that? To a certain degree, unfortunately, we are there already.
Il Dumo
Il Dumo. Il Duomo!
It is a skyscraper
Running a loop around Il Duomo is more than 500 meters. You can do 10 laps of joy, and put in your daily 5k while admiring this building. Just make sure it is at sunrise, before the crowds. Construction of this wonder started more than 700 years ago (from my present). I exited the Piazza di San Giovanni at the 12th km and proceed to explore the splendid streets in Firenze.
Borgo San Lorenzo - space-time distortions are becoming more frequent
It’s not long before we arrive at the Piazza di San Lorenzo where the some of the tombs from powerful Medici family have been laid. It is also here that in 1975 they will find Michelangelo’s secret room. A small chamber where they think Michelangelo sought refuge, and carried out a number of charcoal drawings. It will only open for visitors in 2023 and in very limited number. The roads and sidewalks are very slippery from the early rain, I am frequently losing traction.
Basilica di San Lorenzo where you also can find the secret chamber of Michelangelo
I got clearance from the Medici to proceed with the remaining of my route. There is one last landmark that we have to visit before I accelerate to get back to present time. I want to be back home in the future before my family wakes up. The last 5k of the route will be less scenic (as if that was possible in Firenze) to keep me focused on my pace.
There is no such thing as an ugly street in downtown Firenze - even with the time-travel blur
We are still at the core of Firenze enchanted center. On my way to another path through the middle of Piazza della Repubblica, I follow a delightful path below some arches on Via Pellicceria from the Palazzo delle Poste. We get to the doomed future camera sales store, turn right and slingshot across the Piazza that later will be filled with luxury cafés (I am getting hungry by the way…)
On our way to Piazza della Repubblica once again.
Focused on getting to Piazza di Santa Croce before my time travel ends, I push my pace down as I follow the streets canyons in my favorite solitude mode. Navigating in Firenze is quite simple. You have the river and the unmistakable landmarks, no map required. I am stomping over the birthplace of the Renaissance, a World Heritage site. Firenze from Latin, to blossom.
The streets are not as narrow as the ones in Venezia, but close enough to take us back a few centuries
Arrived at Basilica di Santa Croce, another unique facade that again, I joke that has been built with leftover stones from the Duomo (you can tell I like the Duomo). Inside the Basilica will be the tombs of Michelangelo and Galileo. We are at the 15th km and from here, I will be running back to the present. The city is waking up and in Firenze the logistics start very early, at 6AM there will be already a lot of movement in the streets preparing to feed the tourists, literally and metaphorically. I picked my final streets for easy navigation after the Renaissance overload.
Basilica di Santa Croce di Firenze
I am still getting some occasional rain and between that and my normal waterfall sweating the touchscreen on my phone becomes unusable. I had bought a new flask, to carry an extra dose of electrolytes, and was desperately trying to drink from it with no success. After struggling while running I had to stop to try and figure out what was going on. It turns out I had not taken out the protective plastic. No comments. These soft flasks have always been hard to keep dry after using them, and eventually they develop mold. My good friend Richard taught me the secret to stop that from happening - store them in the freezer!
Piazza del Ciompi
I am now rushing through the streets trying to keep increasing my pace, but it was hard. Too many crossings, too many distractions and lack of traction from the slippery roads. I did get a few fast kms so in some sense I followed the plan, and slowly started to travel forward in time. There will be a lot of bikes and motorinos in the city but not so many bike lanes. If you ever drive around here be prepared to have bikes and motorcycles on the wrong way of a one way street. It is accepted and as a pedestrian you should also be on alert.
Viale Giacomo Matteotti - already running with one leg in the present and the other in the past
I am now sprinting in time, alternating between the past and the present, through empty and crowded streets, slightly overshooting the distance to 23.5km, and hungry like the Capitoline Wolf.
I am back in my present home close by the Galeria dell’Accademia di Firenze with the crowds about to get in line to see David
I am so lucky that I got to travel back in time in Firenze.
After Venezia and Firenze I have set the bar for the next cities a little too high.
The city is in every way a wonder spot to run, as long as you use Leonardo’s contraption.
What a ride.
Enjoy your runs!
-APF
PS: For the first time in my posts I have taken the time to modify the photos. I removed cars, people, antennas and other signs. You can check the original photos vs the doctored ones on the Annex:
Check the Original vs Unmodified photos
Route and profile as recorded by Strava (check out that Michelangelo’s Dirac!)
Bonus photos from my surveying runs of the previous week.
