Firenze Bebe!

By noon on Monday the 3rd of August, our train had departed Rome, bound for Florence. The fast moving train flew through the sun-flower clad hills of Tuscany.

The Tuscan landscape, as you would imagine, is gorgeous- rustic farm houses, vineyards and mountains- and I managed to engage my Italian language conversation skills with a cute little old man that reminded me of an old Italian-Australian man I once knew- I don't know how proficient I actually was, but he bid me an animated farewell when I stepped off the train later that afternoon.

Not long after we'd checked in and found some late lunch, Hayley and I decided to split- she was keen to browse the shops for shoes, but I wanted to explore the markets! I followed the market stalls; past leather shops, scarf stalls, souvenir stands, wood crafts and gold plated religious icons, not to mention a plethora of hats, jewellery and sunglasses. I continued to follow the street, until it curved around the corner into a bustling street of clothing and shoe stores, restaurants and ice-cream parlours. People were spilling out onto the streets, which were lined with bicycles, eating and talking in a most lively way. There was an older man standing in the middle of the street, dressed in a waist coat, and wearing a red bow-tie, and a grin like the Cheshire cat, playing a piano accordion...ah, the ambience!

At the end of this strip, I stumbled upon the Piazza del Duomo, in which stands the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore (see pictures above and below). I wandered around it for sometime, rediscovering all those neck muscles that I had been introduced to at St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican museum, in awe of the Gothic inspired, marble facade of the Cathedral. We came back to it on the following day on yet another walking tour. The walking tour, like all those I'd done up until this point, was invaluable; leading us through the winding Firenze streets, past places like Casa di Dante, Casa di Buonarroti, the Cappelle Medicee and the Basilica di San Lorenzo. The tour concluded by passing the Cheisa di Saint Croce and ending up in the Palazzo Vecchio. At the conclusion of the tour, I had decided that I most certainly would return to the Piazza Duomo and the Basilica of Santa Croce, but given the lines at the Duomo, we decided to first visit something that wasn't on the walking tour, but something you simply must do whilst in Florence- and that was to visit the Accademia Art Gallery.

I had heard so much about Accademia, largely because it is home to Michelangelo's David. Unlike other galleries, which seemingly hide away their treasures, we entered into the gallery and David was immediately in sight.

David is, hands down, the single most amazing, astounding piece of art, in any medium, that I have ever seen.

I couldn't get over the height of David, and his hands and feet!
David's right hand, the hand that holds the stone, is mesmerising! I circled round and round the enormous structure, and came back to sit in front of it again for ages before we left that afternoon.

Reluctantly, we left David, and returned to the Duomo, where the line had subsided, thankfully. Compared to it's remarkable exterior, the interior of the Duomo is quite modest, but most beautiful, nonetheless. When we left the Duomo, I had to go back and charge my camera battery-yet again!- before meeting up with Hayley about an hour later in front of the carousel in the Piazza San Firenze. From here we walked along the side of the Fiume Arno River, crossed the quiant bringe, the Ponte Vecchio, and found the bus that would take us up to the Piazzale Michelangelo. Piazzale Michelangelo is located on the top of a hill, high above the city of Florence. From here, one has beautiful views of the entire city of Florence, and out onto the Tuscan Hills and pastures; certainly one of the more spectacular look outs I have visited...

On our final morning in Florence, we first organised to go and book our train ticket to Venice, which lead me to the incredible coincidence of running into a girl I worked with in Melbourne up until my move to London! Crazy! Once we purchased our ticket, I farewelled Rach, and made my way to the Piazza Santa Croce, to visit the Chiesa Santa Croce, which I had wanted to do the day before, but had run out of time. St. Croce houses works by both Donatello and Michelangelo; it is also the place of Michelangelo's and Galileo's tomb.

The church (see pictures below) has a remarkable history, having survived major flooding in 1966, and has a wonderful museum and surrounding gardens and courtyards. Sadly, we were pressed for time and I feel like I rushed my way through the church- I'd return to Florence in a heartbeat...



By noon that day, I'd collected my baggage, and had boarded a train heading north to Venice, San Lucia.