Florence! Where do I start with Florence. I had been wanting to go to Florence for sometime. Ever since I saw a documentary on the Medici Florence seemed to be the one Italy city that had everything for me.
We arrived in to Florence on the 31st July 2008 and made our way from the train station to our small but cute hotel, the Hotel Dali. Located in the best spot possible 50 meters down the street from the massive Duomo. We arrived at about 12.00pm which was way to early to check in so after dropping off our bags we made for the best view in all of Florence, Michelangelo square. The streets of Florence still seem to be stuck in the 16th century. Cobblestone streets, quaint lamp posts, yellow rendered buildings atop with orange tiled roofs. Beautiful! After snapping a billion photos and taking six hours worth of video we headed back down the hill to the Florences most famous bridge (also the only on to be spared during WWII) Ponte Vecchio. This bridge just comes to life under the Tuscan sun. Today it is still covered with the jewellery shops and gold sellers just like it was in the 15th century. Just walking across the bridge feels like a real treat itself. Almost like walking in the footsteps of the Medici.
Day 2:
On day two we decided to get up really and que for one of FLorence most famous sights. Michelangelos "David". We arrived at 8.00am, 15minutes before they were scheduled to open. At this time in the morning there was only 15 people in line so we headed for the back of the que. Just as we reached the end we saw a sign that said "we are having a staff meeting this morning so we will not be opening until 9.45am. Bugger! We thought about hanging around for another 1.5 hours but decided the time could be better spent at another attraction, so we headed for the Uffizi. Though none of the morning really went to plan as we turned up to the Uffizi only to be at the back of a 200 person line which ment about a 2 hour wait. Eventually we got in and the wait was well worth it. The Uffizi is home to the worlds best Renaissance collection. And so it should be, they started the movement. We spent quite a bit of time in here seeing such works as "The Birth of Venus, The Duke and Dutchess of Urbino, a few Rembrandts and of course a few unfinished works by a young Leonardo Da Vinci.
That afternoon we decided to try our luck back at the Accademia to try and see the "David". Finally we had some luck with the lines in Florence and managed to walk in after only waiting 5 minutes. The Accademia isn't that big and the only real big draw card is the David. As you enter the buldings you come across a few works by Michelangelo that differ quite a bit from his other masterpieces. There are a series of sculptures that look unfinished but they are called the four prisoners. Because they look as though the people are trying to escape from the marble.
At the end of the first room you can see it. The "David". It's as big as everyone says and some how it just captures you. Mel and I grabbed a could of seats and before too long we realised we had just been staring at the statue for 45 minutes. If you only see one thing it probably has to be the David.
Day 3:
The next day we check out a few of the lessor known museums like the Bargello and after that we found out why they really are the lesser known museums. They claim to have a Michelangelo room which was the draw card for us but when we got there they only had 4 statues of Michelangelos and 3 of them had been taken away for restoration.
That afternoon we checked out the famous Duomo and the remarkable roof by bruneschelli. It was extremely hot in Florence during our stay with the temp generally up around 40*C, but we decided to climb to the top anyway. After 30 minues, 417 steps and a whole load of sweat we made it. The view is one of Florences best. endless views in each directio is a good reward for the hard work.
The next day we had to do the unfortunate and plan the rest of our trip. We still hadn't decided where we were going in Greece, Turkey and Egypt and they were only a two weeks away. That evening we grabbed some of the expensive but delicious ice cream that seems to be on sale everywhere in Florence and just took a evening walk along the river passing by Ponte Vecchio once again.
We left Florence on the 4th of August which also happened to be Mels birthday. We were off to Rome with a stop in Pisa for the day.
Venice
Venice is everything that you expect it to be plus heaps more. We arrived in on the train from Lucerne at about 6.00pm in the evening. The experience alone of just walking out of the train station is one that stick with you. You're not slowly lowered in to the Gondolas, Canals and bridges. You walk out and there it is, BAM! Right in your face.
The cheapest and best centrally located hotel that we could find was called the Forresteria Valdese which just happened to be a nunery. Yep that's right we were staying with nuns. We decided to take the Vaporeto to the guesthouse instead of walking because the nun's also had a very strict curfew and would only allow check in from 6.00pm to 8.00pm. If you missed that then it was stiff. You would be sleeping on the street for the night. The Vaperato is a great way to see Venice especially with your backpack as there is no walking involved. After about 15 minutes we arrived at our stop San Morco Square.
The streets in Venice really aren't signed that well. The ony directions that you can see everywhere is either a sign pointing to San Marco Square or one pointing the other way to the Train station or maybe one of the other two major bridges over the Grand Canal. After about 30 minues of decifering our map we finally made it to the forresteria. Our room was a doulbe room with a bathroom over looking one of the canals on the third level. The room felt a little more Italian with the grape vines hanging from our two balconies.
That evening we decided to spoil ourselves with a nice dinner which was the perfect time for me to try some fine Italian wine. We found a little spot just around the corner from St Marks Square with a huge menu and best of all air conditioning. It was hot! The small winding streets of Venice don't allow for any airflow at all so the temp was generally around 30*C in the evening.
Our first full day in Venice:
After rising early on our first day we went down stairs to have our big communal breakfast with the nuns. It wasn't great but who cared. We were in Venice Italy.
