Florence is fabulous!

New experiences seem to be the order of the day for us. We love new experiences, so when we moved from Venice we caught the fast train (the new experience of driving was well and truly "old" - not going there again for a long time!) The fast train got us to Florence in no time at all...well, actually 1 and a half hours...quite comfortably really. We enjoyed the ride, much less stress when someone else does the driving.

Our new hotel in Florence...booked on the internet the day before...was supposedly very close to the train station. Directions to the hotel were sketchy, but we had the general direction. I asked the local postie where the street was, and she pointed down the street and to the right. It was literally one block from the station...lovely!

Our new hotel was quite quaint, and decorated in the "shabby chic" style. Our room was huge with a sitting area and very large bathroom. We were in "two star" heaven. Once settled, we still had time to wander around the streets of Florence. Map in hand, off we went to discover the wonders of this city which was talked about in almost "hallowed" terms.

I must tell you, that we never have a plan when we arrive in a new place...that is, we turn up and wander around. It usually becomes obvious the things that we "have" to investigate. So it was for Florence. We wandered down a street and ran bang smack into the cathedral...a big cathedral, with a Baptistery and a tower...so, while it was too late to investigate right then, we knew what we were going to be doing the next day. So we wandered some more, looked in all the shops...leather goods and shoes were the shops of choice. We stayed in Florence for four nights, and we noticed the change in the shops from just "ordinary" shops to Christmas shops in the space of four days...and the Christmas tree appeared in the square. This was quite strange, as Christmas seemed so far away.

The next day, back to the Cathedral, Santa Maria del Fiore, better known as the Duomo. It was an  impressive building...with a very large dome built in the middle of the 1400s, which needed to be climbed of course. I am, as I have expressed before quite naive in the ways of the world...so why didn't I equate 463 steps to the top of the dome, with "this is a very high dome"?

See that little pimple on the top of the dome
that's where we were!

Frescos on the dome...see how close we were?????



 Off we go, happily. 1, 2, 3, 4, are we there yet? 50, 51, 52, must be getting close, 149, 150, 151...flip, we must be getting close...hang on, what do you mean that you have to walk out on an overhanging ledge inside the dome and you can see straight down to the ants (people) below??????????? You can't be serious! (I was having an Eiffel Tower flashback!) They were serious of course, and putting one foot in front of the other, sliding along the wall (so if the ledge decided to fall after 500 years I would somehow be able to hold onto the wall and save myself...nuh ain't gonna happen!!!) We were inside the dome, right where the frescos of Vasari and Zuccari of the last judgment were, we could touch them (not meant to of course!) but somehow this did not comfort me, having the "devil eyeballing me from the other side of the dome"! Slide, foot slide!

The devil eyeballing me from across the dome!

The ledge didn't fall down and we moved onto the next flights of steps, which took us up and over the dome itself to the top. The steps from 152 to 463 were very steep  and very narrow, although you were able to stop here and there to catch....your....breathhhhhhhhh. "Whose stupid idea was this to climb this extremely high dome", I muttered under my (remaining) breath...David very rudely suggested that it was my idea! Well when I have another stupid idea, please remind me of this! As we neared the top, my legs turned to jelly, and each flight of stairs became more narrow and more ladder like...it was excruciating as I knew I couldn't turn back as it was only one way traffic.

Finally, step/ladder 463...and out onto the three metre wide ledge that was (outside) on the top of the dome...what an amazing view over the city of Florence. It was magnificent of course and we wandered around up there for ages. Mind you, it took quite a while before we actually work our way to the edge of the edge and looked down. It was wonderful and yes, very worthwhile and yes, it was a very good idea. (Although it struck me as I was going down that I would have to walk on the inside ledge of the dome again...aghhhhhhhhh!! Once down, on terra firma, you can marvel at the engineering and architectural feat of these magnificent buildings.

That was enough for one day...so again we wandered around the streets and lanes and markets before we got back to our hotel.

View over the edge of the dome to the streets below!

Next was the Galleria dell'Accademia, because I had a date with David! Well, we both had a date with David...big David. We were both very excited about our meeting...we had heard so much about him, we had seen lots of pictures of him, but we had never seen him in the flesh. We walked silently through the corridors, then turned the corner and there suddenly... he was there in all his glory. I was overwhelmed, the other David was speechless. We took our time, we didn't hurry our meeting, we wanted to get to know him...intimately! He is stunningly beautiful! We sat at his feet and took in every detail of his body...his feet, his well-defined legs, his buttocks, his hands (beautifully veined), his magnificent torso, his face (so young, yet his brow is slightly creased in contemplation of his future as king), his hair curling at the nape of his strong neck...it was love at first sight. As I sat there looking, the light from the dome above him threw light and shadow across his chest, I couldn't have sworn that he was breathing. It was a 1 hour love fest for me and the other David was equally enthralled.

Mother and dead son...full of emotion!

The following day off to the Museum dell'Opera, across the way from the Cathedral. This museum houses one of Michelangelo's sculptures of the Pieta (he did two). The one in this museum has four characters (we were yet to see the other one in St Peter's Rome) Nicodemus, Mary Magdelene, Mary mother of Jesus and of course, the dead body of Jesus. I was immediately struck by the face of Mary (mother) even in its unfinished state had such a look of love for her son, that I was moved to tears. I was swept up into the movement of the sculpture, and felt the great emotion...the love of a mother for a child. What a genius Michelango is! We stood and gazed at the statue for a long time, noting how Nicodemus was supporting the body of Christ and at the same time having a protective arm around Mary. Michelanglo did not finish this sculpture, and in a fit of "rage" he took a hammer to the sculpture and damaged it very badly by breaking off the left leg of Christ which was never replaced...but it's funny you don't even know it's missing until it is pointed out to you.

Michangelo's Pieta. Beautiful!

And then there was the Uffizzi Museum (which was done in an hour and a half - our usual stays in any museum is at least 3 - 4 hours). I'll explain another day why we only had such a short time. Then there was the Ponte del Vecchio...then there was Palazzo del Vecchio...then....sooooooo much to see and so little time. We had to leave some things to see next time we come the Florence. Did I say I loved Florence? I love Florence and our little two-star hotel.





Our special find in Florence...Dante's Restorante!