Eurotrip: Florence

You can’t talk about the Renaissance without talking about Florence. When I boarded the train to go to this city I was really excited. I’d read about it in lots of history books and was ready to see it in person. So off I trundled on the 11h11 train.

And this was my first view of Florence…

As I was mapless I went to the info point I had googled before leaving Pisa. There I picked up a map and off I went to see the sites!

I struck right out for the Duomo, or for we Americans the cathedral. I will be totally honest in saying that I had never really seen any pictures of Florence. Reading about it in school coincided with art and medieval government. So when I saw the Duomo for the first time I legitimately stopped and stared. It’s so intricate and gorgeous and it didn’t matter how long I circled it or stared at it there would always be something new to look at. I’ve seen some really pretty cathedrals but the Duomo in Florence is easily near the top of that list. Why? Take a look for yourself.

So the a Gothic style church that was started in the 13th century by Arnolfo di Cambio, and the dome was added in the 15th century on a design of Filippo Brunelleschi. That’s a whole 200 years it took to be built! And damn does it look good! The church was consecrated as soon as the dome was in place although the façade was only half finished by then. Turns out it remained unfinished until the 19th century. The exterior is covered in a mix of pink, white and green marble in these crazy awesome patterns. 

There is a really cool clock in the back. It was designed in 1443 by Paolo Uccello in accordance with the ora italica, where the 24th hour of the day ended at sunset. 

The biggest artwork within the cathedral is Giorgio Vasari's frescoes of the Last Judgment (1572-9): they were designed by Vasari but painted mostly by his student Frederico Zuccari by 1579.

The inside was really cool too and the stained glass windows were amazing. I just love stained glass windows. The windows are one of my favourite parts of visiting cathedrals. 

After my first pass at the cathedral I walked past Piazza della Repubblica

And on to Piazza dalla Signoria. In this Piazza is Palazzo Vecchio. The Palazzo was completed in 1302 and still fulfils its original role as Florence's town hall. Super cool right? It became known as Palazzo Vecchio when Cosimo transferred his court to Palazzo Pitti. During the brief period that Florence was the capital of Italy (1865-71), it housed the Parliament and Foreign Ministry. 

A replica of David stands outside the hall  and I would tots def date him.

Across the way from the Palazzo is Galleria degli Uffizi. Here there is a cool outside sculpture museum. 

My favourite is Hermes. 

But they are all pretty cool.

From there I walked across Ponte Vecchio. 

“Until 1218 Ponte Vecchio was the only bridge across the Arno. The current bridge was rebuilt after a flood in 1345. During World War II it was the only bridge across the Arno that the fleeing Germans did not destroy. Instead they blocked access by demolishing the medieval buildings on each side. On November 4, 1966, the bridge miraculously withstood the tremendous weight of water and silt when the Arno once again burst its banks.

When the Medici moved from Palazzo Vecchio to Palazzo Pitti, they decided they needed a connecting route from the Uffizi to the Palazzo Pitti on the other side of the Arno that would enable them to keep out of contact with the people they ruled. The result was the Corridoio Vasariano, built in 1565 by Vasari and which runs above the little goldsmiths' shops on the Ponte Vecchio.

There have been stores on the Ponte Vecchio since the 13th century. Initially, there were all types of shops, including butchers and fishmongers and later tanners, whose industrial waste caused a pretty rank stench. In 1593, Ferdinand I decreed that only goldsmiths and jewellers be allowed to have their stores on the bridge. Cellini, a 16th century goldsmith, is honoured with a bust on the bridge. By night, the wooden shutters of the shops make them look like suitcases and wooden chests, making it a very suggestive route to take along an evening passeggiata, or stroll.” When you’re walking along it you sort of forget it’s a bridge you’re on till you get to the middle and can look out on the river.

My next stop in Florence turned out to be one of the highlights. But a rather accidental one at that. You see on the tourist map Piazzale Michelangelo looks like a nice park to stroll through. Not the real truth. It is in fact on a hill. I hiked up this stair case here… it starts all the way at the end there. 

Then you have to walk a bit along a street to get to the Piazzale. And from there you can see the whole gorgeous city of Firenze. I had a snack up there and just took in the city. It was totally worth the hike up.

From there I hiked up a tad higher to  Chiesa di San Miniato. 

There’s a reall cool cemetery around it and it houses the graves of illustrious men, such as Carlo Lorenzini (Collodi), author of Pinocchio. I didn’t see his grave but I saw some really pretty ones besides.

I walked along Via di Belvedere which was actually mostly up hill as well. 

Florence gave me a good work out to say the least. The reason I subjected myself to this climb was because of Forte di Belvedere. It was pretty cool, not much to see but still cool. 

I wandered down some back streets to get back to Ponte Vecchio and cross back over the Arno. While I was wandering the streets I was on the hunt for a cool leather satchel for my brother Spencer. So I popped in and out of leather shops looking for the perfect one. While I was on the hunt I popped into this cool shop and spotted and amazing piece of leather luggage. I looked at it longingly then happened a glance at the price tag and sigh longingly. I walked back out of the store quite sad because I knew someone somewhere was going to have an amazing piece of luggage. But I bucked myself up and ended up finding my brother’s satchel in a tiny artisan’s shop on a side street by Chiesa di San Croce. Which again it was another lovely church.

And I saw the Synagogue.

And went back by the duomo, the whole while thinking of the suitcase. I walked by the Cappelle Medicee..

And it was about that time that I thought “Fuck it. If it costs so much it’s obviously going to last a long time.” So I marched myself back to the leather store and walked right to my suitcase and started looking at it. A sales girl came over and asked if I needed any help and I said no I had decided to buy it. She looked rather stunned but smiled and said alright and brought it to the front counter for me. She commented that I was awfully young to be investing in such a piece. At the time I just smiled but now it makes a lot of sense why I bought it. Why wait till you’re old to buy nice luggage? Why not do it while you’re young and conditioned to see new lands? If I had thought of it at the time I would have told the clerk that 22 is the perfect age to invest in such a nice piece of luggage. Now I shalln’t mention how much it actually cost but it was enough for me to get my initials in it for free. I think that’s the part that made me the most excited was that it is 100% mine! It has my initials in it! As I left the shop I was practically skipping around the streets. I felt like Maria in the Sound of Music when she’s going to the Von Trapp house with her suitcase.

See isn’t it just the most gorgeous thing you’ve ever seen!!

After I got my luggage I walked about to take some night time pictures of the pretty city before hopping back on the train to back to Pisa.

When I arrived in Pisa I wandered happily to Antonio’s house and ran into the hardest part of my whole travels in Europe… his front door. It just refused to open and I tried for a good half hour before he came home and found me very frustrated in the hallway. He must have been laughing internally at me, the stupid American girl who can’t open the front door. He was nice enough to show the easy way to open the door. Needless to say I felt like the dumbest person ever. 

Antonio was only stopping in really quick before he went out to a football match. When he got back we went out to dinner and I got to eat yummy lasagne! After dinner we went on a long stroll all around Pisa and just talked. The nights were my favourite part about Pisa. We would just wander around Pisa and I got to see a different side of the city. Not to mention Antonio was really interesting and it didn’t seem to bother him that I asked a lot of questions. I went to bed real late that night but I slept in the next day so it was worth the walk around Pisa.

Cheers,