A Week in Florence -- ICHAJ 14 (the reason we went)

The past week has been overflowing with amazing experiences and sensory overload. Florence. the beautiful city in Tuscany, Italy is like that.

We travelled there primarily for the International Conference on the History and Archaeology of Jordan (ICHAJ) where Sten was one of the keynote speakers for the opening session.

The venue was the Salone de Cinquecento in the Palazzo Vecchio -- present day Florence's town hall.

Apparently the original David sculpture of Michaelangelo was at the entry; however, this is a copy and the original has been placed in the Galleria Accademia.

The Salone has an interesting history.  Palazzo Vecchio, including the Salone de Cinquecento (meaning the Hall of the 500), originally was built in 1495 as the place where the representatives of the major families met to govern the city after Piero de Faturo was expelled. Early in the 16th century, Pier Soderini asked Michaelangelo Buonaroti and Leonardo da Vinci each to paint a wall of the hall depicting battle victories of the Republic. Unfortunately, those murals weren't completed because Leonard attempted a new technique which proved to be disastrous (a reminder that even the "great masters" get it wrong sometimes), and Michaelangelo's work was interrupted by a call from Pope Julius II to come to Rome. Only preparatory drawings exist of these works. The decoration of the walls and ceiling were done during the rule of Cosimo I of the Medici family and represent the work of numerous artists of the late 16th century, most notably Giorgio Vasari. There are still rumors that Leonardo's work is under the present day frescoes, but nothing definitive has been discovered. An exciting thought nonetheless.

International conferences are always a wonderful time of  attending colleagues' presentations on their research, connecting with old friends, socializing and making new friends, and -- certainly in Italy -- enjoying delicious food. I attended a few presentations by mutual friends and accompanied Sten to several social events. This presentation by Maria Elena Ronza critically examining her own work over the past ten years in community engagement was particularly thought-provoking.

One evening we ate in a wine cellar and tried some local specialties, including ribollita -- a thick Tuscan vegetable soup, an artichoke appetizer, pasta, and pizza.

Another evening, we were honored to be invited to a dinner hosted by HRH Prince Hassan bin Talal, who is the patron of ICHAJ. Prince Hassan is the brother of the late King Hussein of Jordan and the uncle to King Abdullah. He is active promoting peace and organizations which aim to promote understanding amongst groups of people. For a taste of what he stands for, you can hear his eloquent and inspiring speech at the opening of the conference at this link on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIK2xUGfqpI&t=20s

The venue for the dinner had windows overlooking the Cathedral de Santa Maria del Fiore or, as it's usually referred to, the Duomo. The table settings were very beautiful, and the food and service excellent.

The dessert course, "1001 Sweets of Florence."

Prince Hassan acknowledged each guest by name, thanking them for their contributions to Jordan.

To top the evening off, we were entertained in a downstairs room with great acoustics and frescoes on the wall by a string quartet playing a variety of pieces, from well-known Italian operatic arias to more popular folk melodies. Truly an evening to remember.

 I wish you all pace, peace, salam, and shalom.