Firenze

I think I liked Florence even before I got there. How is that possible? Let me explain. When we were in Rome, we got to know this young Aussie couple who were staying in the same dorm as us. The girl offered me the book she was just finishing and I took it gleefully having had nothing to read since we left London. The book was a historical novel set in Florence during the Renaissance. Through it I got great insight into life in Florence, the significant places in the city and the role art and religion played in people's lives in that time. The city also had a great vibe. The historical centre was quite compact, the streets narrow but clean and there was art all around you from the statues in the main square to the architecture of the old buildings and bridges to the slow windy river running through the heart of the city. Its no wonder that I fell in love with the place and consider it my favourite Italian city.

We also stayed in a great hostel that had everything you could want from a hostel and more. The rooms were clean and spacey and they had free wifi all over the hostel. There was a cute terrace to sit and relax as well as a small garden full of fruit trees alive with chirping birds throughout the day. But the best part about the hostel was the fact that they provided free breakfast (eggs & bacon or muesli or french toast) as well as dinner (pasta or pizza).

We did the free walking tours of the city run by the hostel and visited the main square, Piazza della Signoria with its outdoor statue gallery, Neptune fountain and Palazzo Vecchio alongside Michaelangelo's 'David'. This piazza was the main gathering point for the citizens of Florence in the olden days where everything from meetings & rallies, hangings, bonfires and celebrations took place. Palazzo Vecchio with its magnificent great hall full of expansive paintings & statues has been the seat of government for hundreds of years and is still used by the governor of Florence for his offices.

The statues in the outdoor gallery are also worthy of note. The two originals include 'Persius' with the head of Madusa and the 360 degree twisting depiction the 'Rape of Sabine Women'. Then of course there is Michaelangelo's David, well a copy of it anyway, standing all white and tall at the entrance to Palazzo Vecchio. We saw the original in the Academia Gallery as does everyone who comes to Florence. The 'David' is remarkable perhaps for its sheer size more than anything else. While Pramo could not get past the fact that the head and hands were too large for the rest of the body. My favourite sculpture was that of Persius in bronze by Benvenuto Cellini. Persius is in perfect proportion and the whole sculpture has a remarkable level detail. The more you looked at the more you appreciated it's beauty. I could sit and stare at it for hours (which I did on most days).

Florence also had the BEST gelato we had tasted anywhere. Our walking guide told us that the city had the highest concentration of gellaterias in Europe and pointed us to one that she thought was good. They made their gelato fresh everyday using the fruits found in the market and boy, did they taste good. I think we had gelato everyday and more than once on some days. The pistachio was fabulous, as was the ricotta, blackberry, strawberry, peach, fig and chocolate sorbet.

A few meters from the main square is the river Arno with several bridges connecting the 2 sides of Florence. Ponte Vecchio bridge is the only original left since the rein of the Medici as all the others were destroyed in WWII and rebuilt since.

No trip to Florence is complete without a visit to the Uffizi gallery where the big guns of Renaissance art are on show. Even after getting there before opening we had to wait in line for about 40 minutes. Then finally after a few unremarkable rooms we saw Botticelli's famed 'Primavera' and 'The Birth of Venus'. Unfortunately they were both quite hard to see behind a glass cover and appeared faded. There was a lot more to see beyond those 2 paintings but I cant remember any of them so I guess that says a lot. I think the Renaissance paintings are bit too hyped up to be honest. They displayed great technique and depicted the human body better than ever before but the subjects all seemed rather dull. A majority of the works tended to be religious in nature, and then almost all of those depicted the same few scenes over and over again, whether its 'Madonna and child', 'Annunciation', 'Adoration of Magi' etc etc. While one could appreciate the skill and talent from a pure academic point of view there was nothing for me that reality struck a chord through the subject. Whereas Renaissance sculpture in my belief is quite brilliant and praise worthy. Always so evocative and with such a superior level of craftsmanship even some of the incomplete works by Michaelangelo displayed in the Academia seemed to be coming alive through the marble.

In the time we spent in Florence we also did a couple of day trips. One to see the leaning tower of Pisa and the other to the medieval town of Siena. We went to Siena a day before the 'il palio' - the annual medieval horse race set in the town square with each neighbouring city region competing to win the 'palio', a painted flag of the Virgin Mary. The town was covered with the colourful flags of the different regions and people wore their team flags around their necks. The atmosphere was quite festive in preparation for the most important event in the town's calendar.

Overall Florence was relaxing and enjoyable. Many nights we walked to the main square after dinner and sat around listening to the basking flute player and watching the gallery of statues and people alike, or strolled down to the river Arno to watch the sunset over Ponte Vecchio.