We decided to go for start our sight seeing with a lesuirly stroll along the Grand Canal. There are only three bridges that run accross the Grand Canal, the most famous being Rialto Bridge. Though it's also the one that is packed solid with tourists taking every kind of momento photo possible. In the afternoon we decided to go through the San Marco Basilica which is the burial place of Saint Mark. The legend goes that his body was stollen from Alexander in Egypt and smuggled to Venice in a barrel of pork. The idea behind this was that Muslims can't touch pork so they would nevr find his body during a search. St Mark now rest beneath a huge marble tomb which I'm sure is mush more spacious than a barrel of pork. The Basilica itself is mostly decorated with things the Venicians and the 4th crusade stole from Constantinople. They have gold, silver, statues, bones, parts of the cross (so they say), marle, precious stones and the list goes on.
That evening we decided to try and eat cheap as we did have a budget to stick to but Venice is the kind of place that budgets just don't conform to. Internet was about 14AUD for an hour, restaurants would be at least 40 Euros for both of us and the big supermarket was on the other side of town. We did however manage to find a small little pizza shop near our hotel that would sell large pizzas for about 5 euros which for two people is reall good. So for a few dinners and lunches we would puy a pizza and two drinks and just sit on one of the many 400 bridges and watch the world Gondola by as we relaxed.
On one of our last days we decided to go over to Murano and check out why it is the capital of glass blowing in the world. We caught a small Vaparato over and just wandered through the many small shops just marvelling what these people can make with glass. There is everything from eagles to jars, horses to the Simpsons, lights to Venician glass porn, you name it they have it.
We checked out all the sights in Venice but the one thing that we didn't get to do due to lack of time was a ride on a Gondola. They are expensive (80 euros) but they are something that you kind of want to do, even if it's just for braging rights.
I'm extremly happy with what we managed to do in Venice and I can easily say that the city is ticked off for me. The only thing I may considering returing for one day is to perhaps check out the Carnival.
After 4 nights we headed to Florence.
The cheapest and best centrally located hotel that we could find was called the Forresteria Valdese which just happened to be a nunery. Yep that's right we were staying with nuns. We decided to take the Vaporeto to the guesthouse instead of walking because the nun's also had a very strict curfew and would only allow check in from 6.00pm to 8.00pm. If you missed that then it was stiff. You would be sleeping on the street for the night. The Vaperato is a great way to see Venice especially with your backpack as there is no walking involved. After about 15 minutes we arrived at our stop San Morco Square.
The streets in Venice really aren't signed that well. The ony directions that you can see everywhere is either a sign pointing to San Marco Square or one pointing the other way to the Train station or maybe one of the other two major bridges over the Grand Canal. After about 30 minues of decifering our map we finally made it to the forresteria. Our room was a doulbe room with a bathroom over looking one of the canals on the third level. The room felt a little more Italian with the grape vines hanging from our two balconies.
That evening we decided to spoil ourselves with a nice dinner which was the perfect time for me to try some fine Italian wine. We found a little spot just around the corner from St Marks Square with a huge menu and best of all air conditioning. It was hot! The small winding streets of Venice don't allow for any airflow at all so the temp was generally around 30*C in the evening.
Our first full day in Venice:
After rising early on our first day we went down stairs to have our big communal breakfast with the nuns. It wasn't great but who cared. We were in Venice Italy.
We decided to go for start our sight seeing with a lesuirly stroll along the Grand Canal. There are only three bridges that run accross the Grand Canal, the most famous being Rialto Bridge. Though it's also the one that is packed solid with tourists taking every kind of momento photo possible. In the afternoon we decided to go through the San Marco Basilica which is the burial place of Saint Mark. The legend goes that his body was stollen from Alexander in Egypt and smuggled to Venice in a barrel of pork. The idea behind this was that Muslims can't touch pork so they would nevr find his body during a search. St Mark now rest beneath a huge marble tomb which I'm sure is mush more spacious than a barrel of pork. The Basilica itself is mostly decorated with things the Venicians and the 4th crusade stole from Constantinople. They have gold, silver, statues, bones, parts of the cross (so they say), marle, precious stones and the list goes on.
That evening we decided to try and eat cheap as we did have a budget to stick to but Venice is the kind of place that budgets just don't conform to. Internet was about 14AUD for an hour, restaurants would be at least 40 Euros for both of us and the big supermarket was on the other side of town. We did however manage to find a small little pizza shop near our hotel that would sell large pizzas for about 5 euros which for two people is reall good. So for a few dinners and lunches we would puy a pizza and two drinks and just sit on one of the many 400 bridges and watch the world Gondola by as we relaxed.
On one of our last days we decided to go over to Murano and check out why it is the capital of glass blowing in the world. We caught a small Vaparato over and just wandered through the many small shops just marvelling what these people can make with glass. There is everything from eagles to jars, horses to the Simpsons, lights to Venician glass porn, you name it they have it.
We checked out all the sights in Venice but the one thing that we didn't get to do due to lack of time was a ride on a Gondola. They are expensive (80 euros) but they are something that you kind of want to do, even if it's just for braging rights.
I'm extremly happy with what we managed to do in Venice and I can easily say that the city is ticked off for me. The only thing I may considering returing for one day is to perhaps check out the Carnival.
After 4 nights we headed to Florence.
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