Florence: "The Cradle of the Renaissance"

Florence

Arriving:

The train journey from Perugia to Florence took about 2 hours, and it passed uneventfully - due to the dense forests growing either side of the railway we only caught snippets of the Tuscan countryside, but when we did sneak a view, it was beautiful. The landscape here was luscious and green, and we wondered what the region's capital would look like in comparison.

As we dismounted the train we were instantly hit with a wave of hot air. It was an uncomfortable 32 degrees, and whereas high temperatures in Perugia had been slightly eased by the mountain wind, here the heat was magnified as it reflected off of the tarmac. With our backpacks in tow, we broke a heavy sweat in the simple twenty minutes it took to reach the apartment. That said, the sweat might have been brought on when we took a wrong turn into a holding area for local buses, turned around to find the entrance had locked behind us, split up to try and find help, and then sprinted to the gates when a bemused bus driver unlocked them from the outside.

When we arrived at the apartment, however, our luck took a turn for the better. We had booked a room in a rental apartment, but with no other guests booked in for the first 3 nights, we had the whole place to ourselves. It even came with a washing machine, which was a sight for sore eyes after a couple of weeks of washing our underwear in a sink. With the smug feeling that we had hit the jackpot, we unpacked our bags and waited for the heat to simmer down.

That afternoon, we took a walk around to get to grips with the location. We are separated from central Florence by a railway line which runs directly outside of our apartment, and it is a 30-minute walk to reach the Duomo (the famous Cathedral). We set off hoping to spend some time looking at the nearby streets or reading in the park, but when the sight of a colourful building in the distance caught our eyes, we decided to follow it. All of a sudden, we were face-to-face with the Duomo itself - and what a face it is! Built out of green, white, and pink marble, the exterior is so ornately decorative that it could be a Christmas card illustration. We drank in the views, happy with this warm welcome to the city, and then decided to head to a park. This journey was interrupted by the sight of a gelato store, and having filled ourselves up with sugar, we instead went to the shops and headed home. With our own kitchen, we decided to cook for ourselves tonight, as we need to save up what we can before the gallery tickets blow our budget!

First glimpse of Il Duomo

Day 1: Getting Familiar with Florence

This morning we awoke to an early alarm and got ready quickly in an attempt to beat the heat. It seemed to work - leaving the house at around 8, we were able to walk into Florence without breaking too much of a sweat. Having arrived at Il Duomo - this time on purpose - we relished in the lack of crowds surrounding us. The building truly is a work of art, and I am sure that it will take our breath away every time we see it afresh. 

Rounding the corner from the Duomo we came across its mini counterpart, a little church called the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella. The bright blue skies made the navy-and-white patterns of its facades appear even more striking. These buildings are not only impressive, but they are truly unique in their style and seem worlds apart from their ancient counterparts in Rome. Whilst some shrug the Duomo off as a 'Cathedral in Pyjamas', Max for one believes that it is more impressive on the outside than anything we saw in Rome. 

Il Duomo and...

Its Mini-Me

 

Whilst Florence does have some amazing sights, however, we soon learned that there are many differences between here and Rome. Firstly, whilst the streets themselves are more enticing, they offer fewer things to do than the larger city. Secondly, whereas we had managed to pull long stints in Rome before getting worn out by the heat, the oppressive temperatures in Florence were taking their toll by the mid-morning. Nonetheless, these two factors actually work quite well together: because there is less to do, we can escape back to the apartment in the early afternoon without feeling like we've missed too much!

Before the heatstroke set in, we had a good few hours of exploring the streets. We found plenty of beautiful churches and cobbled streets, but whilst the streets were more freshly renovated than those in Rome, the church interiors were the opposite - they often feature peeling walls and faded frescoes, but at least this is a reminder of the vast history that they have witnessed. 

Aided by google maps, we eventually found ourselves at the Arno River. For me, this is the best sight that Florence has to offer. Mirrorlike water flows through the heart of the city for miles, reflecting the beautiful multi-coloured houses that line the streets. A few rowers silently splice the water as they pass through, reducing the reflections of domed rooftops to ripples. It really is a gorgeous sight. The landmark that interrupts the river's passage is just as beautiful: the Ponte Vecchio, literally 'The Old Bridge', is made of lovely arching stonework and topped with higgledy-piggledy shops. 

