Looking down the rails for our train.
We departed Venice on a 1043 EuroStar train to Florence. The train was fairly high speed and had a very smooth ride, and with limited stops, delivered us to Florence by 1330. As I noted yesterday, the land is quite flat and agricultural (although very little is given over to pasture) – this was true to Bologna. Immediately after the train leaves the city heading southwest, the foothills of the Appennines begin. The train follows the rise of the mountains, passing through a couple of long tunnels before emerging in a valley on the other side that leads down into Florence. The time from Bologna to Florence on this train is only about an hour. From the train station we took at taxi (~14 euro) to our hotel, the Classic Hotel, which will be the departure point for the walk two days from now. We checked into our room, and took a nap before heading out to explore.
The hotel is about one mile from the Ponte Vecchio on the south side of the river (opposite the Duomo). I asked at the desk about laundry and was directed to a wash-n-dry nearby. We weren’t ready to begin that chore yet, but did make a point to locate the establishment so we could tend our laundry the next day. We paused at a gelateria where we both had dark chocolate gelato (very good!!) before crossing the fabled Ponte Vecchio.
We (actually I) had arranged for another Context Travel tour in Florence, an overview called the Florence Evening Transect, and I wanted to identify the meeting location so we could be sure to be on time. So we walked over the Ponte Vecchio looking at the jewelry, through the square surrounding the cathedral and baptistery, onto the square, Piazza della Sanctissima Annunziata , where we located the hotel where we were to meet our guide. From there we went around the block to the Galleria dell’Accademia where the David is displayed and looked at the long line to get in. Deciding that we didn’t have enough time, we continued to wander around in the light rain that had started to fall until we returned to the square and waited to meet our guide.
Looking down the rails for our train.
Jonathan catches up on his reading while waiting.
Jonathan looking out the window of our hotel in Florence.
The view our the window.
Looking upstream on the Arno River.
Walking to our rendezvous for the city walk, the Duomo fills the end of this street.
In the square, a statue of I-forget-which Medici.
Jonathan patiently waiting under the arcade of the hotel, so we were out of the rain.
The arcade of the orphanage - the door at the end was where the infants were dropped off.
The Basilica di San Lorenzo - I think that's Lorenzo di Medici with the pigeon perched on his head.
A shot of the bell tower with the dome of the cathedral peeking through.
The ornate front of the cathedral - Cathedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore.
This is the marblework on the base of the bell tower.
A view down the side of the cathedral.
Erika telling of the statue of the boar next to the Mercato Nuovo - the open air market.
A statue on the Piazza della Signoria.
The spot of the 'Bonfire of the Vanities'.
The bronze statue of Perseus and the Medusa.
The back side of Perseus' head - Can you make out the self-portrait of the sculptor?
The Ponte Vecchio - seen from the upstream side.
The guide, Erika Bianchi, arrived a few minutes early and as we were her only guests, we immediately began the tour. She started in the square itself pointing out the features of the building (an orphanage) across the square. From there we walked over to Piazza San Marco where there was a statue of Savonarola outside his church, Chiesa e Convento di San Marco. The next stop was the Basilica di San Lorenzo designed by Brunelleschi – who died before it was completed. After his death, they decided to leave the uncompleted façade as is – which I though made for a more rustic and elemental feel to the church compared to the ornate and highly decorated Cathedral. The mausoleum of Lorenzo di Medici is located in the church, and I expect we’ll try to get there in the next or so. The Piazza del Popolo was next with a bronze relief map of the old city that Erika used to show the extent of the Roman center of Florence that could still be seen in the pattern of the streets. She described a refurbishment of the square that unearthed the remains of the Roman forum. We stopped in front of city hall where the site of the bonfire of the vanities is marked – which was also the place where Savonarola’s body was burned after he was hung. There are a number of statues (and reproductions of statues) around this square, one of the more interesting (and original) pieces is a bronze of Perseus and the slain Medusa. The artist, Benvenuto Chellini, included a self portrait on the back of Perseus’ head if you know to look for it.
The next stop was Dante’s neighborhood and church he attended where he met Beatrice, the great love of his life. We parted shortly thereafter, with our destination the Piazza Santo Spirito where Erika indicated we could find a number of nice restaurants. We found one that looked interesting, Borgo Antico, where we split a bottle of wine. I started with a caprese equivalent that included mozzarella that was clearly home-made, and a pizza bianca - made with pears and honey which wasn’t too sweet. When we got there we were about the only ones inside (the outdoor patio, under awnings, was quite full), but by the time we left it was quite full with a wide variety of patrons young and old. While there, an Elvis impersonator came in with guitar singing Elvis songs in a not-so-well enunciated English. The dog sitting with one of the patrons – an elegant, older woman – started barking at the singer with Jonathan nodding in sympathy with the pup. It was an amusing scene, and the faux Elvis moved on before too long. We returned to the hotel while Jonathan took a shower, I read a bit before turning in.