Our Airbnb contact in Florence had a wedding the afternoon we arrived. To "check in" before she left, we took a taxi from the train station. I realized that was actually the very first taxi we had taken the entire trip. It was a quick 10 minute drive over to Olivia's house, and then we climbed the winding walkway up to meet her.
It was around 1pm, so we dropped our bags and set out to explore Florence. We stopped at a little place for a takeaway slice of pizza and sandwich and walked around. First, we encountered a small, quaint little square near a university. There were a few outdoor cafes, and a loud group of young people were chatting on a bench.
Then, we continued along the main road and across a large bridge into the city center. Next to our bridge lay Ponte Vecchio. Built in 1218 and rebuilt in 1345, it was the only bring to survive World War II bombings and even still remained after the 1966 flood. The bridge was very charming and clustered with little shops along the corridor, which has been its tradition for over 700 years. http://www.visitflorence.com/florence-monuments/ponte-vecchio.html
We walked past the Iffiza , a very famous art museum, which had statues of famous Italians (Da Vinci, Donatello, etc). This fed into a large square—Palazzo Vecchio--with the old royal palace, another museum, and statues galore. We were impressed by this showcase, especially since I love a good statue.
Turning onto a side street, we found the magnificent Duomo. It's an enormous gothic cathedral with accompanying baptistry, and in the traditional cathedral layout (in the shape of a cross). But, what makes this cathedral so unique is the exterior design. Colorful tiles in pinks and greens (very rare colors for a church) adorn the entire outside of the building. Built in the 1200s, the baptistry was the first structure erected. Then came the the rest of the Duomo, including the dome in the 15th century, which was an enormous feat. It has no internal braces or scaffolding to support the dome. Using Rome as an example, the architect drew inspiration and concocted plans for the dome to support itself. It worked, and it's still standing today. The beautiful tiles were added in the 1800s to match the baptistry.
By this point in our journey, we were physically tired (plus Chris still had his cold) and our senses a little overwhelmed from everything along the way. We had seen unthinkably beautiful places every day and truly felt the experience and life of each place. Seeing the Duomo was incredible, but it was almost like we weren't capable of fully absorbing it just yet. It's a luxury to have this "problem," we knew that we were spoiled. But, we also felt inclined to take a little break and just relax for a bit, so we could better appreciate the tremendous city before us.
So, we stopped at a cafe and enjoyed a glass of red wine (me) and coffee (Chris) outside, even though it was freezing. It was nice to chat together and watch everyone bustle about. Shortly thereafter, we went looking for a place to have dinner. We finally decided on a restaurant and each indulged in pasta. The waiter asked us what we wanted for a second course (we kept on hearing this throughout Italy), and we said that we were full. Nothing more please. We looked around to the other few tables and noticed that they had several plates on the table. They had ordered appetizers, wine, pasta, meat, and maybe dessert. They were the more ideal patrons, I suppose.
Then, the waiter left for 30 minutes before depositing the bill on our table--it is is very common for this process to take forever. In American restaurants, they like to turn tables over quickly, and Americans typically don't spend more than 90 minutes dining anyway. But in Europe, dining is much more of an event. They can spend 3 hours eating course after course, ending with coffee. The waitstaff typically won't bring your check unless you purposefully catch their eye and ask for it. That can easily take 30 minutes to an hour sometimes.
After dinner, we stopped for our obligatory gelato at a wonderful place along the way. The people were nice, the prices reasonable, and thankfully the gelato excellent. Once home, I took a shower and read the information Olivia had left us about Florence. The plan was to more fully discover the city the next day and go inside the Duomo.
The next day, I awoke feeling really congested, feverish, and overall pretty bad. Chris saw my condition and set out to find medicine at a nearby pharmacy. Unfortunately, it was Sunday, so almost everything was closed. He determinedly found an open pharmacy near the train station and, after walking over 3 miles, returned back with medical goods.
After resting all morning, I decided to try and venture out. So we, along with another Airbnb traveler who arrived that morning, walked to the city center for a few hours. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t stay out very long, and we picked up dinner to go.
The next day, we had to wake up early and catch our train to Ancona. From there, we would ferry over to Patras, Greece, and then take a bus to Athens. That was the plan. More to come in the next section.
Although our time was really limited in Florence, we were thankful to have seen the city. In the end, Florence was a place we would definitely return. It is a busy city with a metropolitan vibe, but it's also very cultural, historical, and beautiful. We’ll just have to learn more and see Florence more fully later during one of our inevitable future trips.
