On our first day in Florence we walked around without any specific direction or plan. We found our way to the Piazzale Michelangelo which sits atop a hill. From there we saw an incredible panoramic view of Florence.
The next day we had to switch hostels and so ended up staying in a 22-bed, mixed dorm. Our room seriously reminded me of Annie, or some other old orphanage, with its dim lighting, slow-spinning ceiling fan, creaky bed springs and grey wool blankets. Annalea thought it looked like something out of a war camp. After checking in here, we did a walking tour which took us around the Piazza della Repubblica, past the Uffizi Gallery, through the Piazza San Firenze, outside the Duomo and Battistero (Baptisery), and then finished beside the Ponte Vecchio. Later that day, we did an open-air, double-decker bus tour which took us all around Florence.
On the third day, we did a little day trip to Siena. It was beautiful. We spent the day wandering its maze of streets and admiring the medieval, walled city's statues and structures. Also, that day happened to be some sort of Ferrari car show. So there were a bunch of shiny, very well-maintained Ferraris being driven through the main square (Il Campo) before numerous excited onlookers. As I leaned past a kid (probably two or three years old) to take a picture, I heard him say in utter amazement of the red car in front of us, "Ooooh, Mamma!" So adorable. Annalea and I finished our Siena walkabout by visiting the Cassa di Santa Catarina (the patron saint of Siena) which was gorgeous.
When we got back to Florence, we went and stood in line to see the Duomo. The Duomo is the fourth largest cathedral in the world. It's most famous for the giant cupola which sits atop the Gothic cathedral. The entire interior of the cupola (which is the dome ceiling) is covered in a huge fresco. There are several different scenes depicted there of saints, angels, devils, good, evil, etc painted in vibrant colours and with amazing use of depth and perspective. The walls of the church also have frescoes, as well as numerous stained-glass windows. After admiring the inside of the cathedral, we finished climbing the 430-something stairs to the very top of the dome. There, we went outside onto the wraparound platform which allows for a complete 360 degree view of Florence. It was spectacular!
For some reason that night, all the government-owned museums and galleries were free, so we decided we would take advantage of that and spend our wild Saturday night touring museums/galleries. We started our tour after descending the tight spiral staircase from the top of the Duomo. As we were standing in line to see Michelangelo's sculpture, David, Annalea noticed that Andi (a WWOOFer from the same farm that I was on) was standing two people in front of us. We got her attention and were all very amazed to see each other again. This was actually our second chance-encounter with her (it also happened in Lucca) and so it was very exciting to be reunited again. The three of us spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in each other's company. We saw the David sculpture, which was amazing, as well as many works by Leonardo Da Vinci, Botticelli's "Birth of Venus," and hundreds of other Renaissance pieces by various artists. After wandering the gallery halls for a couple hours, we decided that we'd had enough culture for one night. So, we bought some wine, brought along some baguette, Brie, peanut butter, crackers, fruit, and popcorn, and went and sat on a bridge stretching over the Arno River. It was such a perfect way to spend our last night in Florence. We sat under the star-filled sky eating, drinking, laughing, and talking about life and the affairs of love. it was just so entirely wonderful! The next day, we attended mass at the Duomo, walked across Ponte Vecchio, then took a train to Venice.
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