The town centre is a sloping, semi circle shaped piazza, full of tourists and surrounded by souvenir shops. Duomo di Sienna, is a Gothic cathedral beyond gothic. 
Stunning, every inch covered in marble and so many elaborate statues, so that it would be impossible to add another feature without removing something else. The Cathedral is famous for the incredible mosaic floors, some dating back to mid 14th century. 
A side room of the cathedral is a library, Libreria Piccolomini, built to house the books of Enea Silvio Piccolomini (known as Pius 2nd by his friends). 
High on the walls were colourful frescoes by Bernardino Pinturicchio depicting highlights of Piccolomini’s life.Feeling more relaxed about following the instructions of our silky voiced lady of the GPS, we arrived at our Florence hotel, which she located amongst an impossible tangle of narrow one way footpaths. 
We were near The Duomo, right in the centre of the old town, and had free parking (very rare in Florence) in the building’s courtyard. All we had to do was find the rear entry. Without the assistance of “she who knows where we are,” we negotiated a very complicated spaghetti bolognese of one way streets, to find No 12; an archway as wide as a horse, through a building, from a street no wider than a cyclepath. Negotiating the entrance required a 6 point turn in the Panda (which stayed there until we had to leave). 
Our room faced onto the courtyard, which was dominated by a 4 storey high magnolia tree, said to be 350 years old. Florencian home life centres on the building’ s courtyard. Children play, neighbours sit and chat or garden, whilst the street is merely utilitarian; an artery which is almost ugly, but provides essential access, something like our suburban back lanes.
We were near The Duomo, right in the centre of the old town, and had free parking (very rare in Florence) in the building’s courtyard. All we had to do was find the rear entry. Without the assistance of “she who knows where we are,” we negotiated a very complicated spaghetti bolognese of one way streets, to find No 12; an archway as wide as a horse, through a building, from a street no wider than a cyclepath. Negotiating the entrance required a 6 point turn in the Panda (which stayed there until we had to leave). 
Our room faced onto the courtyard, which was dominated by a 4 storey high magnolia tree, said to be 350 years old. Florencian home life centres on the building’ s courtyard. Children play, neighbours sit and chat or garden, whilst the street is merely utilitarian; an artery which is almost ugly, but provides essential access, something like our suburban back lanes.At Piazza Vecchio we found another great busker, this one playing the flute amongst all the statues of naked men. (no double entendre intended)
Bicycle is the only way to travel around the ultra narrow streets of Florence and as it is a university town, everyone was getting around on bicycles, except us.
Beat the queues into the Uffizi Gallery with our online purchased tickets. The world’s most significant collection of Florentine and Italian art. Room after room of Gothic and Renaissance masterpieces, and too many alter pieces from 15th and 16th century.
Later we visited Galleria dell’Accademia and sat in awe of
Michelangelo’s ‘David’. There was a special exhibition of Robert Mapplethorpe’s photographs, comparing himself with Michelangelo, in their belief that the body is godlike and their fondness of the male form. (“I’ve had enough of male bottoms and genitalia, looking forward to the Impressionists“ said Trev.)
Walked to Ponte Vecchio, for some wonderful photo opportunities at sunset. The area was jammed with tourists and expensive jewellery shops. We discovered a small monument on the bridge with a steel bar fence surround. 
Attached to the fence were hundreds of padlocks of various sizes. Lovers write their names on the padlock, then throw the key in the river, thus creating an eternal bond. They have become a nuisance, and there are now fines of E50
Attached to the fence were hundreds of padlocks of various sizes. Lovers write their names on the padlock, then throw the key in the river, thus creating an eternal bond. They have become a nuisance, and there are now fines of E50
From Florence we took the autostrada over the mountains for a quick look at the Tower of Pisa. Del held it up for a few minutes and I pushed it back over again. 
We later discovered several bell towers in Venice leaning in a similarly alarming manner.
No comments:
Post a Comment