It was around 1pm, so we dropped our bags and set out to explore Florence. We stopped at a little place for a takeaway slice of pizza and sandwich and walked around. First, we encountered a small, quaint little square near a university. There were a few outdoor cafes, and a loud group of young people were chatting on a bench.
Then, we continued along the main road and across a large bridge into the city center. Next to our bridge lay Ponte Vecchio. Built in 1218 and rebuilt in 1345, it was the only bring to survive World War II bombings and even still remained after the 1966 flood. The bridge was very charming and clustered with little shops along the corridor, which has been its tradition for over 700 years. http://www.visitflorence.com/florence-monuments/ponte-vecchio.html
We walked past the Iffiza , a very famous art museum, which had statues of famous Italians (Da Vinci, Donatello, etc). This fed into a large square—Palazzo Vecchio--with the old royal palace, another museum, and statues galore. We were impressed by this showcase, especially since I love a good statue.
Turning onto a side street, we found the magnificent Duomo. It's an enormous gothic cathedral with accompanying baptistry, and in the traditional cathedral layout (in the shape of a cross). But, what makes this cathedral so unique is the exterior design. Colorful tiles in pinks and greens (very rare colors for a church) adorn the entire outside of the building. Built in the 1200s, the baptistry was the first structure erected. Then came the the rest of the Duomo, including the dome in the 15th century, which was an enormous feat. It has no internal braces or scaffolding to support the dome. Using Rome as an example, the architect drew inspiration and concocted plans for the dome to support itself. It worked, and it's still standing today. The beautiful tiles were added in the 1800s to match the baptistry.
By this point in our journey, we were physically tired (plus Chris still had his cold) and our senses a little overwhelmed from everything along the way. We had seen unthinkably beautiful places every day and truly felt the experience and life of each place. Seeing the Duomo was incredible, but it was almost like we weren't capable of fully absorbing it just yet. It's a luxury to have this "problem," we knew that we were spoiled. But, we also felt inclined to take a little break and just relax for a bit, so we could better appreciate the tremendous city before us.
So, we stopped at a cafe and enjoyed a glass of red wine (me) and coffee (Chris) outside, even though it was freezing. It was nice to chat together and watch everyone bustle about. Shortly thereafter, we went looking for a place to have dinner. We finally decided on a restaurant and each indulged in pasta. The waiter asked us what we wanted for a second course (we kept on hearing this throughout Italy), and we said that we were full. Nothing more please. We looked around to the other few tables and noticed that they had several plates on the table. They had ordered appetizers, wine, pasta, meat, and maybe dessert. They were the more ideal patrons, I suppose.
Then, the waiter left for 30 minutes before depositing the bill on our table--it is is very common for this process to take forever. In American restaurants, they like to turn tables over quickly, and Americans typically don't spend more than 90 minutes dining anyway. But in Europe, dining is much more of an event. They can spend 3 hours eating course after course, ending with coffee. The waitstaff typically won't bring your check unless you purposefully catch their eye and ask for it. That can easily take 30 minutes to an hour sometimes.
After dinner, we stopped for our obligatory gelato at a wonderful place along the way. The people were nice, the prices reasonable, and thankfully the gelato excellent. Once home, I took a shower and read the information Olivia had left us about Florence. The plan was to more fully discover the city the next day and go inside the Duomo.
The next day, I awoke feeling really congested, feverish, and overall pretty bad. Chris saw my condition and set out to find medicine at a nearby pharmacy. Unfortunately, it was Sunday, so almost everything was closed. He determinedly found an open pharmacy near the train station and, after walking over 3 miles, returned back with medical goods.
After resting all morning, I decided to try and venture out. So we, along with another Airbnb traveler who arrived that morning, walked to the city center for a few hours. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t stay out very long, and we picked up dinner to go.
The next day, we had to wake up early and catch our train to Ancona. From there, we would ferry over to Patras, Greece, and then take a bus to Athens. That was the plan. More to come in the next section.
Although our time was really limited in Florence, we were thankful to have seen the city. In the end, Florence was a place we would definitely return. It is a busy city with a metropolitan vibe, but it's also very cultural, historical, and beautiful. We’ll just have to learn more and see Florence more fully later during one of our inevitable future trips.
Left side of the Duomo
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