After the cruise, we traveled to Roma, then made our way to our next train which was a non-stop, high speed train to Firenze. We saw lots of agricultural land along the way but not many crops in the fields, only red poppies and some beautiful homes up on the hills. We hit some speeds nearing 150 km/hr and went through a number of tunnels where the sudden changes in air pressure were hard on our ears.
After settling in, the group met for dinner and we found a nice restaurant with an open-air courtyard that was perfect for the warm evening. Jim had a meal that is traditional for this part of Tuscany and that was a bean and bread soup. It was quite tasty. Jeannie had a Caesar salad that did not have Romaine lettuce in it. Very different than what we are used to.
Day 2. From our place near the Duomo, we walked down the street a couple of blocks to an open square where there was a large statue of a man on a horse and a number of fountains with interesting mythical marine creatures in the fountains. In the square were a number of local artisans who had a wide variety of goods for sale and you could watch them work at their crafts.
We decided to buy the Firenze Card to allow us to skip the lines at the places we wanted to see and then did some shopping.
The morning of Day 3 saw us walk several kilometres to the bus depot and buy bus tickets for everyone for a trip to Siena later in the week.
As we walked back towards the Duomo, we visited the oldest pharmacy in Italy (Santa Maria Novella). It started off in the 1600’s selling rose water to treat ‘the plaque’ and then progressed as time passed but rose water is still a product they sell. Jeannie bought some mints in a metal box. Beautiful frescos in the store and lots of antique furniture.
We walked over to the Arno River and did some birding along the river but did not find anything new. We strolled over the famous Ponte Vecchio Bridge which spans the Arno Rive and has a number of high end shops on the bridge, particularly jewelry stores.
We continued on towards Piazzale Michaelangelo but it started to rain so we popped into a restaurant for lunch. Many different kinds of pizza and pasta were the standard fare on the menu as it is in most restaurants in Italy.
As we finished our lunches the rain stopped so we continued on to Piazzale Michaelangelo and walked up to the top where we had an excellent view of the city.
Day 4 had us meet Susie and Sev at 8am and we headed off to the Uffizi Museum. This is a huge museum shaped like a large “U” but each leg of the “U” is a full city block long and the building is 2 floors high. It took us 3 hours to do a fast run through and we missed so much but Sev did a great job of showing us some of the highlights of this massive art and sculpture collection.
We took a break for lunch and then walked across the Arno River to the Palazzo Pitti that was the ancestral home of the Medici family (actually 8 museums). The opulence was staggering. There was room after room of paintings, tables, chairs, clocks and sculptures. Jeannie did a quick walk thru the modern costume area.
By 3pm, we were worn out and really did not want to see yet another “Madonna with Child” painting (see above) so we worked our way back to our apartment. On the way, we passed “The Duomo” which is a massive church and the center of Florence.
The church was started in 1296 and completed in 1436. It covers almost 90,000 sq ft (8,300 sq meters). It was built atop another church from 400 A.D. and covered part of an old Roman house with remnants still visible in the Crypt. We obtained some “fast pass” tickets for entry in a couple of days as there was limited entry and thousands of tourists in town.
Day 5 had us meet Susie and Sev at 8am and walk up to the Accademia Gallery where many of the works of Michelangelo are on display including the statue of David. It is a magnificent piece of work!
Many other paintings and sculptures on display as well. The Bookshop was a treasure trove. John and Helen had gone off on a tour to a Ferrari factory and saw David on another day.
Stop #2 was at the Cappelle Medicee which is the resting place for most of the Medici family. Lots of ornate objects such as clocks and religious icons (sacred bones, pope adornments, etc). There was also a huge mortuary chapel that was over 30 meters high but covered in scaffolding so the pictures are not great.
Stop #3 was at the Basilica San Lorenzo (the Medici family chapel) which is yet another church started in the fourth century A.D. The exterior is very plain as Michelangelo was contracted to create a façade but after 3 years of design work, the contract was cancelled so we see only the original brick work.
