Florence

Florence

Busy Florence

Our visit to Florence began with a train journey from Montecatini Terme Station.  26 Australians travelled on a group ticket with our guide leading the way with her orange flag.  Although the train was late, we easily claimed a seat as we travelled east to Florence Termini.  As we had a timeslot booked to visit Michaelangelo’s David at L’Accademie of Fine Arts, we had to hurry through the cobbled streets to get there in time.  We were met by our guide, Mike, who was a very knowledgeable art historian and guide. He led us through L’Accademi and then through the streets of Florence.  We were able to see David in a whole new light, as well as several other finished and unfinished works of Michaelangelo.  Viewed as the perfect man, we soon found that he did have some flaws.

Heading towards the Duomo

The Baptistry

The Duomo

Next we walked around the outside of the Duomo and the Baptistry, which some could then visit at their own leisure.  Photographs never do justice to the colours of the marble in this magnificent building.  Pink, green and white marble, sourced from north of Florence near Carrara, glows in the sunlight.  

'David' copy

One of many statues outside Uffuzi Palace

Outside the Uffuzi Palace we saw a copy of the David in its original position, along with other well-known statues, and made our way down to the River Arno to view the Ponte de Vecchio, the bridge well-known for its gold sellers.

Ponte de Vecchio

Set free to explore on our own, we stopped first to dine in a trattoria for our lunch, then we hit the shops.  Florence is known for its leather, and the plastic got a workout in these leather shops.  We were able to view a gold shop where the manager is an Australian woman.

An interesting place to visit in Italy is a bookshop.  We wandered into one near the Duomo and were amazed with the size of it and also the range of books, including many international ones.  Just opposite this bookshop is a very classy coffee shop and gelataria where we finished up.  Doug chose an iced coffee which turned out to be a coffee-flavoured gelato with chocolate sauce swirled through it.  It just looked delicious and he agreed. This was balanced by a tuna salad lunch (see below).