Florence, Italy
October, 2011
Thursday, October 27 Venice to Florence
Our ship was meant to arrive at 4am in Venice this morning, but due to fog, it did not dock until 9am. This meant everybody was delayed disembarking. Fortunately, we had not yet booked our train to Florence, so we were in no hurry. We took our time, having our last breakfast aboard, and finally left the ship at 10:30. We took the monorail to piazza roma, then walked over the bridge again to the train station.
There was no problem buying train tickets to Florence. The train left at 12:30, and took 2 hours. It was a Eurostar, much nicer and faster than the regional train we used to get to Venice two weeks ago. Once in Florence, we had to walk to our hotel. It was not to far from the train station, but took some finding. It was just two huge doors, with a small sign out the front on Via Nazionale. Our room is magnificent… top floor, 15 foot ceilings, with views of Il Duomo.
We dropped our luggage and went exploring. We found Il Duomo, Ufizzi, Ponte Vecchio Bridge, and much more. Florence is amazing, every corner that you go around, there is another church or monument, etc. I don’t know how we are going to see it all in only 2.5 days. We had pizza, pasta and gelati for dinner. The gelati was the best ice-cream that I have had in my entire life!
Friday, October 28 Florence
It was MacDonalds for breakfast this morning, because this hotel does not provide breakfast. We walked to the Ufizzi, but discovered that there was a strike today, so many museums were not opened. Instead, we went to Il Duomo. We bought a ticket that would allow us to climb the dome, the bell tower, the crypt, the baptistery and the museum.
We climbed to the top of the famous dome built in the 15th Century. It was 463 steps, but the view of Florence was worth it. Once up there, we noticed that Florence is surrounded by hills. We took lots of photos, then went down to the baptistery, which was built in the 13th Century. The Mosaics on the ceiling were stunning, and the bronze work on the doors was breath-taking, especially the “Gates of Paradise” as Michaelangelo called them.
We skipped the line and went into the church. It was huge, bigger than any other church we have visited so far. We visited the crypt, below the church, but there was not much down there. The museum behind the church was full of sculptures and paintings that had been removed from the church 300 years ago, because they were thought to be a distraction for the congregation.
We walked the Galileo Science Museum, where they had many of Galileo’s artefacts and other Scientific artefacts that the Medici’s had collected during the Renaissance period. The history was fantastic. To see 400 year old globes, where Australia did not exist, and 600 year old maps where Italy was the centre of the world, and Russia was down the bottom.
We walked to Santa Croce, the church where Galileo and Michaelangelo were buried, bu they were closing, so we headed back to Ufizzi, and had dinner outside the palace of the Medici’s. We were exhausted by 8pm, so we all called it an early night.
Saturday, October 29 Florence
There is so much to see in Florence, and we tried to do it all in one day. We were up early and Zeke and I were waiting in the line for the Ufizzi while Gwen and Jamaica were buying us breakfast. We spent two hours looking at the artwork, including The Birth of Venus and other famous paintings by all four turtles, Donatello, Raphael, Leonardo and Michaelangelo and many others.
We went to Santa Croce and paid our respects at the tombs of Galileo and Michaelangelo, before heading to Museo Bargello, which contained Donatello’s David which sparked the Renaissance. That was all before lunch… after lunch, we walked through the academia, which houses the most famous sculpture of them all, Michaelangelo’s David. It was massive, and was made to represent the people of Florence as they came up against the might of Rome (Goliath) in the 16th Century.
We took a break and prayed in San Lorenzo, before visiting Palazzo Medici, where the Medicis lived 500 years ago. The Medicis were successful businessmen who ran Florence, when it the centre of the world, and they funded all the famous artists during the Renaissance. Finally, we visited Santa Maria Novella, one of the older churches in Florence (built in the 13th Century) with beautiful frescoes of the life of John the Baptist.
We had dinner in a beautiful Italian restaurant, the went back to the Ponte Veccho for the best Gelati in town, before crashing back in our hotel room after 9pm.
