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Tuscany, Italy
September 2007
2.
Florence
Saturday
was Florence day. We purposely put this towards the
beginning of our trip so that if we decided we really had to go back we
would have the time to do so. We understood that there would
be way too much to do in one day, but we wanted a "sample."
Even starting with that assumption, we overestimated how much
we could see! Our first mistake was not leaving until 8 AM -
but we are not early morning people.
We drove to Pisa on Aurelia which was quick and easy, and
parked in the free PT lot
that is open 24 hours. Cathy gave us instructions to a lot
closer to the railway station but it closes at 8 PM. Her
other suggestion was to park at the airport and take the train from
there, but the schedules didn't work well for that. It was
straightforward to just leave from Pisa but it did cost us walking
time. The shuttle to the Field of Miracles wasn't running that early so we just walked. It took us about 40 minutes to go all the way to the train station because we couldn't resist stopping to take pictures (only one teaser shown here). We decided we had enough Italian to buy tickets from a person, but not necessarily enough to cope with any problems with the machine. Since there was no queue, that was easy. I suspect the ticket agent knew more English than I did Italian, but he understood me and we got 4 round trip tickets for Firenze - 10.40 € each. The signage in the station was easy to understand so we validated our tickets (with round trip ones, you validate one end going and then the other end on the return) and found the correct track. [There were no restrooms in the Pisa station due to construction. At the SMN station in Florence they cost 70 cents but were worth it!]  On
the train we met an Australian family of 4 who were doing a 6 week
European trip. They came for a relative's wedding and since
it is such a huge ordeal to travel so far, they decided to make it a
long holiday. It was fun hearing about their experiences so
far. On the train was also where we first encountered beggars
on this trip. That surprised me! A woman with a
little child walked through all the compartments with her hand out.
We couldn't understand the Italian but it was fairly clear
she was asking for money for her child. Since nobody actually
checks tickets most of the time, she might just get on and figure that
the worst that will happen is that she gets thrown off. The trip takes about an hour so we arrived in Florence at 10:30. Our first stop was at the nearby Information center to get some good city maps. And then we headed for the Duomo, passing through the arches at the Piazza della Republica (left) and scratching our heads over its "art" (below right). 
I cannot imagine
what this city must be like in the summer because it was so very
crowded even in September. The density put me off and I think
I enjoyed the experience much less than I could have, simply because of
the huge
crowds. You can see what I mean in the pictures wherever we
went.We continued to the Duomo area. In September the baptistry was only open Monday and Thursday afternoons but we could take pictures outside and see Ghiberti's famous baptistry doors (below right) - well, the copies. The originals are now housed in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo.   Here are pictures of the Duomo facade, closer one of the door and then the tower. You begin to understand about the crowds!     There
was a
fairly long
line to get into the Duomo but it moved quickly.
Inside no flash photography was allowed so I didn't
get very good pictures. I may add some of Katie's later (she
has
a much better camera). Personally, I was more impressed with
the
exterior than the inside anyway. We
passed on climbing the
dome due to
time constraints - we had 2:30 PM tickets for the Uffizi.Next on our list was lunch. We wanted good but also quick... sometimes incompatible, but we lucked out this time. We ate at Bar La Sosta De' Galosi which is between the Duomo and the Uffizi just off of Via Dei Calzaiuoli on Via Orsanmichele (next to the Orsanmichele church). We had panini, ravioli, pizza and foccacia (among the 4 of us) plus drinks and dessert for about 12 € each and were only there half an hour. Nice people, good food.  Passing through the Piazza Della Signoria, we saw (the copy of) Michaelangelo's David in its original location, Ammannati's Neptune Fountain and Cellini's Perseus (having beheaded Medusa), among others [photos below]. One of the things I had trouble wrapping my brain around is that the buildings in the area - the Palazzo Vecchio and Uffizi, e.g. - are even older than the art work! On the recommendation of my sister in law (thanks, Maggie), I read The Passion of Artemisia by Susan Vreeland before our trip. This fictionalized biography of Artemisia Gentileschi, a 16th century Italian painter helped to give me a feel for Florence at that time period and perhaps to better appreciate what I was seeing today.     At
this point Katie and I wanted to go see the the church of Santa Croce
(right) and John and Dave seemed taken by the street vendors and
performers (knife jugglers in particular) so we split up and they knew
where and when to meet us at the Uffizi. Somewhere I
read
that Santa Croce was the Italian version of Westminster Abbey.
For 5€ it was definitely a bargain and far less
crowded than
many of the other sites. In my opinion, it's a "must see."
The tombs are works of art themselves; the ancient frescoes have been beautifully restored; each chapel has its own personality from the very ornate to the very simple. We spent about an hour there and could have easily used another half hour at least but we had to leave in time to pick up our Uffizi tickets. Once again, inside the building flash photography was not permitted (and really would not have worked very well anyway) so, not having a tripod, my pictures are not sharp but you can get a feel for what is here. You can see more at the official web site. Though I couldn't find an English version, you don't need to speak the language to appreciate the art! Starting with a portion of the ceiling in one chapel and some of the restored fresco paintings:   Tombs of Machiavelli, Michaelangelo and Galileo: 
 When we passed
the Uffizi ticket
pickup area at 12:30 there was a long line so we allowed extra time for
it. But when we got there at 2:15 there was no line at all
and it
was just a matter of seconds to exchange the Weekend a Firenze
voucher for the tickets. Another woman was there at a
different
window with only the emailed instructions but no voucher. She
was
still pleading when we went across the street to get in the admission
line, so if you do reserve tickets this way be sure to follow the
instructions and download the actual voucher!
