Eurotrip 2011 – Florence & Sienna, 24-25 Apr

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Florence exuberates art and culture as the birthplace of the Renaissance with works of Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Donatello, Raphael and. Before this, I only knew them as ninja turtles.

If we thought the Duomo in Milan was huge, the one in Florence was a giant. Although not as elaborate, its pale pink and green façade is more mellow, much like a gentle giant. As we were there on Easter Sunday, there was a massive gathering of people outside the Duomo in the morning with a huge fireworks cart which when lit, let off a wonderful display of pyrotechnics for a good 10-15 minutes.

In the afternoon, we visited the Piazza Signoria, an L-shaped square littered with huge eye catching statues of naked men and women such as the copy of David, Neptune, Perseus and the head of Medusa..etc. This square must have been a place of great importance. The statues evoked a sense of power and wealth during those times. We skipped the long lines of the Uffizi gallery, walked down the courtyard with the statues of the Renaissance masters to the Arno River, Ponte Vecchio and Pitti Palace for picture taking.

In the evening we hiked up to Piazzale Michaelangelo for sweeping panoramic sunset view of the city. It is nice to just sit down and take in the views. Food in Venice and Florence were great with the delicious pizzas, spaghetti and gelato.

The next day, we took a 1 hr bus ride to Sienna. We were not expecting much but were surprised by this pretty medieval city. It has a pleasant shell shaped piazza where people picnic, sat around and enjoyed the splendid views of the architecture which surrounded the square. Midway through it rained heavily and we took refuge in the Cathedral of Sienna.

It is in Sienna where we had the best Gelato ever! It was fantastic. So far so good in Italy.

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