Our ship was meant to arrive at 4am in Venice this morning, but due to fog, it did not dock until 9am. This meant everybody was delayed disembarking. Fortunately, we had not yet booked our train to Florence, so we were in no hurry. We took our time, having our last breakfast aboard, and finally left the ship at 10:30. We took the monorail to piazza roma, then walked over the bridge again to the train station.
There was no problem buying train tickets to Florence. The train left at 12:30, and took 2 hours. It was a Eurostar, much nicer and faster than the regional train we used to get to Venice two weeks ago. Once in Florence, we had to walk to our hotel. It was not to far from the train station, but took some finding. It was just two huge doors, with a small sign out the front on Via Nazionale. Our room is magnificent… top floor, 15 foot ceilings, with views of Il Duomo.
We dropped our luggage and went exploring. We found Il Duomo, Ufizzi, Ponte Vecchio Bridge, and much more. Florence is amazing, every corner that you go around, there is another church or monument, etc. I don’t know how we are going to see it all in only 2.5 days. We had pizza, pasta and gelati for dinner. The gelati was the best ice-cream that I have had in my entire life!
Friday, October 28 Florence
It was MacDonalds for breakfast this morning, because this hotel does not provide breakfast. We walked to the Ufizzi, but discovered that there was a strike today, so many museums were not opened. Instead, we went to Il Duomo. We bought a ticket that would allow us to climb the dome, the bell tower, the crypt, the baptistery and the museum.
We climbed to the top of the famous dome built in the 15th Century. It was 463 steps, but the view of Florence was worth it. Once up there, we noticed that Florence is surrounded by hills. We took lots of photos, then went down to the baptistery, which was built in the 13th Century. The Mosaics on the ceiling were stunning, and the bronze work on the doors was breath-taking, especially the “Gates of Paradise” as Michaelangelo called them.
We skipped the line and went into the church. It was huge, bigger than any other church we have visited so far. We visited the crypt, below the church, but there was not much down there. The museum behind the church was full of sculptures and paintings that had been removed from the church 300 years ago, because they were thought to be a distraction for the congregation.
We walked the Galileo Science Museum, where they had many of Galileo’s artefacts and other Scientific artefacts that the Medici’s had collected during the Renaissance period. The history was fantastic. To see 400 year old globes, where Australia did not exist, and 600 year old maps where Italy was the centre of the world, and Russia was down the bottom.
We walked to Santa Croce, the church where Galileo and Michaelangelo were buried, bu they were closing, so we headed back to Ufizzi, and had dinner outside the palace of the Medici’s. We were exhausted by 8pm, so we all called it an early night.
Saturday, October 29 Florence
There is so much to see in Florence, and we tried to do it all in one day. We were up early and Zeke and I were waiting in the line for the Ufizzi while Gwen and Jamaica were buying us breakfast. We spent two hours looking at the artwork, including The Birth of Venus and other famous paintings by all four turtles, Donatello, Raphael, Leonardo and Michaelangelo and many others.
We went to Santa Croce and paid our respects at the tombs of Galileo and Michaelangelo, before heading to Museo Bargello, which contained Donatello’s David which sparked the Renaissance. That was all before lunch… after lunch, we walked through the academia, which houses the most famous sculpture of them all, Michaelangelo’s David. It was massive, and was made to represent the people of Florence as they came up against the might of Rome (Goliath) in the 16th Century.
We took a break and prayed in San Lorenzo, before visiting Palazzo Medici, where the Medicis lived 500 years ago. The Medicis were successful businessmen who ran Florence, when it the centre of the world, and they funded all the famous artists during the Renaissance. Finally, we visited Santa Maria Novella, one of the older churches in Florence (built in the 13th Century) with beautiful frescoes of the life of John the Baptist.
We had dinner in a beautiful Italian restaurant, the went back to the Ponte Veccho for the best Gelati in town, before crashing back in our hotel room after 9pm.