Tuscany Trip: Florence
Lucky for us, we were just a 10-minute drive to the train station and a 15-minute train ride into the heart of the city of Florence. We started the day early and I am so glad we did. There was hardly anyone on the street as we walked to the Duomo and got to see the square and hear the bells before the area filled with tourists and vendors. It was such a beautiful site!
From there we walked to the Piazza del Signoria to see where the original David by Michelangelo stood. There is a replica there now, but I love seeing him in his original place and knowing why he was placed there.
Michaelangelo carved the David and it was placed there at the entrance of the city at the time as a symbol of the Republic’s defiance of the tyrannical Medici. The sculpture on David’s right made us laugh — Bandinelli's Hercules and Cacus (1534), appropriated by the Medici to show their physical power after their return from exile. Hercules is looking over towards David as though he’s kind of miffed that David is getting all the attention here.
Emme recognized the Loggia den Lanzi (1376) on the Piazza as the original that the replica in Munich was copied from. The one is Munich is recognizable as the place where Hitler was first arrested, and then where he gave speeches as the leader of the Third Reich.
We then went to the Uffizi gallery and were blown away by all the classical sculpture, religious, and political art. I really loved seeing Michelangelo’s Holy Family and Leonardo Da Vinci’s works there. It was a lot to take in and we were all kind of overwhelmed by the time we left.
Michelangelo’s Holy Family. This was very big. The frame is thought to have been designed and made by Michaelangelo as well.
Annunciation, Leonardo Da Vinci.
The Uffizi Gallery is massive. Both the left and right sides of this picture make up part of the 3 floors of art and sculpture masterpieces from the Classical period through the Renaissance and beyond.
From there we visited the Baptistry, the Duomo and museums. Brian and Nola and I climbed the dome and got to see the most amazing views over the whole city from the top. The Duomo itself is pretty blank on the inside as all the amazing sculptures and art have been relocated to the museum behind the church now. The artwork in the dome was very similar to what we saw in Pisa the day before, depicting the last judgment with scary depictions of hell, and contrasting representations of heaven. It was really something special to be able to walk around the dome inside and outside at the highest level and I am so glad that we did it!
Floor details from the Baptistry.
I’m so afraid of heights, but I am so glad I did this!
The final note of the day was sitting down for gelato at the famous original Vivoli gelato shop. I had Rice, and Pear with burnt caramel, and between all of us the rice one was the favorite. It was a basic sweet cream with chewy cooked rice mixed in. So unique!
As we walked back to the train station, the Duomo square was packed with tourists and street vendors and it just felt like a regular, big, dirty city. We were glad to get back to the villa and have our hosts deliver a home-cooked Tuscan meal.
When I go back to Florence again someday, I want to check out the Galleria dell’Accademia where the original David is, and the Pieta by Michelangelo, and I would spend more time just wandering the outer city streets and neighborhoods. It was a pinch-me moment and a dream just being there!
