To Speeding Through Florence

Our adventure to Florence began on ItaloTreno aka the BEST Italian train company ever.  Erin recommended that we try them out because they were new, privately owned, high speed, and not any more expensive than other train tickets.  We did and they were great.  There was plenty of leg room, FREE wi-fi and outlets (I was even that girl who straightened her hair on the train since I could-- hey we woke up really early), and bathrooms in every car.  I had no idea how luxurious I would actually find the experience until Ethan and I embarked to Naples but that is another story for another day.  Anyways we had a glorious train ride to Florence and were ready to hit the ground running since we only had one day there.

After we found and checked into our hotel, we stopped for a quick snack (donuts, obvi) while we waited for Ethan to get back from his hostel.

They were crazy expensive but melt in your mouth good!

Next, we immediately headed to the Accademia because we had reserved tickets for a certain time in hopes of beating the line.  And let's be honest the only reason I added the Florence stop in there was to see David so I HAD to get there.  And the Accademia was really cool.  David was incredible.   He was easily my favorite piece of art of the trip and trust me when I say that I saw a lot of art on the trip! I was completely in awe with the detail that went into this sculpture and spent a great deal of time just staring at him... I mean he had arm veins! I even snooped on an English tour and was really impressed to learn that they built the Accademia for him, talk about being an important piece of art.  The rest of the museum was really cool but the David was definitely worth the trip! Unfortunately, pictures were not allowed in the museum (even though some obnoxious people were taking them when the guards weren't looking, I hope they were cursed...) so I don't have a picture of David or any of the other awesome things we saw there.  However, I can assure you that his image is carefully etched in my mind! :)

Next, we wandered down to the area of the Duomo.  It was stunning and huge! We were desperately hungry and made the mistake of going to a tourist trap for lunch but I do not want to re-live that experience again.  I will say that out of all the meals we ate out during the trip, only that one was awful so I don't consider it that bad in the grand scheme of things.

After lunch we toured the Duomo.  We walked around the perimeter of it and I felt like that was a tour in and of itself because it was so grand.  We did go inside and got an audio guide so we learned some interesting facts about its construction.  It was cool, but after seeing Sacre Couer, Notre Dame, La Sagrada Familia and the other incredible cathedrals/basilicas/churches on the trip, I was disappointed by how plain the inside of the Duomo was.  Now let me clarify by saying that by American standards it was hardly plain, but most of its intricate details seemed to be featured on the outside whereas many of the other structures had intricate stained glass works and chambers.

This picture does not give the Duomo's beauty justice

So many details...

A statue on the facade of the Duomo

Next, we wondered through Florence towards the Uffizi where we also had tickets to get in.  This museum was a lot bigger than the Accademia but we made sure that we saw Botticelli's Birth of Venus.  It was incredible and definitely lived up to expectations.  I also thought it was really great that the museum offered a braille translation of the painting so even visually challenged people could still get a taste of its beauty.  I remember seeing a ton of statues in that museum and enjoying a rooftop view of Florence from its restaurant, but at this point in the trip we were all pretty tired and felt like we had seen a lot of museums so we didn't stay as long as we could have.

Nearby, we ran into this fountain where we also got to see a "fake" David statue which I naturally took pictures of.  The fountain was really neat and although the fake David was not nearly as magnificent as the real one, it was fun to see.

The fountain from one of the many angles I photographed it

Fake David

Next we wondered over to the water and to Ponte Vecchio.  This bridge also had a bunch of shops on it and provided great views of Florence from the water.

Ethan and I from Ponte Veccio

Alas, after that it was a long day so we headed back to the hotel.  Ethan and I wandered around the area close to his hostel for a little bit and grabbed a quick bite to eat but we had an early night because our train to Rome was scheduled to leave early the next morning.  Overall, I am glad that we went to Florence.  I did not love it as much as I had all of the other places we had been so far but I attribute that to how tired we were at that point in the trip and the amount of rushing we had to do just to get a few of the key sights in.  One of the cool things that we learned though was the the Fleur de lis actually originated in Florence (I had always thought it was French... silly me) and it was still the city's symbol.  However, Firenze's Fleur de lis has a flower on it and, thus, looks a little different from NOLA's.  If I had more time I would have loved to have shopped for some leather or taken a tour and learned more about the Medici family history.  Next time.

Florence's Fleur de Lis with Flowers

For now,

Lindsay