So after moving to a hotel closer to the Paris Orly Airport, we slept for a couple of hours in a huge room with a nonfunctioning air conditioning unit....at least we got Hilton points I guess. At 4am we were hitting the shuttle (while others were checking in for the night), and making our way to check into our Easy Jet flight to Pisa, Italy. For those that haven't traveled to Europe beware of their super stingy luggage restrictions, we planned ahead and had gotten smaller carry-ons (which you are only allowed ONE ITEM) and paid for one checked bag. After boarding and taking off it was a quick flight to our destination, we passed through customs quickly, swapped out our SIM card on the pay as you go phone we bought in London and flagged down a cabbie to take us on a quick tour.
For thirty quick minutes we had the taxi driver take us to the touristy part of town, he zipped around pointing and talking in broken English...mostly Italian...at buildings and other points of interest in Pisa.
From everything I had heard from Pisa, it was a quick half day type of a town. So we had only budgeted a minimal amount of time touring before jumping on a train and head on to Florence.
Maybe there are some hidden gems, we just didn't find it necessary to stay any longer on this particular trip. The square was pretty busy with other tourists, so we didn't even look into climbing the stairs to the top of the tower.
Proof that we were actually there and not just photo robbing someone else's trip to Pisa. A quick circle back to the train station and we had enough time to purchase our tickets to Florence and time to sit and eat a couple bites at a corner café.
So after a interesting train ride that may have included a ranting local about the USA, Al Qaeda, NSA and Obama. We reached our beautiful destination of Florence, Italy. The Florence train station wasn't too far from our hotel, so we decided to walk to our hotel (once again picked from the Rick Steves' Italy book). Along the way we were able to stop into the Tourism Office and our pick up a Florence (or Firenze) Museum and City Pass. The Pass allowed us free access to certain attractions and also put us in shorter lines at other attractions. I may have failed to mention in other posts that at every big destination there seems to be a City/Museum Pass that allows you reduced/free entrances or allows you to go through a different door then the general population.
It just so happened that the day we arrived it was also the day that the vendors set up shop in the streets, so it was a little tight in places getting through. I could have spent all day looking through all the different tents, but we were on a mission to get to our hotel before they shut down for their midday break. We stayed at the Residenza Dei Pucci, it was a very nice small hotel in the just a short walk from most of the attractions. Each room is uniquely decorated, and if he head over to the main link our room is the first in their slide show with the white/blue stripped curtains and the white wash looking four poster bed.
Our window overlooked a busy sidewalk, but caused no noise problem...thankfully once again we were staying in an air conditioned hotel.
With our Firenze Pass in hand we headed out to the attractions. We went straight to the Galleria dell'Accademia to see Michelangelo's David and his other famous sculptures he created while living in Florence and rubbing elbows with the elite Medici family. We enjoyed the preserved and restored architecture of all the buildings along the way.
Even with the Firenze pass there is a line to enter, they keep crowds low inside so you can get up close and personal with the sculptures, paintings, and rare/antique musical instruments housed here, no pictures are allowed in this particular exhibit. However, it is well worth the wait, just don't get suckered into buying the "paintings" from the street vendors while you wait and you can buy post cards and Museum sponsored guidebooks if you wish.
From the David we headed to the Palazzo Medici Riccardi. The Medici family was a well off family that was involved in banking, politics and even the catholic church (there were 4 Medici Popes). The family at one time may have been the wealthiest family in Europe and had become so influential, even though not of original royal blood, daughters and cousins were married off to the other European monarchs.
We enjoyed walking around the house and especially enjoyed the internal courtyard.
Once again this family spared no expense when it came to decorating their home. They also made friends with several of the up and coming artists and fostered the up and coming Italian Renascence. Art and architecture flourished during their reign of Florence, before parting ways they also received tutoring from Galileo.
From the Palazzo Medici Riccardi, we ventured to the Medici Chapels and then to the Duomo and Baptistery. We once again used the pod cast through the Rick Steves' app for our iPhone while we toured Piazza.
Duomo is one of Italy's largest chapels, and had the largest dome ever constructed before the modern age. And took 140 years to complete, with the dome being unable to be built due to the large expanse.
The outside of the Basilica has had several face lifts over the years and the ones we see today were put in place in 1887.
Compared to some of the other cathedrals we visited, the Duomo seemed a little less lavish in its decor in the inside. The outside is so ornate that I expected the same for the inside. But the architecture is so amazing that this chapel is still breathtaking when you walk through.
A competition with prize money and fame was finally announced in 1418 that lead to the current dome being erected between 1420 and completed in 1436.
Once outside in the Piazza we took in the octagonal building next to it, Baptistry of Saint John, and the amazing (replicas) gold doors.
The Piazza is super busy and you can even get a ride to your next location in a horse drawn cart...I just couldn't help but take a picture of this one taking a lunch break.
From the Piazza Duomo we headed to Piazza della Signoria home of some very historic Italian events and what was the town center. Along the way we had fun checking out other chapels throughout the area, it is amazing to think of all the people that once filled (and still do) the pews. We also enjoyed the historic architecture that is amazingly still intact.
At the della Signoria we gazed upon giant replica statues, including one of Michelangelo's David where the original had sat in 1504. Once again we started a pod cast from Rick Steves, saving money from taking a guided tour once more. It explained the columns, statues and the trials that the people of Italy went through over science and religion. With our Frienze pass we eventually walked right into the Uffuzi Gallery to look upon more astounding art, as at most sites in Florence no pictures are to be taken in the Uffizi.
After the Uffizi we walked the narrow streets towards the Ponte Vecchio bridge, also known as the "Old Bridge". We may have picked up a gelato along the way ;) My favorite was strawberry coconut, J's was pistachio and coconut...really could go for some right about now.
It was originally the home of the butchers and other merchants of town, it said that this is were the concept of bankruptcy started. When a merchant could not pay their bills the soldiers would break their bench or bancorotto.
The bridge was the only one in Florence not destroyed in WWII on direct orders of Hitler. Now it is the home of the town jewelers.
We crossed the bridge to find a suitable late supper and found this little guy outside of his owners shop. I think he might be trained to draw in the tourists....it worked ;)
We walked the narrow streets always alert to the sound of any mopeds or motorcycles coming our way.
We ended our night with pre-drinks at an Irish pub (weird I know) and then having a nice Italian dinner starting at 8pm. Once finished with dinner we headed back to our hotel, along the way we saw some of todays true artists (not the ones selling to tourists in line and may not even be Italian) doing some chalk sketches, no pictures since it was so dark, but it was very surprising to see our friend the dirty political ranting Italian from the train. Once at the hotel, J decided to find a Laundromat and provide some fresh clothes for the two of us...and may have found a really good gelato stand that served his favorite combo ;) After a fast paced day we got some rest before heading on to Rome.
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