Stop #4 We decided to stop in at the Museum of the Duomo for a quick look as it was covered by our Firenze Card. Among other items removed from the original structure, like some beautiful calligraphy, there was a very interesting collection of artifacts on the construction of the whole place.
A break for lunch at Gusto Leo’s and then we went to the Museo Galileo (Stop #5). Lots of science (telescopes, astrolobes, globes) at this museum so it's not surprising that it is also known as The History of Science Museum.
Last stop (#6) for the day was at Museo del Bargello in one of the oldest buildings in Florence from 1255. Displays of Donatello’s sculptures, pottery, carved ivory, coins and war materials.
Day 6 had us meet the group at 9:30am and join the “free pass” line to get into the Duomo at 10am. There were hundreds of people in the line when we got there. The inside of the church was not as impressive as others we have visited but the Crypt and Baptistery were very interesting (included with the Firenze Card). We didn’t opt into the 463-step climb to the top of the Bell Tower.
After lunch and more gelato, we went to the National Museum (Museo Archaeologico Nazionale). This is a huge collection that covers many eras of occupation in Italy (mostly captioned in Italian) and an excellent display of Egyptian artifacts with English explanations.
Our last visit for the day was to the Leonardo da Vinci Museum, just down the street from our apartment, where there were dozens of working models of Leonardo’s inventions.
Met the group for dinner and went to a restaurant (Caffe dei Pucci on Pucci Street) that we had eaten at previously. The owner was very generous in the portions he gave us and shots of limoncello at the end of the meal. We did revisit this restaurant several times. Outstanding.
Day 7 was the day we had chosen to go to the city of Siena, an hour long bus trip from Florence.
It was as we boarded the bus, that local custom came into play. We had our tickets in hand, ready to hand to the bus driver, when we noticed that the people in front of us were putting their tickets into a machine that date stamped them and then gave the ticket back. Interesting process.
As we approached Siena, the bus was boarded by two transit inspectors who wanted to see everyone’s ticket. One of our party had thrown their ticket stub into his backpack and had to haul all the stuff out of the pack to find it. Another member of our party found that the machine had not stamped the ticket and so they were subject to a 68 Euro fine (almost 10 times the price of the actual ticket) that had to be paid in cash right then. Definitely a bummer.
We walked into town to the major square which holds about 60,000 people for the twice-annual major event, a horse race between the 17 contrada (regional districts) that represent the parts of greater Siena.
As fate would have it, one leg of “Mille Miglia” automobile tour from Bresica to Rome was ‘racing’ thru the narrow streets of the town. There were hundreds of cars of all vintages and makes from brand new Ferraris to Model Ts. Thousands of people there to cheer for their favourites.
Wandered the streets and squares (there is another Duomo in Siena) and did some shopping before catching the 3:10 pm bus back to Florence. Arrived in Florence at 4:30pm which was just in time to get some gelato.
Gelato is a wonderful confection with endless variations on the theme and almost everyone in the group had a favourite flavour and a favourite gelato store.
After a week, we felt that we had done a reasonable job of seeing some of the 72 museums in Florence ( http://www.museumsinflorence.com/index.html ). It was exhausting but we sure learned a lot about European art.
Day 8 saw us walk over to the Arno River where we spent much of the day looking for birds. We found 16 species but they were all species we had seen previously. Lots of window shopping on this very warm day. We saw Stella McCartney's shop but the armed security guard standing at the door was not very welcoming.
At 5:20pm, we met the rest of the group and walked down to Caffe dei Pucci for our last meal in Florence. Tani, the owner and cook Rudi, his sister, gave us a meal of cold meats with fresh bread, salad, appetizers, Tuscany steak and roast potatoes with cannellini beans. For dessert, Rudi served a homemade berry shortcake. All this was washed down with a couple of bottles of local Chianti and, of course, limoncello! A meal to be remembered!
The next morning, we caught the high speed train back to Roma and the next part of our adventure.
Next up: A week in Roma