Firenze

We headed out on Friday morning for Florence.   We said goodbye to the Eur Suite in Rome and took the epic journey back to the Termini station.  We boarded our train and settled into our seats.  We hit it off with Graham and his sister (the Australians that sat by us).  It was so nice to carry on a conversation with somebody in English!

 Me and My Aussie Friend

An hour and a half later, we found ourselves in the heart of Firenze.  Who knew that Florence isn't actually called Florence?  Luckily our hotel was just a five minute walk from the train station.  Carter found it after consulting a few maps and we were pleased to see that buses/extended metro rides were a thing of the past.  We could easily walk everywhere.

I have to say, the Hotel Belletinni was my least favorite place we stayed on our trip.  It was very old and not exactly clean (Carter can testify to the fact that I threw a hissy fit after finding a disgusting wad of hair in the toilet).  But he reminded me that if you're staying in the heart of an ancient city (on a budget), you have to deal with less than modern accommodations.  Remembering the trek required of us in Rome, I settled down and unpacked.  And then we walked two blocks to the Duomo.

 The Room

 The weird key

The Lobby

My breath definitely caught in my throat at the first sight of Brunelleschi's architectural masterpiece.  It is glorious.  I was shocked by how vivid the pink and green slabs of marble that decorate the facade of the church are, too.  It's just crazy how ornate the outside of that church is.  We took Rick's audiotour  and admired the incredible mosaics that decorate the inside of the Duomo.  I bought a really cool calendar of Italy in the gift shop there (I'm planning on framing the prints from the cities we visited and then hanging them in our basement).  Then we found Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise.  Again, I was excited to these "in the flesh" as these baptistery doors were another topic of study in that long ago humanities class.  I totally get why he won that contest!

After a quick gelato at Grom (where I finally started trying combinations of flavors instead of just getting a single scoop--I tried pistachio and chocolate on that first experimental run), it was time to head over to the Accademia for our scheduled viewing of Michelangelo's original David.

I got one photo off before guards started yelling at me that there were no pictures.  Carter had assured me it was okay to take them, as he had taken loads when he visited in 1999.  But alas, the rules have changed since then.  But please enjoy my illegal photo!

Yet another Rick audiotour was in store for us there (I especially enjoyed studying Michelangelo's unfinished "Prisoners" to  better understand his process for sculpting the great slabs of marble).  Carter was particularly taken by the Conservatory of Music at the back of this little museum, so we split up for a bit so he could explore the collection of rare musical instruments from the Middle Ages.  I basically just sat in awe of the famous and colossal statue while I tried to eavesdrop on the guides leading tour groups during my "free" time.

After the Accademia, we walked around the city a bit more.  I fell in love with the Piazza Republica, with its carousel and obelisk.  We also walked over to the Piazza della Signoria and took in the impressive fountain of Neptune and the copy of the David.  I especially liked the statue garden right by the Uffizi (I was the one that realized we were standing right by the famous offices of the Medici because I recognized it from the documentary I watched before we went--yes, I am a total nerd.  Nobody can say that I didn't do my research before this trip!).  Cellini's Perseus was my favorite of those.  Giambologna's Rape of the Sabine statue, with its fearsome and violent spiral of figures, was a close second.

 Republica

 Neptune Fountain

 The Sabines

 Perseus with Medusa's Head

The Copy

I took advantage of Florence's shopping scene (oh, so very glorious!) and then we headed back to Piazza Republica for dinner.  The most fantastic jazz trio played while we ate.  Carter headed out to the Ponte Vecchio whilst I explored H&M (I'm not sure why, but I was particularly delighted by that store--I scored a super cute top that night!).  Exhausted, we headed back to the hotel after a final gelato.

We were so exhausted, in fact, that we managed to sleep in the next morning.  We almost missed our train to Pisa.  I skipped the shampoo I desperately needed and we manged to catch it.  I guess a really bad hair day was a small price to pay for staying on schedule, right?  After an hour's ride, we found ourselves in the little town with a leaning tower.  Instead of just taking the bus straight to the Tower, we opted to stroll along the stops that Rick Steves suggested in the guidebook.  I'm glad we did because if we hadn't, I would have missed the statue that depicts one of the Medici stepping on a dolphin's head.  What the what?!?!?

 Carter in front of the weirdest statue ever

The Italian navy trained here once, so the statue is symbolic of Italy dominating the sea.  But still.  What a strange way to depict that sentiment!  Before long, we came upon The Leaning Tower.  Quite a sight to behold (and also the topic of a paper I wrote in fourth grade).

 Not quite sure who that is, but the tower looks great!

I wasn't kidding about the bad hair!

We stopped off for some gelato and then caught our train back to to Florence.  But not before I ducked into a little shop to purchase some tights (it was a bit colder than I expected!).  Ah, the fun of completing transactions in another language!  I totally goofed on signing the right receipt and the poor sales associate had to chase me down before I left the store.  But these fab tights were worth the embarrassment and confusion (I also scored a pair in black! I think at 6.95 euro/$9.65, they were a steal!).

We had a little time to kill before our Uffizi appointment, so we decided to do Rick's Renaissance Walk audiotour.  It led us right up to the Piazza della Uffizi and we headed into that magnificent museum.  I was a little cranky after the trouble we had finding the pre-ordered ticket office and then finding the proper entrance, so Carter bought me a guidebook AND a special non-Rick audioguide (yes, R.S. was starting to wear on me--his jokes were getting very lame at that point) while I was in the restroom.  Have I mentioned that Carter is the best husband ever?  Well, he is.

We spent a long time in the museum (close to three hours).  My favorite, hands-down, was the Botticelli room.  Both the Birth of Venus and the Primavera were jaw-droppingly gorgeous.  Carter preferred The Birth of Venus (and kept making Adobe references) while I was more taken with the Primavera.  The meadow, close up, almost looks like brocade.  And I'm sorry, but Venus's sandals are just fabulous (Mercury's aren't bad, either)!  I'd kill for a pair like that (and a dress or a blouse in the floral print of Chloris's dress!).

 I also really enjoyed seeing the Madonna of the Long Neck by Parmigianino (yep, that humanities class again) and Correggio's The Virgin Adoring the Christ Child.  The views from the different windows were excellent as well.  Those Medici sure know how to plan office space.

After that, we hit the Ponte Vecchio while having some excellent gelato, on a cone this time!  (Did you know that Rick Steves says Florence has the best gelato in all of Italy?  I think he's right!)  We also decided to hike up to the Piazza della Michelangelo for an inspired view of Florence at night.

 

After that, it was time for our final Florentine dinner.  We opted for another restaurant at the Piazza Republica, where I had the best Caprese of the entire trip!  The tomatoes were so fresh, I swear they were picking them straight off a plant in the kitchen.  We also had the final gelato of the day, which is #3 if you're keeping track (as it turns out, that was the final gelato of the trip--Venice was far too cold for that icy treat!).

Stay tuned for our (cold, wet, flooded) visit to Venice!