(by Carol)
I woke up to warm sunlight pouring through the windows, glittering off the glass prisms of a huge chandelier that hung over our beds. We slept well at Hotel Pendini, even with that giant, beautiful, death-trap chandelier hanging above us. Behind the desk, is a picture of a lady. The name Pedini was beneath her image, on the frame.
There is a plaque on the frame now that reads [A…?] Pendini.
Hotel Pendini is on Piazza della Repubblica, today the heart of life in the city. Two thousand years ago, however, it was a Roman military camp set up to control nearby Fiesole. It was the first urban settlement upon which Florence was consequently built.
The neighbourhood around the piazza was, for many long years, the Jewish ghetto of Florence and the piazza itself was once a local market. After the Unification of Italy, when Florence was named capital in 1865, the piazza underwent major changes. In an effort to beautify the historical centre and imitate the glory of Paris, then Europe’s most elegant and glamorous capital, the old medieval homes were pulled down to make way for new modern buildings.
In 1879 work was completed on a palazzo with a grand arch where a wealthy Florentine lady of the Pendini family decided to found a residence for travellers. It still proudly bears her name.
Since then, the hotel has always been managed in a family style.
I can’t remember the name of the Pendini woman in the picture—possibly Alfonsa—but I like that our first night in Italy was spent at a hotel founded by a woman back in the late 1800s. (I might even make note of it for the class I’m teaching, since it has a feminist focus.)
Anyway, feeling good and rested, and with reservations set for the next two nights, we re-gathered our luggage, and cane, and walker, and orangutans, and breakfast cereals, and kitchen sinks, and . . . . Pam took one elevator and I took the other: Pam won that race. We took a taxi to the new hotel. As we were driving away, I caught a picture of the merry-go-round that was located near Hotel Pendini. I wasn’t impressed, and you can see why (below).
