Advertisement
Five days in Florence probably sounds like alot but it was fantastic. After leaving Rome I felt pumped to move on and see Florence for the second time. Last time I was here was for less than 24 hours and there was only time to shop, shop, shop but this time we had time for everything. Once again, Rick Steeves took us on an adventure when we visited the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. This has a beautiful fascade but lacks flair on the inside. We opted not to climb the stairs of this Dome as well and I must admit, my enthusiasm for exercise after walking all day was beginning to wear thin. We spent some time inside the Baptistry (Battistero) San Giovanni which is much grander than the church. Its octagonal shape, high gold doors and painted ceilings draw tourists by the thousands and there was never a quiet moment to enjoy the view and take some really good shots.
Our accomodation here was fantastic! I had booked the Luna Rossa Hostel so expected to have the standard hostel accomodation but we were pleasantly suprised. Our room had it's own flat screen T.V, computer with internet, bathroom and
the bed was made every day. So it was more like a hotel at hostel rates. Down side was that it was on the top floor and everyone knows how much I love to walk and hike. ha ha ha. Luckily for me there was an elevator the size of a tuna can so I would jump in that and Al would hike the stairs. After settling into our room, on the first night, we headed to the restaurant Za Za's and I ate the best pasta pomodora (tomato) on the entire trip. Florence was definently the beginning of my obsession with food. Did I also mention that this was the place that I ate the best pistachio gelato and forfilled my need for nutella with a scrumptious Nutella waffle! yum yum yum.
We very quickly developed a pattern of sleeping, eating, walking, eating, looking, eating, sleeping, eating and sleeping. On our second morning we had a little difficulty finding breakfast and agreed upon Nutella crepes. For me, this was fantastic but poor Al does not have as sweet a tooth as I and he struggled to make his way through the small amount he was given. Luckily for him
Al and I
Behind us, The Ponte Vecchio he is obsessed with good coffee so his lack of a nutritious brekkie was hidden by his search for a good coffee. Some mornings he would drink 3 cups. How he does it I will never know! But it certainly makes him full of energy in the morning which I am totally not! We decided to buy some groceries that day and eat one meal at the hostel. After brekkie we headed to the Salvatore Ferragamo Shoe Museum. Our visit to the museum was even better than I expected (actually didn't have any expectations) but I learned alot and had no idea just how influential he was in the fashion world. Ferragamo has designed for many of the worlds most influential women and when you go to the museum you can actually see the foot moulds that he used to design shoes for the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn and Princess Diana. They recently designed all the shoes for Nicole Kidman on the movie 'Australia'. After a morning of fashion I felt the urge to buy, buy. buy. We headed down to the Ponte Vecchio and spent some time looking at all the jewellery shops that line the bridge.
The other good thing about spending 5 days in florence was that we had lots of time to shop around for best prices. I brought a new leather jacket and a pair of earings. When I was on the search for my earings I headed straight back to the Ponte Vecchio. It was originally lined with butcher shops but these days it is home to lots of gold. I found a pair of earings that I liked and got a few prices. Unbelievably all prices on the bridge were 100 euros or more but about 100m off the bridge I found a shop that sold an identical pair for 50 euros. LOCATION! LOCATION! We spent loads of time looking for new shoes for Al but he is really fussy and had no luck. Between you and me we must have looked at 50 pairs of shoes that all looked the same but for some reason he just didn't like. Anyway it was really hard to resist lots of shopping temptations but I did it. Very proud of myself.
Over our many days in Florence we also went to the Uffizi Gallery to see artworks by Botticelli, Da Vinci and Michaelangelo
and the Accademia Gallery to see the real Statue of David. That satue is amazing and his 'package' is ........ interesting! It is a beautiful sight. We did get a bit sick of looking at roman art and I feel a bit bad about that. But when you see the same type of style day in and day out it is really hard to maintain interest. We also visited the Opera Di Santa Croc museum which holds the original golden doors of the baptistry. We had a student from the university in Florence voluntarily take us around the museum. She is studying Renaissance art and was really good at explaining loads of stuff.
We beagn most of our days with a visit to the local market. They had tonnes of fresh seasonal produce, yummy cheeses and loads of stuff I had never seen in my life. Artichokes where in heavy season so you could see them for miles. We were able to get fresh paninis with loads of cheese and meat for less than 5 euros and I learnt really quickly to leave the sandwich combinations to the men behind the counter. They really know how to put the best
tasting paninis together. We also had loads of fresh tomatoes everyday. There is nowhere else in the world where tomotoes taste as good. Not even at home in oOz. I'm starting to think this is their secrest ingredient to good pasta and pizza. It was fun to explore this market and take some great shots.
We had some lovely evenings in Florence and I found a new reason to go out for drinks (not that I needed one). Appertif's! In the afternoons in Italy you can go for drinks and they serve you endless amounts of yummy appertizers. It was a great way to fill up, relax and get drunk. My favourite bar was along the Grand Canal, just near the Ponte Vecchio Bridge.
On our last day we made our way to the Palazzo Pitti. This was the home of the Pitti family and now houses four different Museums. It was a pleasant suprise that I did not expect to find. One of the Museums is Galleris Del costume and we actually saw clothes dating back over 500 years or more which had been unearthed and removed from the royal family when their burial plots where dug up for
research puposes. Incredibly they are in excellent condition. The palace also holds the Boboli Gardens which display the best views of Florence and has a commendable garden to relax in on warm winters day. This would be one of my favourite days because we went to my favourite Italian markets, bought the best panini ever. Cheese, salami, proscuitto, sun dried tomato and balsamic vinegar and ate it in a beautiful garden with an amzing view.
Florence was also the place where I found my gavourite street performers. Talented artists and their chalk drawings and a very cute little man that walked around the street with musical instruments all over hime. He certainly was a 'one man band!'
Advertisement
Tot: 0.046s; Tpl: 0.017s; cc: 8; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0203s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb