We caught a mid-day train from Naples to Florence via Rome. Hotel Milu (Hotel Milu) was a 10 minute walk from the train station but I was feeling lazy and took a cab. The hotel has only been open for a year and it is quite nice and close to everything.
We had tickets for the Accademia (Accademia)for late afternoon entrance. If you plan on visiting the museum I highly recommend you buy them online before leaving home since the line is quite long if you don't. Also, before getting in line, go to #51 up the street to exchange your confirmation for actual tickets. It will not take you more than 45 minutes to see all you want to see since The David is the main attraction.
We crossed the Arno River to reach our dinner destination. On the way we ran across a photo shoot on the bridge the Ponte Vecchio in the background with three models. It attracted a bit of a crowd. This same bridge was also a gathering spot for watching the sunset on our way home.
The next morning we had arranged for a tour guide, Maria Angela Solda (www.belaflorence.com) to take us on a tour of the city. This isn't exactly correct. I had arranged for a guide through toursbylocals.com, but our original guide was in an accident this morning and called her friend from the ambulance to meet us in her place. I would highly recommend Angela to anyone visiting Florence.
To get our bearings, our first stop was in the Plaza della Repubblica to look at a relief map of the city. As with most cities of this age, there is a main street that runs north south and another that runs east west. This square marks the center of the city and also the center of the government. If you're in the mood to feel like a child, a carousel is also in this square if you want to go for a ride.
Next we walked to short distance to the baptistery and the Duomo (Florence Cathedral), probably the two most famous structures in Florence. Covered in white and green marble they really are breathtaking. We first stopped to look at the bronze doors of the baptistery by San Giovanni which were created to give the feeling of depth. Each panel depicts a scene from the bible.
The cathedral is right across from the baptistery (the walkway is called paradise) and is quite large. Towards the back of the church is the duomo, or the dome, that can be seen from miles around. It was quite an engineering feat at the time of its construction because of both its size and the method used in building it. Up until this point, domes were built using a frame supporting it during construction which was removed once it was completed. This one, designed by the famous architect Filoppo Brunelleschi, was built free standing using a series of rings hidden between the outer dome and the inner one. Because of the line to enter the church, we opted to continue on our walking tour.
Florence is a very old city and the buildings can be divided into medieval (1000-1399) and renaissance (1400-). There are many little squares in the city with buildings surrounding them. There are also many churches and museums (and museums that used to be churches). After looking at several examples, we made our way to the Uffizi Gallery for the final part of our tour.
Uffizi means office building, which is what this was before being turned into a museum. It now houses some of the finest examples of art from Florence. Angela showed us pieces that related to the times they were painted and also showed the progression of the artwork from very flat to very dynamic. It makes a big difference having someone explain what you're looking at, especially for a non-artistic accountant like me!
We concluded our tour in a square not far from the Uffizi that contains a copy of the David (the original one was displayed here until it was decided that it needed to be protected). All the sculptures in the square are originals except the David. She dropped us at La Grotta Guelfa (Facebook Page) for lunch. This was the best meal we have had in Florence.
We returned to the hotel to rest before meeting our photography group. We knew about half of the group from previous trips. The rest of the people seemed to have taken workshops from Joe before. It's always fun catching up with people and meeting knew ones. We walked to our group dinner before returning to our hotel for bed.
Tomorrow: First full day of class
We had tickets for the Accademia (Accademia)for late afternoon entrance. If you plan on visiting the museum I highly recommend you buy them online before leaving home since the line is quite long if you don't. Also, before getting in line, go to #51 up the street to exchange your confirmation for actual tickets. It will not take you more than 45 minutes to see all you want to see since The David is the main attraction.
We crossed the Arno River to reach our dinner destination. On the way we ran across a photo shoot on the bridge the Ponte Vecchio in the background with three models. It attracted a bit of a crowd. This same bridge was also a gathering spot for watching the sunset on our way home.
The next morning we had arranged for a tour guide, Maria Angela Solda (www.belaflorence.com) to take us on a tour of the city. This isn't exactly correct. I had arranged for a guide through toursbylocals.com, but our original guide was in an accident this morning and called her friend from the ambulance to meet us in her place. I would highly recommend Angela to anyone visiting Florence.
To get our bearings, our first stop was in the Plaza della Repubblica to look at a relief map of the city. As with most cities of this age, there is a main street that runs north south and another that runs east west. This square marks the center of the city and also the center of the government. If you're in the mood to feel like a child, a carousel is also in this square if you want to go for a ride.
Next we walked to short distance to the baptistery and the Duomo (Florence Cathedral), probably the two most famous structures in Florence. Covered in white and green marble they really are breathtaking. We first stopped to look at the bronze doors of the baptistery by San Giovanni which were created to give the feeling of depth. Each panel depicts a scene from the bible.
The cathedral is right across from the baptistery (the walkway is called paradise) and is quite large. Towards the back of the church is the duomo, or the dome, that can be seen from miles around. It was quite an engineering feat at the time of its construction because of both its size and the method used in building it. Up until this point, domes were built using a frame supporting it during construction which was removed once it was completed. This one, designed by the famous architect Filoppo Brunelleschi, was built free standing using a series of rings hidden between the outer dome and the inner one. Because of the line to enter the church, we opted to continue on our walking tour.
Florence is a very old city and the buildings can be divided into medieval (1000-1399) and renaissance (1400-). There are many little squares in the city with buildings surrounding them. There are also many churches and museums (and museums that used to be churches). After looking at several examples, we made our way to the Uffizi Gallery for the final part of our tour.
Uffizi means office building, which is what this was before being turned into a museum. It now houses some of the finest examples of art from Florence. Angela showed us pieces that related to the times they were painted and also showed the progression of the artwork from very flat to very dynamic. It makes a big difference having someone explain what you're looking at, especially for a non-artistic accountant like me!
We concluded our tour in a square not far from the Uffizi that contains a copy of the David (the original one was displayed here until it was decided that it needed to be protected). All the sculptures in the square are originals except the David. She dropped us at La Grotta Guelfa (Facebook Page) for lunch. This was the best meal we have had in Florence.
We returned to the hotel to rest before meeting our photography group. We knew about half of the group from previous trips. The rest of the people seemed to have taken workshops from Joe before. It's always fun catching up with people and meeting knew ones. We walked to our group dinner before returning to our hotel for bed.
Tomorrow: First full day of class
No comments:
Post a Comment