The next stop on our journey was Florence. It’s one of the must-see destinations in Europe I’ve never been to, so I was really looking forward to it. Perhaps, in the back of my mind, there was a slight fear that I would be disappointed after all the things I’d heard about it…
We arrived into town, following the rather intricate instructions by our helpful hotel receptionist, who tried to guide us into the historic centre whilst avoiding getting fined by the police (like in many Italian cities, the historic city centre is off-limits to most cars – brilliant idea which should be adopted world-wide if you ask me). The hotel itself was a very positive surprise, located as it was less than 5 minutes walk from the Duomo, right in the heart of the old town.
We headed out for a bit of a stroll whilst waiting for our room to be prepared. And quite a walk it was, starting with a stroll over to the Piazza del Duomo, with the famous cathedral. Of course I’d seen plenty of pictures of it, but seeing it in real life, in all its majesty, still left me very impressed. We figured we might as well visit it whilst we were there, so joined the queue of other tourists. A good 20 minutes later, we were finally allowed entry. The interior of the Duomo was a bit of a letdown actually. It’s imposing, to be sure, but feels quite bare somehow compared to the flamboyant exterior (apparently this was partly intentional, but also some of the artworks have been moved to various museums in Florence). Still, the grandeur of the place, and especially the dome, is undeniable. We obviously also had to climb up the 84.7 meter campanile, standing next to the cathedral. The view from up there was definitely worth the hike – simply stunning. Nice to get an overview of the city before actually setting out to explore it.
Having been overwhelmed by the Duomo square, we then carried on to another masterpiece of a square, the Piazza della Signoria. The jewel of this square is the Palazzo Vecchio, the old town hall of Florence, with a replica of the famous statue of David posing in front of it. Again, I was rather stunned – I was beginning to understand how Mr. Stendhal got his syndrome (and I’d only been in Florence for about 2 hours!). Construction of this renaissance marvel began in 1299, when it was built to house the government of Florence. Over the centuries, the palace’s importance diminished, but it still houses the mayor’s office, and the city council meets here.
Having ticked this "minor site" off the list, we made our way down towards the Arno river, passing by the Uffizi (which these days contains the most famous art gallery in Florence – and that’s saying something!). We were immediately met by the sight of the Ponto Vecchio (and out came the camera, again!) – yet another landmark sight. Crossing the bridge, we walked past the Palazzo Pitti (a vast palace constructed by the Medici family, which now houses yet another museum), and back to the Arno river. After a delicious ice cream, we made our way back across the river to take procession of our rooms.
Before dinner, we decided to go on a bit of a hike to check out the area of Florence around San Marco, taking in a couple of churches on the way, naturally. We also passed by the Galleria Dell’Arte – which was unfortunately (or thankfully – we were getting a bit nackered by now?) closed. By now, it was about time to have dinner, so we headed out to find a decent restaurant.
Mathilde found a nice-seeming pizzeria on tripadvisor (which apparently serves the best pizza in Florence), which we headed for. After a decent hike (it was located on the other side of the Arno, near the Palazzo Pitti), we found the place to be closed, much to our disappointment (august holidays closure, something we would come across rather regularly). We continued to stroll around the Arno, trying to find a place to eat, but alas in vain. So we made our way back across the river, and eventually ended up in a nice little Enoteca (wine bar) on a small street right in the centre of the old town, where we had a simple yet decent enough meal, which we washed down with a bottle of excellent Chianti.
The next day carried on in the same vain, taking in yet more sights in this amazing sights. We started off by checking out a couple of more sublime churches (especially San Croce – which is actually the church that gave Stendhal his famous syndrome – really made an impact), and then carried on to the other side of the Arno, where we hiked up a nice little hill up the San Miniato al Monte. The church just has an amazing location, the views over Florence are really something. And the church itself is pretty amazing as well, even if it’s not perhaps the most famous or large in Florence. The afternoon called for yet more hiking, this time around the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella (located near the train station). One of the cool places near the church is the pharmacy, dating all the way back to the 18th century. Apparently the queen of England is a loyal customer. Obviously not for us then – we were also put off a bit by the fact that there were no prices shown on any of the merchandise on display. But well impressive place indeed. We were suitably overwhelmed by the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella as well – even if we were getting hit quite badly by the Church Saturation Syndrome by now…
We finished our long but rather amazing day with a dinner in a local eatery, actually located just next-doors to our hotel. We naturally decided to go for the local specialties – Mathilde really going big by having a Bistecca Alla Fiorentina – a rather massive T-Bone steak. Mathilde had a Bistecca Lite – only 500 grams. She still struggled a bit – and I was more than happy to help out ;-). All in all, quite a perfect ending for our Florentine visit – as the next day it was sadly time to hit the road again…
All in all, as you have probably gathered from my blog post, Florence certainly didn’t disappoint. In fact, it managed to even exceed my high expectations. And as you may have remarked, dear reader, we didn’t even visit any of the amazing museums which one is supposed to visit. And there are probably about 20 amazing churches/convents we haven’t been to either. So, we just might have to come back one day ;-).
