When we left Cinque Terre, the weather had cool down a lot as it rained the night before. We made our way to the train station to catch the fast train to Pisa Central with 10-15 minutes to spare to get onto another platform to catch the commuter train to Florence. When we arrived in Florence it was pouring rain! We put on our rain jackets and made our way to the hotel which is right smack in the Grand Duomo area. Every place we stay at has provided directions but we struggle each and every time. The instructions are written poorly and street names are on the side of the buildings but sometimes it is no where to be found. The streets do not have a grid layout so it makes it even more challenging. (Did you know that if the streets in Italy have a grid layout, it is due to the Roman influence and when the streets go however which way it is from the medieval times.)
The Piazza del Duomo. We are staying just steps away from this major tourist landmark
Since the weather was cooler, we decided to change to our jeans and also hope to visit the cathedral. Shoulders and knees are not to be exposed if you want to visit these sacred places. We wanted to climb up to the dome, known as the cupola or Brunelleschi’s Dome, but there were no more tickets for the next few days so we were undecided on what to do next.. we walked around the Piazza del Duomo and saw someone who looked like a person who helps tourists with questions. Well, she turned out to be a tour operator with a deal for us – tickets to climb up the dome in 15mins! The tour usually costs €55 but we can have it for €45 as business has been slow because of the rain. Well, ok, we did it, when were we going to be in Florence again?
Narrow walkway inside the dome
Fresco in the dome
Brunelleschi’s Dome started in 1420 and took over 150 years to build but part of it was never quite completed because Michelangelo said it looks like a cricket’s cage when asked for his opinion. Since Michelangelo’s opinion was the cardinal law, the lead artist (Baccio d’Agnolo) after Brunelleschi’s death walked away from the project. Anyways, the climb up to the Duomo is 463 steps and is not for those who are afraid of heights, claustrophobic, suffer from vertigo or heart conditions. It is quite narrow going up and at a particular section there is not much headroom. We were on a walkway inside the dome, just below the frescos. The painting inside the dome was started in 1572 by Giorgio Vasari in 1572.After the death of Giorgio Vasari in 1574, Federico Zuccaro, an artist from Urbino, completed the frescoes around 1575-79. Being so close to the fresco gives you a deeper appreciation for the effort and skill that went into creating it. Once you are up top and outside the dome, you can see all of Florence and beyond.
View of Florence from the Dome
After this unplanned tour it was time for dinner. Florence is famous for their steak – Bistecca alla Fiorentina. The Florentine steak is cut from the veal loin of the Chianina breed. The Chianina is an Italian breed of cattle, formerly principally a draught breed, now raised mainly for beef. It is the largest and one of the oldest cattle breeds in the world. The beef is aged for 2-3 weeks and is at room temperature before it is cooked on a very hot grill. It is served on a wooden chopping board and sprinkled with coarse salt. There is only one way to have the steak and that is rare. All we can say is yummy! It’s very tender and flavourful.
Many of the steakhouses have the beef on display that you’ll see walking by….
Florentine Steak
The Florence Baptistery (Italian: Battistero di San Giovanni), also known as the Baptistery of Saint John, is a religious building in Florence, Italy, and has the status of a minor basilica.
Another one of Florence’s must see attraction is David, the famous David by Michelangelo. When we had walked by Galleria dell’Accademia, the line up was around the block. We were not able to get any skip the line tickets either.. Hmm, so our best bet is to go there before the gallery opens and stand in line and we did just that. So, after waiting in line for over an hour we finally got in. The one thing you notice about David is how disproportionately large his hands are. Well, there was a reason for that, when Michelangelo carved David, the statue was supposed to be placed high above and Michelangelo wanted to make sure people can see the details. Another explanation for the large hand is that David is commonly said to be “manu fortis” – “strong of hands”.
David by Michelangelo. Everybody wants to take a perfect picture of David without extra heads in the photo, I succeeded! Found that small window of opportunity and click! 🙂
After the gallery, we walked to another section of Florence to meet our tour guide – Ludivica. Ludivica took us on a walking tour of Florence and visited some of the interesting sites around. She also shared the history about Florence and her people. One of the funny fact she shared with the group is that she doesn’t own a clothes dryer, she has an expresso machine which is more important!
Hercules and Cacus outside the Palazzo Vecchio
Church of Orsanmichele. Apparently Steven Spielberg donated $1M towards the restoration of this church.
After our walking tour we went to the central market Mercato di Lorenzo for lunch.
Mercato Centrale Florence
We picked up some strawberries and cherries. Cherries were so so, strawberries were excellent
Santa Croce, rebuilt for the Franciscan order in 1294 by Arnolfo di Cambio, is the burial place for the great and good in Florence. Michelangelo is buried in Santa Croce, as are Rossini, Machiavelli, and the Pisan-born Galileo Galilei, who was tried by the Inquisition and was not allowed a Christian burial until 1737, 95 years after his death.
Since it was a late lunch, we were not hungry at dinner time and guess what… triple scoops of gelato for dinner! We wandered into a little gelateria just off the main street. The store was quite busy and who knew we showed up at one of the best gelateria in the Florence area! And yes, it was that good!
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