Advertisement
Published: September 11th 2009
Edit Blog Post
This is a late entry that is meant to capture our time in Florence. We had to cut our Florence and Rome entries in half as they were too long together so be forewarned. Complaints can be forwarded to the to the owners of this website (not us).
Mikayla from Ca Venier got up early to get us breakie so that we could catch the vaporetto at 7:45am (she was awesome). A quick trip back to Venice from Murano, we then hopped on a short train that took us to the main Venice train station.
NOTE: For those who are going to be traveling by train in this area, something to note is that you want to be prepared for which train station you are traveling from as most big cities have at least 2 stations. Getting between them is quite easy but does take some preparation and a bit of time so foreknowledge is a great thing. Both our tickets in Venice and Florence were for train stations outside of the city. Each of these side trips were only 10 minutes so it ended up being no problem. Being able to roll with things is crucial when traveling
David
Even the replica is truly remarkable. overseas!!
The train ride down from Venice to Florence is approximately 3 hours. The scenery is nice it is just that it passes you at high speeds. There is a very interesting phenomenon that happens when you enter the long tunnels. The compression of air in the tunnels immediately causes a pressure difference in your ear, much like when descending in a plane. Usually it is just a minor discomfort but it startles you every time.
Another go with the flow moment arrived when we looked for our seats on the train. All of our tickets had been purchased online back home but we had checked everything with different people around the train station so we were somewhat alarmed when Matthew and Trevor realized that there was no compartment (or train car) with their seat numbers on it. Seeking help, once we had departed from the station, the gentleman who checks tickets made some indication that we should just look for seats near the back of the train. We came to the conclusion that our tickets numbers must simply indicate the last car and compartment (even though the number was too high) and they simply don’t sell those
Florence Streets
A mystery around every corner. seats. Who knows but we didn’t get kicked off the train so it was all good.
Arriving in Florence, we got off at our station (which proved to be way outside the city) so a quick sign language conversation with a custodian at the station and we jumped on the next train coming through and 4 minutes later, we were in the main Florence station (we really are loving the Italian trains!!). The next step of our journey was in Courtney’s hands. As was the case with Sydney in Dubrovnik, Florence had been Courtney’s responsibility to research and prepare to get us around. Carrying packs in 38 degree heat was not easy but the troops did well as Courtney guided us through the maze of streets (and this is definitely an appropriate term here) to get us to Hotel Giglio (http://www.hotelgiglio.fi.it/) . There we were met by Marco and to our delight, the place was fantastic. Very non-descript and hidden from the outside, it is a restored old building where you climb to the second floor to reveal a beautifully refinished 2nd floor which houses the hotel with huge ceilings and spacious rooms.
Setting out to explore, we
encountered a brief but torrential downpour that had us scurrying from doorstep to doorstep. It came down fast and furious but vanished just as quickly. Our afternoon was spent exploring the incredible streets of Florence with back alleys bringing you out into big piazza’s and statues staring at you around every corner. Courtney guided us around and we ended up in the line to climb the tower at the Dooge’s Palace. We were warned that it was a bit of a climb (361 steps) which were counted by the kids the whole way. Halfway up this extremely narrow winding staircase, you come out into the top of the cathedral with frescoes all around. The ceiling is a massive depiction of the competing worlds of heaven and hell with the perpetual battle raging. It is amazing to be up 150 feet staring right at these monstrous murals trying to grasp their meaning and then left pondering the logistics of how it was all created in the first place. The real reward however greeted us full on when we emerged from the precarious final steps out onto the tower top overlooking the whole city of Florence. Thirty minutes and one hundred pictures
Double Cross
Shadowed cross overlooking the square. later, we were ready to descend back to street level to continue our exploring. That night, we had another one of our unforgettable family dinnertimes. Struggling to find a restaurant open at 6:30pm (it seems this is too early for Europeans to dine here), we were the only patrons in a fairly large restaurant and were doted on all evening. The Connor family was particularly “laughy” this night with tears occurring more than once as we were drawn into the giddy joy of the Connor kids. Laughter has been an incredible part of our trip this time and we are pledging to take this gift home.
Over the 2 days, there were many highlights of Florence so we will touch on them briefly to give a quick overview:
• Courtney’s knowledge of the city that she had studied was impressive as she led us to different “must see places” and described to us the meaning of different structures (ie. the gold door and it’s biblical panels) Covered bridge of gold shops - this was magical at sunset as we stood on the bridge and looked down the Arno river (the bridge is much more attractive looking out from it
Neptune
Statue of Neptune in the Piazza Della Signoria than it is looking at it from a bridge downstream
• David - what more can you say. For some non-art people and after having seen the replica of David in the Piazza della Signoria, did we really have to see it in the museum? YES!!!! David was incredible to see up close. The veins in the hand, tendons in the neck, it was all quite mesmerizing, even for a bona fide non artsy person. We thought his hand and foot were disproportionate (check here for why: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1079389)
• Galleria del l”Accademia housed an interesting photo exhibit of Robert Maplethorpe who tried to do what Michelangelo did but with photos (very fascinating)
• The Market with all its various sections (the leather was particularly enticing)
• Merchants who pack their whole stand and all its wares every night and cart them off into a small alley where a narrow archway reveals a multitude of similar carts sleeping for the night
Florence is a living museum. Everywhere you walk, you run into something that is amazing in its artistry or architecture or size or simplicity. Around every corner is another surprise as we work our way to our next destination
Sunset in Florence
Looking up the Arno river, the sun paints a wonderful landscape. only to realize that the journey and its various discoveries are the best part of this amazing city. We quickly came to understand why many tourists rate Florence as one of their favourite Italian destinations. We most definitely concur.
Marco proved to be a wonderful host as he drove us to our early morning train to Rome. The trip was again beautiful as we headed through the Tuscany region to Rome. This is definitely an area that we would like to return to so that we could do it justice.
Today Florence, tomorrow Rome. Ahhhh, life is wonderful.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.076s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 7; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0492s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Annette McComb
non-member comment
WOW!
Once again a wonderful journey with the Connor's! I think the gelato picture was bordering on cruelty for those of us not with you!! Thanks again for sharing. Your smiles and wonderful tans are priceless!! Annette