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Published: March 7th 2006
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Cathedral di Saint Maria del Fiore
Wow, those 3D puzzle people really know what they're doing. Happy George Washington's Birthday! Now on with the blog!
As soon as we stepped out of the station in Florence (or Firenze) I liked it better than Rome. It was dark and there weren't that many people around, but there was a nice piazza in front of the station and a church across the street. We walked right past the Luna Rosa, but we eventually found it and we had a nice room with a TV and DVD player and computer. We shared two bathrooms, but that wasn't so bad.
The next morning we set off to see the sites. We ate breakfast standing up at this café and had nice pastries and the best hot chocolate I have ever tasted. So rich and creamy. It was to die for.
That was a nice start to our day. We walked toward the center of town through the market- basically every stall sold leather purses and wallets, the Ciao Bella shirts or other chochkis. I wasn’t interested in anything because you can get the same stuff in China for an eighth of the price and more variety too. So we were walking along and then we turn a
Eating a homecooked meal!
Carla and the fixin's for an Italian meal corner and all of a sudden I look up there’s this gigantic building in front of us. It’s the Il Duomo!
The Cathedral of Saint Maria de Fiore is one of those buildings that makes you say whoa when you first see it. It’s huge, but more than that, the exterior of the building is so ornate and interesting that you just stare. I think it’s the most beautiful church façade I’ve ever seen. You walk in and expect the lavishness to continue, but it’s the opposite. There is some artwork and the dome interior is painted, but contrasted with the outside it feels like a letdown. But then you go back outside and you forget about the interior and just marvel again.
I have to confess that each time we passed the church from then on I couldn’t help but think that it was a very good life-size replica of the 3D puzzle my sister Susie and I put together of Il Duomo. Isn’t it horrible when you compare a church to a puzzle?
We then headed over to the Palazzo Vecchio and the Uffizi Museum. We waited in line there for awhile,
but then we just bought tickets for the next day at 11am and went over to the Accademia to see Michelangelo’s David. We waited outside this nondescript building for 45 minutes to get in, but once inside it turned out to be a pretty lovely place. David was incredible. You turn the corner and there he is in all his glory. The amazing thing for me was the anatomical precision. You can see his ribs, and the veins in his hands and the muscles in his thigh. It’s incredible: the marble is like a skin over this real, living body.
We headed back to the hostel after the museum and I called Meredith, who’s a friend studying in Florence with other people from Fairfield University. She came over to the hostel and then we went to her apartment for dinner. I saw Michelle and Carla, the other girls I will be living with next year. Their apartment is amazing- they have huge bedrooms and a loft with a winding staircase! The dinner was awesome too- meatballs and spaghetti. I am going to eat so well next semester.
Next morning we had our lovely chocolate again and
The photo I almost got pnuemonia for
Enjoy it people! I was miserable! That's the Palazzo Vecchio and Il Duomo from the Piazza Michelangelo then went to the Uffizi. It was incredible. I have never seen so many religious paintings in one place. I saw the Birth of Venus and the painting of Spring by Botticelli. There is a point however, when you cannot see another Madonna and Child or Cruxificion scene. So then I started looking closer at the portraits and trying to see the real people underneath the painting.
After the Uffizi we walked down to the Ponte Vecchio and looked at all the jewelry shops on the bridge. In the middle of the bridge is a statue with a little fence around it. People have written their names on locks and put them on the fence. They look like barnacles attached to a ship’s hull. I think the authorities try to cut them off periodically because bits of lock were lying around. It was pretty cool looking.
I wanted to walk up to the Piazza Michelangelo and look out at the town, so I dragged the others with me. Unfortunately it started to rain. We had our umbrellas with us thankfully. But then it started to pour. And by the time we got back across the Arno,
Ponte Vecchio
One nice picture for you to use as a wallpaper... my pants were incredibly soaked- all the way to the knees. My suede coat’s arms were soaked too. And since we were leaving in a few hours it was even more miserable because I couldn’t go back and take a hot shower. So instead I went back to the hostel, changed my pants and then used a hairdryer in one of the bathrooms to make them a little less soaked. It worked pretty well, and by the time we took a cab to the station my wet shoes were the only things that were really bringing me down.
So I left Florence with a somewhat wet impression, but overall it was a nice city. Everyone spoke English, which was nice, but also made it feel less authentic. And one church charged admission- which I didn’t pay, but shows that everything had been touched by the hand of tourism. It was our least expensive stop I think, so that counts for something. Lots of little places to eat on the cheap.
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