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Published: October 12th 2012
The town Palazzo
The town palazzo is built around the original Roman Amphitheatre. It is in a circle and Brendon has stitched together a full view of the palazzo. Despite the lovely lunch we had here, we would have preferred the original Buongiorno from Florence,
We have been here since Sunday and we are here until next Monday. This is by way of an interim blog for Florence.
Florence is a feast for the senses, even more so than Venice. We have little or no need for Italian here as the American’s have invented a kind of tourist colonialism and just about all the locals speak a little English. Every high end store in the history of retail is here in Florence- Louis Vuitton, Prada, Salvatore Ferragamo, Rolex the list continues.
They have a bookstore here that is called Edison and a bank specifically designed for young consumers called Superflash, we made the mistake of thinking it was a camera and electronics store.
The history in this city is overwhelming, everywhere is a place that was designed by one or other of the super significant renaissance artists. We visited the Duomo and the cathedral that is attached. The cathedral left me cold but the dome from a design and execution point of view remains amazing to this day. Brunelleschi may have been an extraordinary architect, but he was an amazing engineer to design that dome.
This is one of the arched entrancees to the central palazzo
The archways from the renaissance or pre-renaissance period have been preserved. The frescoes throughout Lucca are amazing. I am glad to say that it is unique.
The San Lorenzo basilica, which is just near the famous leather markets here in Florence, we found to be far more appealing. Inside the church there is a silent pictorial display on a large screen television of some of the restoration work being done on the church.
Florence is crowded with tourists, perhaps as much as Venice, although less noticeably so because it is bigger, so we decided on Tuesday to take a day trip to Lucca which is a walled city about 90 minutes by train from here. Italian regional trains do not adhere as strictly to their timetables as the “international” trains so it was a slower trip that we expected, but Lucca was worth it. The ramparts or battlements have been made into a circular park around the city. There is a canal in the city also that is healthy enough to be filled with fish and a spring from where the locals were filling their water bottles. One of the churches we visited there was a gem.
Yesterday, we did a tour of Florence on a “Hop On Hop Off” bus. We have never
Lucca - the canal runs through the residential part of town
The canal had plently of fish although we saw no fishermen. been on one of these buses before, it was interesting, there is a lot of history outside of the city. In the afternoon, we visited the Ponte Vecchio, the iconic multi-storey bridge built so that the Medici’s need not associate with the commoners to cross the river Arno. The crowds were as bad a Venice. The bridge now houses the most amazing array of jewellers or gold and silversmiths selling their wares in tiny little stores with a great view of the river at the back of their shops. One shops entryway was so small, even a very small person would have to enter sideways; Brendon believes that everyone entering the shop should enter wallet first so that the shop owners know that you have sufficient funds to buy their goods.
The river Arno flooded in 1966 and is dammed in places to prevent the extensive damage that the flooding caused.
I have not mentioned the weather since we have been here. We have been incredibly lucky, the weather has been fine and until we arrived in Florence, we had had only one small heavy shower of rain in Strasbourg. We were told by hotel staff in Venice,
Lucca - The church of San Frediano
The frescoes continue to amaze us. This art is on display for everyone to admire that the weather was unseasonably hot for this time of year. We have been in tee-shirts every day and there has been no need for sleeveless vests or jackets, even at night. I have spent at least half of our time in ¾ length pants and sandals.
Since we have been in Florence, we have had a shower most afternoons and there was a heavy downpour on Monday morning and last night. It is raining again today, so we plan to retire to a museum for the afternoon after a little shopping.
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Kym
non-member comment
. Bonjour or How Ya Goin???
Another wonderful knowledgable Blog from the travellers. Brendon you are an absolute marvel with pics. For someone in their 50's who has never ventured outside of Australia, I dont think I truely appreciate the history that surronds you in these countries as it is such a foreign concept to me to be surrounded by building an intricate architecture that is thousands of years old. I even took to my friend, Google, to find out a little more about these Ramparts and battlements that they have built upon. Truely amazing. What foresight to throw out butchers and put jewellers in their place. I really do like that idea!!! Well I guess you are nearing the end of this wonderful trip but thankyou both so much for providing me with so much education and history in such an entertaining way. I have truely felt part of your journeyand what a journey it has been.