Florence

The next morning, Day 15/June 21, was the first of our days dedicated to Florence. And Florence was dedicated largely to museums.



We crossed the river over the Ponte Vecchio, which is a famous medieval bridge and was close to our hostel. It still has stores on it, as in the old days. However, back in the day the bridge was used for butcher shops. Those made way for jewelry stores once a certain ruler became fed up with all the carcasses and the stench.



First on the list was going to the Uffizi, one of the largest and oldest art museums in the world. We did a pretty good job of beating the worst of the line.

It was originally a palace built for the Medici family, which ruled Florence for most of the Renaissance. It holds numerous famous works, including Botticelli's The Birth of Venus, and many works by da Vinci, Titian, Michelangelo, Raphael, Caravaggio, and many others.



The piazza outside is adorned with statues of Florence's best and brightest. And the Ninja Turtles.



The nearby Palazzo Vecchio is the town hall but famous for its Romanesque crenelation. It sits on Piazza della Signoria, which isscattered with great statues, and is where Michelangelo's David originally stood guard.





For lunch, we got sandwiches from I Due Fratellini, a sandwich shop that's been open since 1875.



I had a wild boar and butter sandwich. It was delicious.

From there, we headed to the central square for the mammoth duomo, but were dismayed to find the line equally gargantuan in size.



And, unlike other places, there was no way to purchase tickets ahead of time. Having seen our fair share of churches already and wanting to have time to do many other things, we ended up passing on the interior.



We did climb the adjacent bell tower, which offered great views.





Afterward, we headed back over the river to the Palazzo Pitti (a family rival to the Medicis), which was just across the street from our hostel. Its large garden complex, the Giardino di Boboli, was nice to check out with our combined ticket from the Uffizi.







This an unfinished state of Michelangelo that is used to great effect in a man-made grotto, where all of the figures appear to be emerging from the walls.



This is simply one of the best statues known in the Western world.



After Pitti, we walked along the river and up the hill to the Piazza di Michelangelo, which overlooks the city.







There was one of several copies of Michelangelo's David in the square that we would find throughout Florence.



Nearby the square was a hidden gem, the Chiesa di San Miniato al Monte.



There was hardly anyone there, and the atmosphere inside was very nice and dimly lit. As we wandered, Gregorian chants filled the air from a small service taking place. Quite nice.







This church, as with much of Florentine religious architecture, certainly started to show off trans-Mediterranean influences. The alternating marble colors remind me of the Arab influences in Cordoba and Granada in Spain.



We strolled down the hill, alongside the river again, taking in the streets and architecture. We managed to find an internet cafe for a brief check-in and had a great dinner not too far away. Our tip may have been too good, because we got a free half bottle of wine out of it.

That was followed by enjoying some gelato in Piazza Pitti. The nights were really pretty.



The following morning was our time to hit the other big museum, the Galleria Academia, which is most famous for housing Michelangelo's David. And it's quite the impressive statue. I didn't appreciate beforehand the intended message of David, with his sling and his stance, being a warning to Florence's potential aggressors.

The museum had several other statues by Michelangelo, a little exhibit on musical instruments, and a bunch of other interesting stuff.

We walked through the San Lorenzo marketplace, where you can buy anything you want, and saw the Basilica di San Lorenzo (from the outside) and went into the Cappella Medici (which, I suppose, is technically part of the basilica).



It celebrates the family's power, and inside is a impressive mix of artwork and beautiful marble.





From there, we cut over to the Piazza della Santissima Annunziata, which is surrounded on all sides by old buildings and churches.





Nearby is the Mercato Centrale, an enormous indoors market with delicious looking food at every turn. We grabbed some lunch at Nerbone (since 1873), where I had really good meatballs.





We also went to the Basilica di Santa Maria Novella, which is back up near the main train station. It has a very nice facade and is filled with frescoes and statuary. It also has a pretty cloister attached.



We swung back by the Mercato Novo, near the bridge over the river, to rub the snout of Il Porcellino. We are thereby ensured a return to Florence. You can tell that his snout sees a fair amount of action.



On the south side of the river is the small church of Santa Felicita, which contains some frescoes that Amanda studied in school. It's also one of the oldest churches in Florence.



Last on our list of churches was the Basilica di Santa Croce, where many famous Italians are buried (giving its other name, the Temple of the Italian Glories).







This is another one where I'd like to know the story:







After that, it was time to buy some pistachios and peaches for a snack while people-watching on a curb. That night we had a great meal of canelloni, salami and cheese, wine, and assorted biscotti. It was hard to go wrong with food in Florence.



The following morning, it was our plan to leave Florence right away in order to get to Venice. However, there wasn't a train scheduled until noon, so we used the extra time we had to go to the Palazzo Medici Riccardi, another palace and museum that had been on our list if we had had the time. The guards there begrudgingly let us store our bags.



There was a very nice central courtyard, artwork, and some Roman excavations.







Of most note is the Cappella di Benozzo, which is a room with near 360 degree frescoes depicting the Three Magi and many other figures. Pictures weren't allowed, but there was a cool interactive room later on that traced your gestures with multiple cameras so that you could point out specific areas of the painting that you wanted to learn more about.



We had enough time to return to the Mercato Centrale to grab some ravioli, caprese, and salami for lunch on the train. With that, we hurried to the train station and hopped aboard for the next stop: Venice.