When we got in line at 2:25 for our 2:30 entry time, there were still people in line from the 2:00 and 2:15 times. I'm not sure whether they were just late arriving or if things were very slow for a while. When a large group arrives, that can delay everybody else. All of those with earlier times were admitted first but we still got in about 2:35 which wasn't bad at all. I wouldn't even think about trying to do it without advance reservations. The main bottleneck here is security - everyone has to go through airport-like security including x-ray and metal detector. I don't blame them, but it does slow things down a lot. While waiting, we did have the entertainment of the street vendors and performers. Some of the performances were quite good - musicians, mimes, jugglers. The vendors spread out their wares - everything from purses to artwork to jewelry - on blankets. And every time the polizia would come by those blankets were whisked up in the blink of an eye! A few minutes later, the threat having passed, everyone was setting up again. It would have been more amusing if they hadn't contributed significantly to the congestion by using up so much street space. While the Uffizi was awesome, it was also uncomfortable. It was crowded and hot. Many rooms aren't numbered, some pieces have been moved and some rooms are closed at any given time, so that even people who had purchased the audio guides were getting confused and not able to find what they were supposed to be seeing. Early on, I figured this out so I put away the guide book and just looked at what was there and read the blurbs (most are in both Italian and English) without fretting about what was supposed to be there! Much of it, of course, needs no words - just stare and absorb.  I
was struck by the progression of colors as well as subject matter at
the different time periods. Once again I was bowled over
realizing just how old the building itself was. And I also
hadn't
understood before that many of the frames are also the originals,
selected by the artists, and actually contribute a great deal to the
works themselves. I was particularly interested in the two of
Artemesia Gentileschi's works that are housed
here, after having read Vreeland's interpretation of them. No photography was allowed so this part isn't illustrated! We spent about an hour and a half there, which was enough. It isn't a very large gallery. We spent a little time in the gift shops and I brought home a miniature of "Birth of Venus." We passed the 300 year old olive tree (left) that commemorates the 1993 car bombing that destroyed part of the gallery and some of the frescoes. Honestly, in my own opinion, if I were planning it again, I would skip the Uffizi and spend more time in Santa Croce and make time to visit the Giardino di Boboli and Palazzo Pitti that probably contains nearly as much art work as the Uffizi does. Those are two of the things on the list for our next visit! The Uffizi was awe inspiring, no doubt about that. But it was very crowded, too hot, relatively expensive and took up an inordinate amount of time because of the long lines, even if you have pre-reserved tickets.  We
weren't finished with Florence, just the inside stuff. Next
we
headed to Ponte Vecchio that dates to 1345 and is the only bridge not
destroyed during World War II. The picture at left was taken
from
the next bridge west, Ponte San Trinita. While we were
walking
over Ponte Vecchio, however, a parade came by! There were
several
of these processions while we were in Florence - they would appear to
be entirely impromptu except that they were escorted by police so it
would seem there was some planning. They had a banner that I
*think* said Society of San Michele, but I am not positive of that.
Anyway, here are some excerpts from that:    We
walked down to Ponte Trinita to get some better pictures and so we had
to take turns posing with Ponte Vecchio.
   Katie
and
John walked down one more to Ponte Alla Carraia but I was conserving
energy for the next climb. Our final destination in Florence
was
Piazzale Michelangelo. Since we hadn't climbed any domes or
towers and didn't go to Forti de Belvedere, I was determined to get a
"view." This is the one time our GPS let us down!
It gave
us correct instructions to get there, but we ended up having to climb
two steep hills instead of one, not taking our legs into consideration.
The right
way
to do it on foot (from Ponte Vecchio which is approximately where we
were) is to use Via De Bardi from the Lungarno, curve right onto Via
del Monte Alle Croci up the hill and then take the stairs off to the
left up to the Piazzale.The first thing I did at the top was to buy a big 1.5 liter bottle of cold water! Then I gawked and took pictures. It was definitely worth the hike!      And
here is one that Katie took of Barb and John blocking the view!
If
we had time, it would have been wonderful to just sit there and watch
the sunset. But we had a train to catch and a long, long
walk.
If we were wiser we might have figured out the bus system and
taken a bus - or even a cab - back to the station! But I was
told
that would be "wimping out" so we took about an hour walking through
Florence back across the Arno, stopping for a few more pictures.There was a band playing at Piazza Della Signoria and all sorts of activity in the Piazza della Republica, including Hare Krishna dancers.  We
also made a stop at one of the snack places near the
stazione
and got some panini and foccacia to eat on the train. We got
there at about 8 PM for the 8:27 train so had time to sit and breathe
for a bit. They did change the track for our train so I'm
glad we
were watching the board. They make announcements in English
as
well as Italian, but it is still hard to understand due to poor
acoustics and lots of noise. A clue is if everyone near you
starts running to a different location!The last 1.25 mile walk from the Pisa station back to the car was the longest of the day. We were all tired by then and, once again, probably should have just taken a cab. But there was some sort of principle involved here - to be able to say we walked it all? We figure we walked around 10 miles today and tomorrow is destined to be an r & r day! |