We took a high speed train (up to 300 km/hr!) to Florence on TrenItalia. It was really convenient because a major train station, Roma Termini, also connects you to the metro. We hopped on the metro, got off at Termini, and walked to the platform for the high speed trains. It took about one and a half hours to get to Florence.
Florence is really charming. In Rome, things look more modernized as you get farther away from Old Rome, but Florence has consistency. Small, narrow cobbled streets and old architecture all the way!
We went to the Gallerie dell'Accademia first, and naturally we got lost on the way there. Luckily we made it there on time for our ticket reservation!
Travel Tip
You can book tickets with specific time slots for the museums! We did this for the Gallerie dell'Accademia and the Galleria degli Uffizi. You can also buy tickets when you get there, but the line is so, so long. If you buy tickets in advance, you can basically skip the line. Kids under 18 are free, but make sure you have a passport or other official proof of identification!!
Accademia: http://www.accademia.org/buy-tickets/
Uffizi: http://www.uffizi.org/buy-tickets/
The reason I dragged everyone to these museums was Michelangelo's David (Accademia) and Botticelli's Birth of Venus (Uffizi). I also unexpectedly ran into Bronzino's (Renaissance) Deposition of Christ, Raphael's (Renaissance master, held up in the ranks with Michelangelo, Titian and Leonardo) Madonna and Child and Permagianino's Madonna and Child (he painted in the Mannerist style, at the end of the high Renaissance). This was really awesome because I learned about all of these works in Art History last year!!!!! I almost missed some of the works because I didn't realize that the Uffizi gallery had artwork on the first floor! But on our way to exit we had to walk through all these rooms, and voila!
So after the Accademia, whose main attraction was Michelangelo's David, we walked literally down the street and smack into Il Duomo!
So after the Accademia, whose main attraction was Michelangelo's David, we walked literally down the street and smack into Il Duomo!
The dome was designed in the early Florentine Renaissance by Filippo Brunelleschi. He had lost out on the competition to design the doors of the Florence baptistery (which is right across from the Florence Cathedral) and ended up working on the dome instead. He studied a lot of classical (Roman/Greek) architecture like the Pantheon to create the dome. It really is magnificent, and the façade of the cathedral is something to marvel at as well. I felt so small compared to everything but it made it so breathtaking.
At Il Duomo, we met my grandfather's friend for lunch. She took us to this huge indoor food market, where you can find all types of food.
Syd and I shared a Margherita pizza. The market is called Mercato Central, and it is behind the Church of San Lorenzo. Make sure you have Euros, as not all of the vendors take credit cards!
We went to the Uffizi gallery after lunch, and besides seeing the artworks I described above, the view is also amazing!
You can see Ponte Vecchio from the second story of the gallery. Ponte Vecchio is the oldest bridge in Florence, I believe, as well as the only one to survive World War II. The rest were destroyed. Also, don't shop on the bridge! Everything is really overpriced. The best thing is to get a photo of it! The Uffizi gallery is the perfect place to do that!
Florence is famous for its leather goods, so naturally, I had to go look around! I learned that leather is just anything that is an animal skin. Cow, buffalo, rabbit...I even saw a python bag. In Helen's words, it was grody. For those of you who have not had the privilege of a Helen vocabulary session, it's a cross between "gross" and "disgusting" and is my word of choice to describe python bags. No offense to python-bag lovers. We can still be friends. The shop I went to is called Sabani, the address is Piazza San Lorenzo, 13/r-50123, Firenze, Italy. It has a leather workshop in the back if the store!
I'm writing about Naples next!
Love, marissa
Florence is famous for its leather goods, so naturally, I had to go look around! I learned that leather is just anything that is an animal skin. Cow, buffalo, rabbit...I even saw a python bag. In Helen's words, it was grody. For those of you who have not had the privilege of a Helen vocabulary session, it's a cross between "gross" and "disgusting" and is my word of choice to describe python bags. No offense to python-bag lovers. We can still be friends. The shop I went to is called Sabani, the address is Piazza San Lorenzo, 13/r-50123, Firenze, Italy. It has a leather workshop in the back if the store!
I'm writing about Naples next!
Love, marissa
I love this blog!! You are awesome!!!
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