Italy 2014: Florence

This was actually my second trip to Florence. During my Eurotrip 2013, Angie and I stopped in Florence for a few hours, I think between Naples and the Cinque Terra. By that point in our trip, we were too tired to find a place to stash our backpacks and wander around - instead we purchased a bottle of wine and 2 cups, and proceeded to sit in the train station drinking wine and waiting for our train. To be honest, if I thought I wouldn't be back to Florence, I would have manned up and gone exploring. But... I knew I'd be back!

Fast forward to this past Thursday, when Joe and I arrived at the same train station. This time, instead of grabbing a bottle of wine and camping out, we headed to our B&B and walked right past the Duomo. So... I've got to say that I have seem some pretty spectacular churches throughout my travels. But this one still took my breath away. As we walked toward it, I kept telling Joe it looked two-dimensional.... followed by the question of "how is this church even possible?!"

The magnificent Duomo in Christmastime

Frankly, I think that question sums up my views of Florence. How is this town even possible? I now know why Joe has been so anxious and excited to bring me here. It is such a lovely city, with incredible architecture, art, history, and character. It's small enough to navigate by foot, but big enough to ensure there is plenty to do/see. And plenty of do/see we did!

Thursday: As soon as we dropped off our things, we walked back to the Duomo and purchased tickets to visit the Baptistry and crypts and to allow us to climb the Dome and the Bell Tower. I don't really have words right now to describe how incredible this whole experience was, but hopefully my pictures will do it some type of justice. We spent the full afternoon exploring, admiring, climbing (nearly 1,000 steps in total), and shaking our heads in admiration.

Inside the Baptistry, in the same position I took for most of the trip

Inside the Duomo... little did I know I would soon be up there!

Fresh legs pre-climb

Made it!

Hard to do a selfie in the sun!

Climbing between the two domes

I wasn't expecting this!

Note to self: Being afraid of heights as you are, don't look down!

View from the Bell Tower was even better than atop the Duomo!

After descending the Bell Tower, Joe and I purchased a fantastic little drawing of a T-Rex and the Duomo (I had to, come on!) and headed to a clearly overpriced and touristy, but well-worth-the-view restaurant to rest and enjoy a well earned beer. 

For dinner, we headed to a delicious restaurant for Bistecca Florentina (for Joe) and an amazing chicken dish for me. It was followed by one of the most amazing deserts I have ever tasted... I wish I knew what it was called, but we only ordered it because I saw it on someone else's table and pointed. I should also add that the wine was significantly better in Florence - not surprising - but much appreciated.

Friday: Joe and I had reserved 10:00am tickets to the Uffizi. I loved exploring the museum and seeing so many pieces I've learned about. The museum was perfectly sized - not too big, but still plenty of incredible artwork and history. For me, the highlights were the Boticelli's, but I honestly enjoyed the whole museum. We spent about 3 hours walking around, only resting twice. However, we did experience something strange during our first rest stop, paused on a bench looking up at the crazy Grotesques on the ceiling. The bench started shaking as if there was a subway beneath us. Joe and I looked at each other in confusion, and then tried to figure out why no one else thought it was weird because there definitely was not a subway beneath us. Joe later found out that Tuscany was hit with over 80 earthquakes that morning, and what shook our bench was a 4.1 quake. Luckily there was no damage but we were glad that our confusion wasn't in our heads.

Looking at the Ponte Vecchio from inside the Uffizi

After the Uffizi, we decided upon a traditional Florentinian feat of a lunch at Acquacotta, knowing we'd have a light meal later and also the lunch special was too good to pass up. From there Joe headed back to the room, and I went to the Galleria dell'Accademia to see Michelangelo's David. I assumed it would be impressive, but I was blown away by how magnificent it is in person. I also really enjoyed some of Michelangelo's half finished works, as it was fascinating to see his forms take shape out of marble.

Later that evening, Joe and I headed off to wander the Christmas Market in front of Santa Croce. While somehow I managed to get by without mulled wine or a gingerbread cookie, Joe got a bratwurst - which is basically a given at any Christmas market. Afterwards we headed to a bar for drinks and an appetizer buffet. At this point, we were both happy for a relaxed (and somewhat cheap) evening.

Joe's "christmas market" pose

Translation is funny

Saturday: Things finally started feeling touristy on Saturday - likely because most people weren't working and the crowds hit the street. After breakfast, Joe and I purchased our Siena tickets at the bus station, wandered around a bit, and then headed back to the Duomo for another look. It was very cool to see the dome frescos from below now that we had essentially walked around them during our earlier climb up the tower.

Next we headed to Santa Croce, not really knowing what to expect. This church turned out to be a highlight, as Joe and I were both enamored with the paintings and sculptures and architecture. Santa Croce is also home to Dante, Michelangelo, and Galileo - and it was really cool to see their respective monuments. There was also a statue called "Freedom of Poetry" that very clearly was the inspiration for the Statue of Liberty. Overall we spent over an hour wandering the church and neighboring grounds.

Michelangelo's tomb

Freedom of Poetry

View from the courtyard

After Santa Croce, Joe and I walked along the Arno towards the Oltrarno neighborhood. We crossed the Ponte Vecchio, checked out the multitude of jewelry shops, and then headed to the Basilica di Santo Spirito - the third of our Brunelleschi church tour. It was yet again a beautiful church, with the main attraction being a crucifixion sculpture by Michelangelo. After leaving, we tried to visit a recommended microbrewerey, but it was closed. However, since we decided to head back towards our hotel, we got to see a flash mob on the Ponte Vecchio of about 50 dancers doing the "Shim Sham." It was so awesome!!! (I wish I knew how to dance so much!!)

ShimSham!

That evening, we opted for a nice dinner at Gustavino. I had one of the best meals of my life! Artichoke puff pastry, pumpkin ravioli, and chocolate and port covered pear. I want to relive this dinner over and over again! It was a great way to end our trip to Florence and celebrate finally seeing this incredible city.

Hopefully my love for the city is obvious - it was exactly what I was hoping for: art, architecture, history, food, and some great memories.

Next stop: Siena!