Florence is a charming city. It's rather large, but for some reason it feels relatively small and intimate. It is very beautiful, but in a somehow understated way. And besides the bad smells, large tour groups and endless "crap" stores, its streets are lovely to wander.
 |
| The Duomo, Campanile and Baptistry |
 |
| Intricate bronze doors of the Baptistry |
 |
| The entire exterior of all three buildings is intricately designed with three shades of marble |
 |
| There are endless leather shops, and large markets of fine leather goods |
 |
| Street artists using pastels to replicate a beautiful religious painting |
Apparently tourist season starts a little earlier in Florence, because the city was packed with tour groups, and the endless lines at some attractions kept us from seeing a few of the interiors we would have liked to.
We only budgeted a small amount of time for Florence, but it seems that the shortened stay made the trip even nicer, as if it were an adventurous weekend getaway, rather than a week-long tour of the city. We fit a lot in and though we had to pick and choose between some things, we felt satisfied with our time there.
One thing that made it so fun, and contributed to the feeling of intimacy, was the hotel we stayed at. Though it was nothing special in and of itself, the owners were wonderful, and ended up adding greatly to our enjoyment. It was a father and son who ran the place. The son spoke a little English and the father none, but we ended up having several conversations with both and becoming quite friendly with them by the end of the stay. They were just so nice, and despite the language barrier, they were genuinely interested in us and interested in making sure that we had a nice stay.
One afternoon when we came in from wandering, there was an American couple checking in who were celebrating their honeymoon. Upon hearing this news, the father had broken out a bottle of Prosecco for them, and everyone was enjoying a glass. As soon as we came in, they offered some to us, and we all had fun congratulating one another as we shared the news that we, too, were celebrating an "extended honeymoon." The amazing thing to us was that the bottle of Prosecco that they had all been drinking was already finished, so the father opened an entirely new one just for us, and in the course of drinking two glasses each (he insisted that we stay and have another), we had a lovely conversation with him and his son. This is just one example of the sort of hospitality they had--as if we were guests at their home, rather than at a hotel (though it was actually their home)--and we felt true enjoyment in their presence. After an entire month of traveling, in sometimes uncomfortable and unwelcoming situations, it felt so comforting and wonderful to feel so welcome and liked.
 |
| The view from the balcony of our hotel, which was called Hotel Balcony |
 |
| We spent every evening out there with a bottle of wine |
We spent some of our time "seeing the sights," but with the throngs of tour groups filling the squares and creating long, long lines at the museums, it was more appealing to find other ways to enjoy the city.
 |
| Dante |
 |
| The Uffizi Gallery |
 |
| Amerigo Vespucci, from Florence it turns out |
 |
| Ponte Vecchio |
 |
| Santa Croce, which houses the tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli and Dante (though he is not actually buried there) |
 |
| Open-air sculpture court in the main square |
Two of our favorite highlights of the trip were waking up early to be some of the first people up the Campanile in the morning, and spending an entire afternoon in the Boboli Gardens, reading The Lord of the Rings.
The Campanile is the bell tower for the Duomo, and to reach the top of it, you must climb 414 steps. But the views are more than worth it, and when you are literally the only people climbing up and down, and when you are able to see the city in a fresh morning light, it's even better.
From halfway up...
From all the way up...
The Boboli Gardens are a portion of what was once the Medici Palace on the south side of the Arno River. They are massive and beautiful, and though you have to pay to get into them, they are the perfect place to spend an afternoon with a picnic lunch and a book.
This is the view of Florence that you get when you enter them... Not too shabby.
 |
| The palace |
 |
| There were all kinds of hidden little paths throughout |
 |
| It must be very beautiful once all of the fountains are turned on |
 |
| Springtime! |
We spent many hours just reading and enjoying the quiet and beauty of the place. It is always fun to find such a respite in the middle of a big city.
Another interesting occurrence that made our trip memorable was dinner our last night. In Italy (and Europe in general, actually) everyone eats late. Very late. Italians don't start going out to dinner until around 8:30. This was a bit of a shock to us at first, as we wandered around Lourdes, astounded at the fact that we couldn't find a single place to eat dinner at 6:00! Nothing was open! But since then, we have grown at least accustomed to the fact that this is true, even if our appetites have not adjusted to having to wait so long. Most restaurants do not even open until 7:00, so we sometimes walk around and look at menus and then find a place to return to once it has opened. We did this in Florence and found a very cute local place that was pretty small. When we returned at 7:00, there was a line to get in and the tables filled up so quickly and easily that it looked as though the same people simply showed up for dinner there every night.
We were seated across from each other at a tiny little table, and a woman who was eating alone was seated at a tiny little table approximately six inches from ours. In America, this would be uncomfortable, and our first idea that the woman might be American herself was that she seemed equally as apprehensive to be seated so very close to us as we were to be seated so very close to her. At first, we just proceeded as if she couldn't hear every little word we were saying (not like we were saying anything significant), but sooner or later, she broke the ice and started to chat with us. She was American, from New York, Irish Catholic and everything you picture when you read that description. She's in Florence because she and her husband own a house there and she is remodeling it. Currently they are in court with one of the contractors who apparently stopped working, stole money and stole three of their custom kitchen cabinets... But after a short while, we ended up having a very interesting conversation with her involving faith, politics, her childhood, naming children, Italy, the coast of Ireland and other little things. It made for a very pleasant dinner and contributed, once again, to the feeling of intimacy and friendliness that we had felt in the city. The food was delicious, the company entertaining, and a good time was had by all.
No comments:
Post a Comment