Firenze!

Yesterday morning we went to Firenze, aka Florence.

Jamie (left) and Brittany (right) disagree about how much fun it is to have their picture taken.

The bus ride there took about an hour and a half, mostly because the freeways here aren't very direct. If you check on the map you'd find we're only about 70KM, which I think comes about to about 43 miles. That kind of puts in perspective how much better the infrastructure here is.

The view of Florence Cathedral from Chiesa San Mineato

Our first stop was a hilltop park overlooking the city from which we had an amazing view of the town. At the top of this park there is a church called the Chiesa San Mineato, which is a typical Italian Romanesque church.

The front altar in Chiesa San Mineato

The lighting in these old churches is very unusual, deliberately designed to create a mystical atmosphere

After that we walked down to the city from the hillside and made our way to the Santa Croce (Holy Cross) church. The walk down was really amazing. We passed by the old city walls and into the town, and then walked down the banks of the Arno river toward the city center. On the way we saw a rat bigger than the cats in town! These things were about the size of a cocker-spaniel or something.

The view of the old city walls coming down from Chiesa San Mineato


The beautiful riverbanks south of the town center. Click to expand this picture.


The buses in town don't leave much room for pedestrians when they zoom past.

The Chiesa Santa Croce is probably the biggest monument in Italy, as it is home to the tombs of all the famous Italians (think Westminster Abbey). We saw the tombs of Michaelangelo, Dante, Macchiovelli, and Marconi (who invented the Radio), among countless other huge tombs which were certainly more meaningful to Italians than to world travelers.

Dante's Tomb

Michaelangelo's Tomb

The Cheisa Santa Croce (The Holy Cross Church)

From here we strolled down to the Palazzo Vecchio (The Old Palace) which is the central town hall of Firenze. The Palazzo has a large collection of famous statues in front, and the Uffizi gallery is adjacent to the south.

The Palazzo Vecchio (The Old Palace)

One of the statues near Palazzo Vecchio, and a cool new Europe-only version of the Ford Focus. Hey, art is art!

After meeting at the Palazzo Vecchio we went to lunch at a nice little restaurant just north of the piazza. They served us a 4 course meal, like all the meals we've had since we've been here. First we had some very good rolls, then some pasta and ravioli, then a chicken breast with alfredo sauce and cheese, then gelato for dessert.

From here we went to the Ponte Vecchio which is the ancient bridge with all the goldsmiths atop it, and we checked out a bunch of more modern buildings on the riverfront which were built after that part of town was destroyed in World War II.

After this we went to Il Duomo. I have quite a few pictures of the big church, but none of them do it justice. I don't think its possible to fathom how huge the Florence Cathedral is until you've been there. If you can try to picture TWO American Airlines Centers stacked end to end, with Reunion Tower adjacent to the front (the bell tower) and a big dome, about the size of old Dallas City Hall in front, then you're kind of getting the idea. For Houston people sub in Reliant Arena for the American Airlines Centers and put a 25 story office building in place of the bell tower.

I took this picture from about the same distance away as I was from the front of the Chiesa Santa Croce.

The Florence Cathedral is indescribably huge.

After we finished our main tour we walked around and window shopped for a bit. After crossing the Arno to see what was on the other side we headed back down the riverbanks just to generally explore. On the way back to the bus stop we passed the Uffizi again, this time from the waterside, and got a good look at the Palazzo Vecchio tower.

The beautiful banks of the Arno, as seen from the Ponte Vecchio. Click to expand this image.

Unfortunately the walls of the Uffizi are really dark in the evening, but not the clock tower!

We left Firenze about 6 pm and got back to the center just as dinner was served (7:30pm). After dinner I worked in Studio for a little while then went out with people from the center to celebrate Jeniffer Sconzo's birthday.

So that was our trip around Florence!