We arrived into town, following the rather intricate instructions by our helpful hotel receptionist, who tried to guide us into the historic centre whilst avoiding getting fined by the police (like in many Italian cities, the historic city centre is off-limits to most cars – brilliant idea which should be adopted world-wide if you ask me). The hotel itself was a very positive surprise, located as it was less than 5 minutes walk from the Duomo, right in the heart of the old town.
We headed out for a bit of a stroll whilst waiting for our room to be prepared. And quite a walk it was, starting with a stroll over to the Piazza del Duomo, with the famous cathedral. Of course I’d seen plenty of pictures of it, but seeing it in real life, in all its majesty, still left me very impressed. We figured we might as well visit it whilst we were there, so joined the queue of other tourists. A good 20 minutes later, we were finally allowed entry. The interior of the Duomo was a bit of a letdown actually. It’s imposing, to be sure, but feels quite bare somehow compared to the flamboyant exterior (apparently this was partly intentional, but also some of the artworks have been moved to various museums in Florence). Still, the grandeur of the place, and especially the dome, is undeniable. We obviously also had to climb up the 84.7 meter campanile, standing next to the cathedral. The view from up there was definitely worth the hike – simply stunning. Nice to get an overview of the city before actually setting out to explore it.
Having been overwhelmed by the Duomo square, we then carried on to another masterpiece of a square, the Piazza della Signoria. The jewel of this square is the Palazzo Vecchio, the old town hall of Florence, with a replica of the famous statue of David posing in front of it. Again, I was rather stunned – I was beginning to understand how Mr. Stendhal got his syndrome (and I’d only been in Florence for about 2 hours!). Construction of this renaissance marvel began in 1299, when it was built to house the government of Florence. Over the centuries, the palace’s importance diminished, but it still houses the mayor’s office, and the city council meets here. 
Having ticked this "minor site" off the list, we made our way down towards the Arno river, passing by the Uffizi (which these days contains the most famous art gallery in Florence – and that’s saying something!). We were immediately met by the sight of the Ponto Vecchio (and out came the camera, again!) – yet another landmark sight. Crossing the bridge, we walked past the Palazzo Pitti (a vast palace constructed by the Medici family, which now houses yet another museum), and back to the Arno river. After a delicious ice cream, we made our way back across the river to take procession of our rooms. Before dinner, we decided to go on a bit of a hike to check out the area of Florence around San Marco, taking in a couple of churches on the way, naturally. We also passed by the Galleria Dell’Arte – which was unfortunately (or thankfully – we were getting a bit nackered by now?) closed. By now, it was about time to have dinner, so we headed out to find a decent restaurant.
Mathilde found a nice-seeming pizzeria on tripadvisor (which apparently serves the best pizza in Florence), which we headed for. After a decent hike (it was located on the other side of the Arno, near the Palazzo Pitti), we found the place to be closed, much to our disappointment (august holidays closure, something we would come across rather regularly). We continued to stroll around the Arno, trying to find a place to eat, but alas in vain. So we made our way back across the river, and eventually ended up in a nice little Enoteca (wine bar) on a small street right in the centre of the old town, where we had a simple yet decent enough meal, which we washed down with a bottle of excellent Chianti.
The next day carried on in the same vain, taking in yet more sights in this amazing sights. We started off by checking out a couple of more sublime churches (especially San Croce – which is actually the church that gave Stendhal his famous syndrome – really made an impact), and then carried on to the other side of the Arno, where we hiked up a nice little hill up the San Miniato al Monte. The church just has an amazing location, the views over Florence are really something. And the church itself is pretty amazing as well, even if it’s not perhaps the most famous or large in Florence. The afternoon called for yet more hiking, this time around the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella (located near the train station). One of the cool places near the church is the pharmacy, dating all the way back to the 18th century. Apparently the queen of England is a loyal customer. Obviously not for us then – we were also put off a bit by the fact that there were no prices shown on any of the merchandise on display. But well impressive place indeed. We were suitably overwhelmed by the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella as well – even if we were getting hit quite badly by the Church Saturation Syndrome by now…
We finished our long but rather amazing day with a dinner in a local eatery, actually located just next-doors to our hotel. We naturally decided to go for the local specialties – Mathilde really going big by having a Bistecca Alla Fiorentina – a rather massive T-Bone steak. Mathilde had a Bistecca Lite – only 500 grams. She still struggled a bit – and I was more than happy to help out ;-). All in all, quite a perfect ending for our Florentine visit – as the next day it was sadly time to hit the road again…All in all, as you have probably gathered from my blog post, Florence certainly didn’t disappoint. In fact, it managed to even exceed my high expectations. And as you may have remarked, dear reader, we didn’t even visit any of the amazing museums which one is supposed to visit. And there are probably about 20 amazing churches/convents we haven’t been to either. So, we just might have to come back one day ;-).
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