The River

The Bridge

 

As we headed back into the city, we stopped to visit two free museums: one was an open-air collection of statues, including a replica copy of David, and the other was a striking public display of modern art. 

David

We had one final destination before returning home: the Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella. Founded in 1221 by Domenican Friars, the pharmacy used medicinal herbs grown in the monastic gardens to make medications, balms, and pomades for the monks' infirmary, and this practice still continues, except now it is for the benefit of the tourists. The bottled perfumes nestled under the Renaissance frescoes of the shop are beautiful, but their price tags are a real eyesore!

Once we had finished up at the pharmacy, the heat outside was becoming unbearable, so we headed back to the apartment to sit in front of the fan. Whilst it hadn't packed the same wow-factor as our first day in Rome, the quiet elegance of Florence seems like it will grow on us. 

Day 2: the Renaissance Walk

With no windows in our apartment, it came as quite a surprise to leave the house today and find the sky blanketed with clouds. Although the heat hadn't all ebbed away and the strange weather created a kind of stuffiness, we were grateful to be granted a few more hours before the truly intense heat arrived. 

Today, we had a walking tour scheduled - not an in-person tour, but instead a free podcast from the Rick Steves app, aided by a map. The tour may only have covered a mile's distance in an hour, but it covered oodles of information. It was brilliant to learn about the building of Il Duomo, the structure and politics of Renaissance Florence, and the lives of the key figures who inhabited it. The guide led us down the main pedestrian street, brought our attention to statues that we hadn't noticed before, and brought to life the Piazza della Signoria (the square which hosted many great political upheavals). We had seen many of these areas yesterday, but with this tour, we learned to see them afresh. It was a really interesting way of exploring the city, and we will be using Rick's podcasts in future!

Classical Statues

Piazza Della Signoria

With the tour finished, we began checking off our own to-do list, which led us right into the key shopping streets of the city. We were suddenly surrounded by Gucci, Armani, Prada, and Chanel, all of which displayed works of (fashion) art in the windows. There was one key difference between these luxury stores and those in other cities, however. The modern chic of the sneakers in the displays was juxtaposed by the old-fashioned carthorses that pound the pavements alongside them. There are horse-and-carts all over the place in Florence, and whilst it is oftentimes uncomfortable to watch them battling through mid-30 degree heat with a full load of passengers, they do help merge modern Florence with its Renaissance history. 

Gucci and Carthorses

From there, we headed around the Medici church and libraries and into the Central Market. Here, we found a scene that mirrors Barcelona's market halls. We entered a 2-story building crammed with food vendors, most of whom were selling dried fruit, fresh meat, or pasta. Outside of the building, the streets were lined by stalls overspilling with leather goods, souvenirs, and even snow globes. It was really bustling and interesting, with each stall offering whacky food types at prices that seemed to please tourists and locals alike.

The Central Market

After this, as the heat picked up, we bought a gelato and headed back to the apartment. For reference, this is a photo taken just outside of our street: the front tire of the middle bike has literally melted in the heat and the metal has curved towards the tarmac! 

The Unhappy Bike

In the evening, we headed out for a walk along the river and dinner in the city. The main squares were still brimming with tourists at this point, but the reflection of the light on the water was incredibly peaceful. Earlier in the day we had passed through the apparent Asian district of Florence, which was home to many restaurants selling Japanese noodles and Chinese chicken. The amazing smells, so different to the Italian cuisine that we're now used to, had stuck in our memories, so that evening we were on the hunt for a good bowl of ramen. However, finding a restaurant with the right combination of price and appeal was very difficult, and having walked the same street twice, we settled at an Italian restaurant anyway - although this was a spaghetti restaurant with a Japanese menu. Here, we were given two immense bowls of spaghetti, both equally flavourful, and were able to sit on an untouristy street and watch the world go by around us: just to our right, the market sellers were slowly dismantling their stands, a process which takes forever, and to our left, an old-fashioned wine bar was host to a motley crew of old Italian men and some of the only English travellers we have seen on our trip. 

 

As we headed home, the sun had dipped below the mountains in the distance. It really was a 'Bella Notte' in Florence. 

Sunset over Florence