Florence part 1

Provided I can still count- Italy blog #7

At last, the long awaited Florence blog, be forewarned, this will be a long one with lots of photos. I saved this one because I figured it would take a while to write and sort through photos. Now if only it would write itself...... I could use a guest writer right about now... too bad I can't volunteer my sister for this one.  :)

Ok, I supposed I'm not going to get a magical elf to write it, nor my sister, so I suppose I will begin from our arrival. We took a train from Bologna to Florence's central station, be aware that there is actually a shopping center below this station. The SITA bus station for Siena is actually behind the train station and across a street. Our B&B, Antica Dimora Firenze (http://www.johanna.it/anticadimorafirenze.html) was just a 20 minute walk away, so we decided to hoof it there. The 'sidewalks', if you want to call them that, were very narrow, at times about a foot and a half wide, and all cobblestone. We made it in a decent amount of time, but it was a good thing I double checked a street sign, because we almost passed up the last turn (one side of the street was one name, the other, another name). We've been lucky that of our 3 hotels/B&B's, only the one in Venice did we have to drag our suitcases up the stairs (no elevator there), and I guess it was the best one to not have an elevator for since our bags were still light then. The hotel had a traditional feel to it, and the desk clerk was super nice.

Our room

 Lunch was at Il Cardellino. I had gnocchi with pomodoro, Brie had ribolitta (a hearty soup with bread, cannellini beans, and vegetables). Nothing fantastic, but it did the job.We then walked around town, trying to identify where everything was (Accademia and the Uffizi), walking past the Duomo, and onwards to Ponte Vecchio. Across the Arno River and across from the Pitti Palace is an artists district, where you can check out some of the local artists shops. We came across shops with map makers, felt clothing designers, and a jewelry maker. Brie bought an oxidized silver ring with a red enamel poppy on top. By that point, Brie started getting shin splints from walking in her boots too much the previous day, and it was starting to get dark, so we crossed back over Ponte Vecchio bridge, which is full of high end jewelry shops.... talk about waaay out of my price range.

Duomo

Palazzo Vecchio- the David replica is the statue to the left

David replica to the left

Ponte Vecchio

Across the Arno River

Ponte Vecchio

Ponte Vecchio

Christmas lights!

Pitti Palace

Lit up lights

Bridge across from Ponte Vecchio

Ponte Vecchio

Gelato!

Pistachio gelato

Grand marnier flavored

Duomo+tower+ baptistry

A while after getting back to the hotel, I managed to talk Brie into going out to dinner with the promise that we would find something close. We landed just down the street from the B&B at Florens Pizza (http://www.florensfood.it/en/ristorante/). Brie had a cheese and sausage pizza and I had one that had Burrata, tomato, and rocket on it. We had Chianti Classico wine with our pizza, and I had my share and then so, and was pleasantly tipsy and very chatty, a nice evening, and a good wine.

The next day we went to Siena, and on day 3 we were in Florence for the day, in fact it was primarily a museum day. We had a 8:45 appointment time at Galleria dell' Accademia, where Michelangelo's David resides, so we had a cappuccino and a puff pastry around Piazza San Marco. We decided to hit up this museum first, since it's big draw is the David, and everyone would want to see the David. It's a good thing they don't allow photos in the museum, otherwise, the crowd situation would be much worse. They had a side gallery which had artifacts from the various churches and talked about the different factions over time that controlled Florence. In the main gallery, you walk past several Michelangelo pieces (among a few other artists), several of his pieces were not completed, and in direct sight is the David. He was much taller than I expected, and the plexiglass surrounding him did not obstruct the view. Michelangelo really did an incredible job, even the veins were etched into stone. This is one of those "have to's" in life, seeing this one in person. Pictures just don't do it justice.

The gallery does a good job of also explaining the restoration done to the paintings in it's exhibits, and it's interesting comparing a picture of a painting pre-restoration to the post-restoration product, one of the exhibits also has a film showing step-wise how to create the painted wood paintings, which is more complicated than I thought. Most of the paintings in the museum were of a religious nature. Another exhibit contained a lot of the plaster models used to create marble busts or sculptures. We kept wondering why some of the beautiful models had nails all over them, and then we came across another video that showed how artists would use the plaster model to get things the way they wanted, and then would put nails into it and used them as guides for duplicating it in marble.

The arch is part of the Vasari corridor

We strategically planned our day so we would have Accademia in the morning, a lunch break, and then the Uffizi Gallery in the afternoon. The timing ended up being pretty good. We had lunch at Osteria Vecchio Vicolo (http://www.vecchiovicolo.it/index.html), where we shared a bruschetta appetizer. I got a glass of Chianti to go along with lunch, a white bean soup, and Brie has a Toscana bread soup (a tomato and basil one). She had a post lunch espresso, and I broke tradition and had a cappuccino (espresso is too strong for me!). On the way to the Uffizi Gallery we came across an olive tree in a planter which was over 250 years old, and had placards in multiple languages saying that we should never forget May 27, 1993. It didn't refer exactly to what happened, but the tree looked pretty battered. I looked it up when I got home and it turns out that there was a mafia staged bomb there that destroyed 3 pieces of art in the corridor of the Uffizi Gallery, and damaged many more (they were eventually restored), and several people died. 

