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Florence (18th April to 22nd April)

By Nick Hodge | February 28, 2004

Florence Gallery

[1915] Florence
Florence...
[1914] Liam inside the Musuem of the Duomo, Florence
Liam inside the Musuem of the ...
[1913] Duomo, Florence
Duomo, Florence...
[1912] McDonalds attempts to hide themselves in Florence
McDonalds attempts to hide the...
[1911] Liam and Avril look over the Arno in Florence
Liam and Avril look over the A...
[1910] Nick and Naked Statue in Florence
Nick and Naked Statue in Flore...
[1909] Modern and Renaissance walls in Florence
Modern and Renaissance walls i...
[1908] Parking space is at a premium in Florence, so small cars are essential.
Parking space is at a premium ...
[1907] Liam at Basilica Sante Croce, Florence
Liam at Basilica Sante Croce, ...
[1906] Basilica Sante Croce, Florence
Basilica Sante Croce, Florence...

Thursday, 22nd April, 2004

Train travel is Italy is easy. No xray security, on time, carry and pack your own baggage, quick turn around time (in and out of stations)

We leave on time from Florence to Rome. 9.53am to 11.30am.

Wednesday, 21st April, 2004

9.30am, Statue of David. This is a statue that the Republic of Florence commissioned from Michelangelo -- as the "symbol" of the republic. The "David vs. Goliath" (was the Goliath Rome or Venice?) Whilst David's hands and feet are a little oversized, the "aliveness" of the statue is amazing. You expect David to turn and speak. Amazing work. Almost everything else in the Accademia is dwarfed.

Bartolini's sculptures in the last room are equisite. Especially when you compare the quality of women in marble to Michelangelo.

We found a large toystore on the return to the central city. We pass by the Grand Hotel and quickly pop into the Ognissanti. There is a 13th Century monastry here. We just pop in and have a look at the frescos that adorn the walls and ceilings. Amazing. This is off the tourist map, so we are alone here. And it was free.

On a trip to some other market, somewhere across town, we come across the Santa Croce church. This holds the tomb of Machiavelli, among others (Marconi, Galileo, Dante to name but a few), but the amazing part is the monastry on the outside.

The best gelati in Florence: Vivoli, Via dell Isola Della Stinche.

Our hotel in Florence is directly above the Prada store. There are always people standing outside having their photos taken with the Prada store.

Tuesday, 20th April, 2004

Tuesday morning, and we go into the Duomo to see the major centre of Florence. This is very impressive.

We amble past the Galleria that displays the Statue of David: the line is long, so we find a museum that sells pre-booked tickets, and grab that for 9.30 tomorrow morning.

Then its off to a quick bite (Cafe de Letizia, on Via Vacchereccia) before hitting the Uffizi. To enter the Uffizi you pass through the x-ray security. Maybe need better security outside to get rid of the vendors in the piazza outside.

Inside the Uffizi, up the multiple flights of stairs (102 steps) there are masses of "Madonna with Child" paintings dating from the 12th Century onwards. To this small protestant mind, the adoration of the Madonna (in some pictures symbolically above the apostles, and being crowned by Christ in another) doesn't seem right.

Botticelli's "Birth of Venus" is in a larger room: appropriately as this is the highlight of the Uffizi. It holds the crowds as they view their first "pagan" image in a largely catholic display up until this point. And being half naked doesn't hurt the popularity, either.

102 steps down, through 7 (that's right: seven!) different gift shops before exiting via the Post office. The last half of the Uffizi just doesn't inspire.

Avril goes off to do some more damage to the credit cards whilst Liam and I go relic hunting. Relics are a relic of the church in pre-reformation times. Pilgrims would visit churches to see a piece of the true cross, and pray for a miracle. We look for the "Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch", but cannot find it in Florence.

Liam and I also visit the Cappalle Medici, where there are massive tombs for the Medici. Inside there is a Michelangelo marble art piece. It looks like he never saw a naked woman!

We eat at La Spada. Tuscan food rocks! Talk about maximum taste. Best food I've eaten since New Zealand.

Monday, 19th April, 2004

Bells. Outside our window there is a Church belltower that rang at 7:00am for 52 rings. I am not sure of the religious/cultural significance of 52, but awake we must.

Sunday, 18th April, 2004

Cars. After being in Venice, cut off from cars for 3 days, it's the first thing you notice.

We walk to our pensione (Florentine for hotel room), sans TV and Telephone. Evidently, people do not get a chance to use these in Florence as they are out and about too much.

I have described Venice as the perfectly designed tourist trap. Florence is running a very close second. Whilst the stores in the street are very different and offer greater variety, there are more "attractions" here. However much the Statue of David (by Michaelangelo) cost the good Burgers of Florence in the 16th Century, it has returned this many times over. "David" figurines, pictures, underwear, fridge magnets, books, plates: everything has "David" in his nakedness emblazened somewhere. Botticelli's "Venus" from the painting "Birth of Venus" runs a distant second.

The height of perfect design is the Ponte Vecchio. Imagine this: a bridge over the river Arno, with only two ends with only two ways of escape. On each side of this bridge there are windows offering a multitude of gold and silver (I didn't see other types here, but I could be wrong) "things" of all descriptions ranging in price from a cheap 40 euro to unmarked (if you have to ask, you cannot afford). Behind these windows are small stores selling what is in the windows. There has to be more than 50 of these stores ready and waiting to eat your plastic alive.

We smartly find the line to purchase tickets to the Uffizi is now at zero, so we book reservations for a tour on Wednesday. As the lines are stupidly long for this and the Accademia (where the real statue of David rests) this was a good find. Even if it cost 3 euro more each.

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