We left Rome when it was raining heavily, with expectations being that Firenze also would be raining, as it is only a couple of hours north of Rome by train. Surprisingly, whilst it rained most of the way to Firenze, we were greeted by leaden skies but no rain. We made our way to our hotel room and then trundled into the city to have a wander around.
As is our way, we had researched the town reasonably well and we knew there were a couple of art galleries that we wanted to see (Academia and Uffizi), a wonderful bridge featuring shops atop the bridge (Ponte Vechio), a mandatory river, the Duomo (Church dome), plus a walk across the river to the top of a hill that would feature stunning views of the town.
The first day of arrival in a town we normally walk around, simply getting acquainted with the new town and we did this. On our travels we walked past the Academia Art Gallery. We had heard the lines for entry were always large and on this occasion, the lines were not so bad it seemed. So we stood in line, and headed on in after about 30 minutes wait….not bad considering some people wait for two hours!
The Academia Art Gallery doesn’t have much to be honest (perhaps we are philisteins) but we had seen a lot of religious art in Rome and quite frankly, there’s only so much religious art and propaganda that you can take. However, there is the incredibly brilliant sculpture by Michelangelo, David.
David (to be expected with a name like mine) was awesome. In fact, we were very surprised at the detail and more particularly the actual height and size of the sculpture.
The only problem was that the people who ran the museum, in what can only be described as crass commercialism, don’t allow photographs. In fact, they employ several people to stop people from taking photos (in vain). The thing is, the wages they spend on stopping photos being taken couldn’t possibly be matched by people buying postcards at 50 euro cents!
People would still buy the postcards anyway!
Anyways, part of the fun of the place was watching people surreptitiously taking photos of the statue. Normally, we respect what they say about photos as it can destroy art works but sculptures can’t be damaged by a non flash camera, and it was capitalism gone wrong, so we also took a quick snap of the statue. Was funny, but I guess you needed to be there to appreciate the moment.
There are also several other Michelangelo (unfinished) statues that are great too....in fact, it appears that people are trying to escape from the marble.
After the Academia Art Gallery, we headed out and walked around the town, enjoying the town. It’s really a brilliant town and a pleasure to walk the old, cobbled streets.
During our time in Firenze, we saw the Duomo, the Uffizi Gallery with a brilliant display of the genius Leonardo Da Vinci (Don’t forget the beautiful Birth of Venus by Botticelli…Samantha). and the Ponte Vechio (a bridge with shops used by the Medici family as a private walkway to the Uffizi Palace, when they ruled Florence) as mentioned, plus we walked the hill to gain the stunning views, but best of all, we ate fantastic and tasty Italian food at some local (out of the way) Trattorias and we even got chatting to some very friendly people from Australia and Miami.
It was very good to visit Firenze and we had a wonderful time….Will definitely be a place we revisit at some stage.
Dave in Firenze with the Duomo in the background.
