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| Ah, Florence! ;-) |
Once we piled off the train in Florence we had two goals: to obtain reservations from our train from Florence to Rome and to find our hotel. The first took a while as we waited in a quite a line, but we managed. The second was surprisingly more challenging. We had booked a hotel across from the train station to keep it simple, but it was a very large train station and it took a while for the guys to walk all the way around the train station and actually find it. We dropped our bags at the hotel and headed off to look for the Piazza della Signoria where Frommer’s recommended we enjoy the square and find lunch. Sadly, this was easier said than done as we once again had a gaggle of unfed very hungry people trying to find food.
Our first Italian meal was pretty delicious and restored us. We were very excited to make the most of our day as we had a long dream list of things to see in Florence. We were also quickly amazed with the throngs of people. Florence was crowded and crawling with tourists. I had warned everyone that between Christmas and New Years was high European travel traffic, but I was not quite prepared for what we would see as we eagerly, happily approached the Uffizi Galleries (which contains some of the world’s most classic and popular Renaissance art pieces). At the door of the gallery there was a line that stretched out the door and down the block…and wasn’t moving. We got in the line, made our way to the front, only to realize that we were in the security line with people who already had tickets. So we went to get in that line and realized it was wayyyyy longer than the security line. If you survived the line you could then purchase tickets or reservations for later days…but this line was seriously at least a two hour wait. It just wasn’t budging. And we had several other sights to see.
Fortunately, Florence museums were open a little bit later than some of the others, but we were still concerned about seeing our dream list, so we sighed and moved on to the next one, figuring that if things went really well elsewhere maybe we could return to Uffizi.
So we headed up to the Piazza del Duomo to see the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. We hopped in another decently long line (although nothing like the ticket line at the Uffizi) and bought tickets to climb the 300-400 stairs up to the cupola so we could admire Brunelleshi’s dome. The climb itself was a bit more than we had anticipated and was not just your average staircase or winding spiral. This climb involved navigating with other tourists headed in the other direction as you climbed stairs that were just on the inside of the dome – so the ceiling was slanted in parts or extremely short in certain areas making it very challenging and amusing for all. It was really crazy. Every few hundred steps we got to enjoy an incredibly gratifying view – two at different levels of the interior of the church, both just below the dome, which allowed us to gape at the beautiful paintings and the interior of the basilica and then the final awe-inspiring that allowed you to walk the rooftop around the top of the main section of the dome. This view was incredible and put us at matching heights of the Campanile di Giotto tower and provided a beautiful view of the red rooftops of Florence. The only downside was the it was a very foggy, hazy day so you couldn’t see out very far and the pictures we took did not come out very well. But the climb was definitely worth it.
After that we headed onward to the Galleria dell’ Academia to see…David!!! This line was also long and wound around the block, but we asked around and were told it would take us about an hour to get in. Once in we were able to see several rooms of Renaissance art, iconography, and Michelangelo’s David. I really have to say – David is fantastic and absolutely amazing. The statue itself is far larger than you expect, even if you’ve heard the specifications. The musculature, the balance and fact that a piece carved over 400 years ago is still standing perfectly, the level of detail and accuracy…it’s just an amazing piece of art and we were all very impressed.
We decided we would give up on heading back to the Uffizzi – we were out of time. So we headed back to our hotel to shower for the first time in 36 hours (the night train doesn’t exactly have those kinds of facilities). And so we showered and cleaned up and headed out to walk to the canal to see the famous Ponte Vecchio Bridge and then to go out for a nice dinner. I don’t know how else to describe the Ponte Vecchio, but to say you will have to see it in one of our pictures. It was really unique and fun. We walked across it and back and then found a restaurant on the canal. We enjoyed a dinner…but think we were being rushed and scammed a bit by our wait staff…and that they may have been eavesdropping on us, so it was a little uncomfortable, but we enjoyed the food and went to a different place so Daniel could have a birthday dessert and I could give him his birthday gift. I am taking him to a Wynton Marsalis concert in Atlanta this March! We’ll make a weekend of it and go to the aquarium too!
And then we all crashed. After a crummy night of sleep on the night train cattle car we were all ready for a nice long sleep. Ah, Florence! may not have quite the same ring to it as Ah, Venice!, but we really enjoyed our bonus city and had a lot of fun enjoying the spectacular views from the basilica, gaping at the amazingness of Michelangelo’s David sculpture, and were only increasingly excited about getting to consume more fantastic Italian cuisine!
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