250+ year old olive tree

Ponte Vecchio from the Uffizi Gallery

View of the Duomo from the Uffizi Gallery

Our appointment time for the Uffizi was at 1:30 or 2pm, and by that point my feet had begun to hurt from walking around so much, and the Uffizi had some spots to sit down and admire art, but not too many. The building itself was in a U-shape, the history of it you can look up at your leisure, as there is plenty about it online. We saw Sandro Botticelli's Primavera and his Primavera- the Birth of Venus (think of Venus standing in a shell). We saw a good number of the 'greats' in terms of artists, and more than a few sculptures. There was even a room recreated from one the original resident of the palace Cosimo I de' Medici had. The dome ceiling was covered in shells, hundreds if not thousands of them. There was a special exhibit about Ferdinando de' Medici and his taste in art, he was Cosimo III's son. It was neat going into the Gallery, but I was religious painting'd out, so some of my appreciation was lost due to that factor.

Neptune

Cosimo I

 In the Piazza della Signoria there's a replica of the David in front of the Palazzo Vecchio, there is also another area just to the side of the Palazzo Vecchio that also has all sorts of bronze and other scupltures in it. To the other side is a fountain of Neptune, and next to it is a bronze equestrian stature to
Cosimo I.

Neptune

At the top of Palazzo Vecchio are the various shields of the church and city guilds among a few things:

'The shields were painted in their niches in about 1340, and each has a specific meaning in the history of the Florentine Republic, although the first two are by far the most significant.

1) a red cross on a white background, the cross of the people representing the Florentine citizens

2) a red iris flower (il giglio) on a white background, the symbol of Florence

The following seven coats of arms represent different aspects of the city's past such as historic events, ideals promoted by the republic or important alliances established with other territories or influential figures:

 3) a shield divided in two, the left side white and the right side red, representing Florence's union with the nearby town of Fiesole in about 1010

4) two gold keys, the crest of the church

5) a blue shield with the words 'libertas' written in gold, representing the freedom of the citizens to rule their own city

6) a red eagle on a white background, coat of arms donated by Pope Clement IV to the Florentines in the 13th century

7) a white iris flower on a red background, the first symbol of Florence used by the Ghibellines (the nobility who were initially in charge of the city)

8) a blue background with gold lily flowers, donated by Charles I King of Naples 

9) a shield divided in two with gold lilies on the right and stripes on the left represents King Robert of Naples who helped protect the city during the 1300's'

 Coat of arms details taken from the site below.

The shields were painted in their niches in about 1340, and each has a specific meaning in the history of the Florentine Republic, although the first two are by far the most significant. - See more at: http://www.florencewebguide.com/palazzo-vecchio.html#sthash.lzznNnD3.dpuf

The shields were painted in their niches in about 1340, and each has a specific meaning in the history of the Florentine Republic, although the first two are by far the most significant.
1) a red cross on a white background, the cross of the people representing the Florentine citizens
2) a red iris flower (il giglio) on a white background, the symbol of Florence
- See more at: http://www.florencewebguide.com/palazzo-vecchio.html#sthash.lzznNnD3.dpuf

The shields were painted in their niches in about 1340, and each has a specific meaning in the history of the Florentine Republic, although the first two are by far the most significant.
1) a red cross on a white background, the cross of the people representing the Florentine citizens
2) a red iris flower (il giglio) on a white background, the symbol of Florence
- See more at: http://www.florencewebguide.com/palazzo-vecchio.html#sthash.lzznNnD3.dpuf

The shields were painted in their niches in about 1340, and each has a specific meaning in the history of the Florentine Republic, although the first two are by far the most significant.
1) a red cross on a white background, the cross of the people representing the Florentine citizens
2) a red iris flower (il giglio) on a white background, the symbol of Florence
- See more at: http://www.florencewebguide.com/palazzo-vecchio.html#sthash.lzznNnD3.dpuf

http://www.florencewebguide.com/palazzo-vecchio.html#sthash.lzznNnD3.dpbs

 After our visit to the museum we decided to get some gelato. Brie had chocolate and fiorremile and I had a ginger flavored one. As we were walking back to the B&B, in front of the Baptistry, there was a performance with flags, drums, and trumpets with the players in medieval gear, and they went in a procession down the street, talk about random (no one knew what it was for). That night we tried to find someplace to eat, but had a lot of difficulties. Saturday night is a tough night without a reservation. We ended up down the street at Ristorante da Mimmo, which was nothing special and definitely catered to tourists. We had house red wine, sparkling water, and I had bruschetta for an appetizer. Brie had goat cheese with honey, tomato and lettuce. They also brought out these deep fried dough things which were pretty decent. For the main dish we both had onion soup. To me it was very, very salty, and also too oily, so I only had a little bit of it. Not the optimal choice of dining options, but it worked for a night.

All the glittering lights

That's it for this first half of Florence. Stay tuned for part 2.

Tips:

• Have a good suitcase, expect to haul it across cobblestone and narrow 'sidewalks'. Brie swears by her new one which has 4 wheels instead of the usual 2 of the past.
• The longer you look in a shop (for example, one of the many leather shops), the lower the prices magically go. Don't necessarily settle for the price listed.
• Make reservations for dinner on Saturday nights. If you're there during the summer, expect to have to make reservations for all your meals.
• Get reservations early for the Uffizi Gallery and Accademia (where the David is), it will save you a ton of time not having to wait in line.
• Cappuccino's are consumed before lunch.
• Some people have espresso in the evenings after a meal, but you don't necessarily have to.
• Try the regional wines, each region has a different, even within a type (say Chianti), which is not just due to a difference in the producer.
• Climb the Duomo early (the lines will be long otherwise, and it will be crowded on the top and trying to get down).
• Invest in a scarf, or three.
• Give in to having gelato, even in winter. Trust me, it's worth it.