Florence

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Florence Day One

Today was Sunday, so not much was open in Siena so we had a little sleep in before packing our bags and getting the bus to Florence. The drive was great, looked a little like the road you take trough the Blue Mountains to get to Sydney. We arrived in Florence and were taken to the Piazzale Michelangelo, where you get amazing views of the city of Florence, and there is a bronze replica statue of Michelangelo’s David. From here we headed to the busabout accommodation (which we weren’t staying at) and began the walk to our accommodation. Hotel San Giovanni. Not much to look at from the outside (actually there isn’t really an outside as it is one of those apartment blocks) but the inside is very cute, with old furniture and a fantastic view of the Baptistry and the Santa Maria del Fiore. It is literally on our doorstep. we quickly dumped our bags and managed to find the rest of the busabout group who were doing a walking tour and joined in to see some leather making. Then had dinner and went to watch the sunset over the river near the Ponte Vecchio Bridge. The rest of the night was spent just wandering. It was good to be staying near the centre of town because we can spend more time looking around.

Day two

Started with breakfast and the amusing sight of seeing a guy scratching his head even though he had a motorbike helmet on… today we started with the duomo. The outside of the Duomo is amazing. It is huge with green and white stripped marble on the outside. The inside was not so spectacular though. Very plain and boring. We then lined up for the tour of the dome. Now this was amazing. After an hr waiting in line we headed up the stairs, and up the stairs and up the stairs. My god this place needs an elevator! We came onto a landing which sits just under the line of the paintings in the dome. These were done by Michelangelo and his subjects and depict heaven and hell. The paintings were amazing and very graphic, also huge once you got up there. We continued walking up and up until we came to the roof of the Duomo. The sight was amazing. Lots of terracotta roofs and the beautiful countryside it looked amazing. On the way down we stopped at another balcony near the paintings in the roof and got to see them even better.
From here we went for a walk via the Ponte Vecchio which is lined with jeweler’s shops. It’s amazing to see all the gold (and all the prices!) this bridge used to have a secret tunnel underneath through which members of the Medici family could walk to avoid the public. The Medici family pretty much owned Florence. From here we headed toward the galleries but decided not to go in. We had gelato instead. 3 massive scoops for 2 euro. Not just any gelato though; they had nutella. Not nutella flavoured, but straight nutella. We ate quickly (it was melting quickly) before heading towards home. Geoff stopped for a sleep and I found the leather markets and went for a wander. That night we sat in the piazza the Duomo is in and people watched.

Day three

Today we set out early to beat the lines at the Accademia Gallery. We were early and so was everyone else! We waited for almost two hours before we could set foot in the doors. Not a big museum and most of the stuff was boring, but that doesn’t matter. We went to see Michelangelo’s David, and we got to see it! It is amazing to see. I have seen the replicas but they are nothing like the real thing. David is based off the story of David and Goliath, and is huge! Standing at over 5 meters tall and is a big “WOW” moment. From here we headed to the Uffizi Gallery, but being late in the afternoon the lines were huge and we weren’t going to get in anytime soon. So we decided it was time for gelato. And of course we walked for about 20 minutes to go back to the place we had gelato from yesterday. It was well worth every step in the stinking heat! From here we headed to the market so I could rub the boars nose (it is supposed to bring good luck). We spent the evening in the piazza with all the replica statues, including David and the “Rape of the Sabine Women” (which was designed so that you have to do full 360 walk around it to get the full picture) and another gruesome one of a decapitated person with all their innards flowing out!

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