Florence

We arrived in Florence yesterday around noon. Our current hostel is fairly close to the train, and was very easy to find. A few things we've learned for another trip - the train is the best way to get around, book a hotel/hostel near the train (or where ever we come in), it's worth the extra money to book rooms with private bathrooms (or rather, it's not worth the savings to book shared bathrooms), and the pay-per-use WC's are worth the cost (cleaner and toilets actually have seats).

I wasn't sure what to expect of Florence and my first impression was it's just another overly crowded, busy city. However, sitting at a cafe and in one direction down the street you see the Duomo and the other the green hills on the outskirts, I realized this really is as beautiful as everyone says.

 

There are a number of different vantage points from which to view the city, allowing for amazing panoramic views. Seeing the city sitting amidst these beautiful, rolling hills, one can't help but wonder at all the magic and elegance the history of Florence holds. We walked up to the top of the Duomo, up 463 narrow, precarious stone steps, for which the €8 entry fee was definitely worth it.

Cathedral Ceiling (Duomo)

View from the Dome

Florence is really easy to get around, just like other Italian cities, and we managed to see a number of the sites in the remainder of the afternoon. We wanderered over Ponte Vecchio, a bridge with jewelry shops and homes situated on both sides. It was pretty neat but super busy! After looking around on the other side of the river, we walked down to Piazzelle Michelangelo (where the second David replica is situated), which is up a few hundred feet from the street. It offered an amazing view of Florence and, we are told, a great view of the sunset. Since it was quite early when we went up there, we couldn't stick around and found a nice Chinese restaurant on our trek back to the hotel! We have one more night here so maybe we'll try to catch a Florence sunset tomorrow.

Bryan on the steps at Piazzele Michelangelo

Today we visited Galleria dell'Academia, after a real American omelette breakfast. The original David, plus lots of other art works by Bartoloni and other Florentine artists, were very cool to see (but no photos so below is a replica outside Uffizi).

 

We took a peak inside the Cathedral that houses the Duomo today as well. The cathedral was surprisingly plain, when compared to the Roman and Vatican basilicas, but the actual draw is the wonder of the dome paintings, depicting heaven through to hell.

24 Hour Clock inside the Cathedral

Cathedral Altar

Holy water

We attended an ancient game of rugby/football for charity and then had a great meal at 10PM on a side street. While I think the waiter was laughing a little bit at my Italian, Bryan thinks he appreciated me trying! I did order our meal entirely in Italian, including asking for our bill so I'm sure I came across as a foreigner anyway. I would love to ask a local about the uses of some words because it seems, like in German, there are feminine and masculine uses for these. I just don't want to offend anyone!

 

Some pictures: