Beautiful Florence


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Europe » Italy » Tuscany » Florence
February 18th 2007
Published: February 26th 2007
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What can we say about Florence, centre of Tuscany and the Italian art world, other than it is a wonderfully charming and enlightened city. It is full of enticing streets, great eateries, cute cafe's and cool wine bars. After checking in to our little hotel in the centre of the city on the shores of the Arno river, where we decided to spoil ourselves with a little alone time in a room of our very own (which was pretty tiny, but nice), we spent the afternoon strolling the streets. We decided to start our cultural fest by meeting the most famous man in Florence, who else but Michaelangelo's David, a giant of a man. To be fully aware of his perfection, he needs to be seen in the flesh, as it were (actually marble). He is truly a masterpiece of art. To quote an old Italian man upon entering his purpose built room, "Sei Magnifico" (combined with chest beating, while his wife fanned herself frantically, trying to still her beating heart!!!) We are in agreement with them though-it is magnificent and must be seen to be believed. Unfortunately the picture attached is of a replica, not quite the same as the original. Indeed, Firenzean's are rather anal about their art, refusing to allow photo's within most of their galleries and museo's.

Our first night involved stumbling across Sei Divino, a funky little Vino Bar a mere Six doors down from our cute hotel. This place offered all you can eat Tuscan buffet and a glass of vino for a mere €7. Great value in anyones language and the place was full of ambience. We also dined on another occasion in a traditional Italian restaurant. This was our first dining out experience in Italy and we tucked in to all things Italian-bruschetta, pizza, pasta and of course vino!

On the cultural side of things, apart from the David, there are many other amazing things to be seen including the Duomo (St Mary's Cathedral which lives up to its reputation in every sense), the Pitti Place and the famous Ponte Vecchio-the oldest and only survivor of all the original bridges in Florence (the rest were largely destroyed during WWII) Florence is also home to some 20 galleries or museums, of which we visited the most famous Uffizi. Despite waiting in line for 2.5 hours to get in, it was truly worth the trip simply to see Boticelli's Birth of Venus and Primivera, probably the most famous of all the pieces in the collection. I must confess some feelings of naivity, bordering on ignorence at times, during visits to galleries such as this, as there is such a breadth of art and history that is the backdrop to the creation of some of these masterpieces to which I am largely ignorent. Still though, it is amazing to behold some of the most important works of all time. It is indeed very humbling.

Our time in Florence, already at an end, feels far too brief. We've barely scratched the surface of all this amazing city has to offer. We can only hope to return again some day.


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27th February 2007

A flattering review
Hello lovelies! Well, finally another city which I've actually travelled to myself. I was going to drop you a line on Rome, as Damien and I never made it there, but I couldn't resist putting in my two cents worth on ol' Frienze. You and Adam were obviously far more smitten with Florence than was I; I found the Ponte Vecchio to be particularly disappointing as we struggled through hordes of locals and foreigners in search of their 'bling bling'. I wanted history on the Ponte Vecchio, not what I thought resembled more the set of black rapper video clip, what with the excessive gold and all! But that was just me. I do however marvel at how much Florence packs into such a small area, architecturally and culturally. As for the exquisite Duomo, Damien and I were lucky to be staying but a street away from it at the Hotel Medici. Keep on blogging you two. You make the mundaneness of everyday life much easier to bear. xxoo
27th February 2007

Copy cat
Did you guys steal photos from my travel album? Its great to look at your photos and know exactly where you were standing when you took them!

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