Florence, Italy 13.04

After we finished our sightseeing in Siena, we made our way to nearby Florence. We had booked a place in a hostel not too far from the city, but when we arrived we decided it would be more fun to camp. The hostel was in a huge old mansion, and locatced on a big property full of forests. We were amazed that it was so close to the city.
We set up our tent, and drove to an underground carpark in the city. The walk to from the campsite to the mainroad was along a little dirt track, and stretched for a very long way into the property. We were running short on time to see Florence, so it seemed easier to just take the car, instead of public transport. We found some parking near a huge old fort. It looked so strange standing encircled by the busy Italian traffic.
We walked through the beautiful streets of Florence, admiring the pretty buildings along the way. We stopped at a camping shop along the way and bought ourselves a mattress, as the one we had currently, had a hole in it, and we were waking up with no mattress in the morning. Unfortunately this mattress was not made very intelligently, and had a tiny hole for pumping. It took about an hour to pump it, so in the end we only used the patch kit from the new mattress to fix the old one, and dumped the old one in the boot.

Florence's Duomo

After walking further into the city, we came across another world famous Duomo. This church looked even bigger than the one in Siena, and had a very similar style of decoration on the outside. Loren wasn't as impressed with it as she was with the one from Siena, probably because she saw that one first.
Unfortunately, we arrived at 3.30pm, so the church was just closed. We were a bit disappointed, but the Cupola, or Dome, was still open for climbing. We decided to climb it and try to get a peek at the church from the top.
The climb to the top was pretty claustrophobic, as the steps were very narrow and wound around and around very steeply. The view from the was worth the climb though. You could see all over beautiful Florence, and over the hundreds of old buildings and churches. It was seriously an amazing view. On our way up to the top, we saw a small part of the stunning interior of the Duomo. It is one of the largest Cathedrals in the world. It is officially the Cattedrale di Santa Maria Del Fiore. It was started in 1294, by Sienese architects, and consecrated in 1436.
We missed out on seeing the stained glass windows by Donatello, Paolo Uccello and Lorenzo Ghiberti, and the frescoes by Vasari and Zuccari. Hopefully one day we can return to Florence, and see the amazing interior of this church.
Next to the Duomo, there is a Battistero, which is one of the oldest buildings in Florence. It was built on the site of a Roman temple, between the 5-11th centuries, and it was here that Dante was baptised. The most beautiful thing about it was its amazing gilded bronze doors. They glow like they are pure gold, and the designs on them are absolutely amazing and intricate. The most famous doors are the ones by Lorenzo Ghiberti, called the 'Gate of Paradise'.

Loggia della Signoria

Next we walked to the Piazza della Signoria, which is dominated by the Palazzo Vecchio, the historical seat of the government of Florence. The most famous and the greatest attraction of this square though, was the Loggia della Signoria.

The Loggia della Signoria is a 14th century sculpture showcase. The famous statue, 'David', by Michelangelo stood here until 1873. It has now been replaced by a copy, as the real statue has been moved to the Galleria della Accademia.
Loren was amazed by the statues here. The copy of David, was not the most exciting piece for her. The best were the pieces where statue is frozen in the middle of a fight or a struggle of some kind. There were some spectacular pieces displayed all over a raised covered platform.

Uffizi Museum

Our next stop was the Galleria degli Uffizi. We had bought tickets in advance, as we were worried about the lines. This was great, as we got in straight away, once we found the correct entrance that is. We bought some audio guides and started making our way through the enormous gallery.

One of the Medici Family

The Uffizi has the world's greatest collection of Renaissance Art. It also houses the Medici family collection, and was given to the city of Florence on the condition that it never leave the city. Artur was a bit tired by now, but we still managed to spend about 3 hours exploring the gallery. Cameras were also banned, but we manage to take a few spy shots :)

There were some seriously amazing pieces of art here. We saw paintings here, that we had only seen in pictures. There was the 'Birth of Venus', and the 'Allegory of Spring', by Botticelli. We saw the 'Ánnunciation' by Leonardo da Vinci, 'Holy Family', by Michelangelo and 'Venus of Urbino', by Titian.
Loren was in awe of all of the amazing paintings and could have spent even more time analysing every detail. 'The Birth of Venus' by Botticelli was her favourite, but there were so many more that captured her heart as well.

Ponte Vecchio
After seeing the amazing Uffizi, we walked along the water to the Ponte Vecchio. On our way we saw locks attached to the edges of the bridge by lovers, who then toss the keys into the Anno River. It was just like the one from Uzupis in Lithuania and Mt Emei in China. We were planning to buy a lock, but most of the shops were closed, and we forgot.
When we reached the main part of the bridge, we saw a band busking by the edge of the road. Tourists everywhere were sitting on the pavement and standing around watching and singing along. It was a beautiful and atmospheric place.
The bridge is lined with jewelry shops today, but originally they were little butcher shops. When Medici built a corridor through the bridge to link Palazzo Pitti with Palazzo Vecchio, he ordered that the butcher shops be replaced with goldsmiths.
After our day of sightseeing, we searched for somewhere to eat and recover. We found a cute little restaurant, where we tasted some delicious Florentinian pizza. After dinner, we walked all the way back across the city, to our car. Soon we found ourselves back at our campsite and tucked away for a well deserved sleep.
To see the photos from the post in slideshow mode, click on on the link below:
Florence pictures