Four days in Florence
Depending on your point of view, 4 days in Florence is either 2 too many or only half what you really need.
For those into art and culture the Accademia and the Uffizi Gallery are a great way to kill the better part of a day. With artworks dating back to the Renaissance and earlier, the hassle and expense of last minute tickets might put many people off. But after travelling all this way, who cares. We met couples who had paid scalpers up to 50 euro per ticket for each place so I think we got off easy.
With a couple of dozen churches, galleries, museums, gardens etc to see, a comprehensive visit of this city would take at least two weeks. We contented ourselves with the basics. The duomo, it's museum, the baptistery and the bell tower kept us busy and tired for a good day and more. Adding in a visit to the Basilica of Santa Croce ( a who's who of famous Italians are buried there) and that was quite enough for 4 days.
I haven't dared to check how many km we walked looking at Squares, Piazzas and the exteriors of buildings he hadn't the time to see.
Our original plans had included a climb up to the top of the dome of the Duomo. This involves ascending and descending about 460 uneven stairs in a fairly confined space with few opportunities to see out until one actually reaches the very top. We chose, instead, to hike the adjacent bell tower which had about 50 fewer steps. It also had the advantage of having fairly even stairs and observation decks at 3 different heights before reaching the actual top of the tower. Reaching the top one had a perfect view of the adjacent dome as well as the countrside in all directions for miles around. I was initially rather nervous of the climb but I think the limited hiking we did in Cinq Terre was sufficient preparation.
As for the Accademia and the Uffizi, I would have to say, the latter was a much better "bang for the buck" Other than the famous Statue of David there was little else in the Accademia to hold one's interest. Most of the artwork consisted of plaster casts and reproductions and I doubt that most tourists remained there once they had captured their photos and selfies of MIchelangelo's most famous statue.
The Uffizi, on the other hand, kept us occupied for well over 3 hours. The ceilings alone were enough to entertain me for many hours without even looking at the actual artwork on display.
Key masterpieces included Botticelli's Birth of Venus and a recently restored Adoration of the Magi by da Vinci but besides these and hundreds of other paintings, the gallary boasts a massive collection of sculptures, of which only a few (hundred) are displayed. Essentially Roman copies ( 2000 years old) of Ancient Greek statues many seemed familiar as we had encountered them or their originals on our many travels through Greece and Turkey.
While we did see quite a lot on our 4 day visit to Florence, what we did not see will have to be the basis for a future return to the area.
As for our dining experiences we actually limited our lunches to a single location called Pizzicheria Antonio Porrati. A hole in the wall of a deli that served food by weight. Anything from tripe to tagliatelle that was mostly remade and re-heated once ordered. At an average cost of $6-7E a person it was tasty, fast and a lot cheaper than a set meal at a restaurant. Dinners were split between a local trattoria and take out options like pizza or fried chicken. I imagine I'll post reviews on TripAdvisor when I get a few minutes.
Tomorrow our next stop is Siena where, I hope, the pace will be a little slower.
For those into art and culture the Accademia and the Uffizi Gallery are a great way to kill the better part of a day. With artworks dating back to the Renaissance and earlier, the hassle and expense of last minute tickets might put many people off. But after travelling all this way, who cares. We met couples who had paid scalpers up to 50 euro per ticket for each place so I think we got off easy.
With a couple of dozen churches, galleries, museums, gardens etc to see, a comprehensive visit of this city would take at least two weeks. We contented ourselves with the basics. The duomo, it's museum, the baptistery and the bell tower kept us busy and tired for a good day and more. Adding in a visit to the Basilica of Santa Croce ( a who's who of famous Italians are buried there) and that was quite enough for 4 days.
I haven't dared to check how many km we walked looking at Squares, Piazzas and the exteriors of buildings he hadn't the time to see.
Our original plans had included a climb up to the top of the dome of the Duomo. This involves ascending and descending about 460 uneven stairs in a fairly confined space with few opportunities to see out until one actually reaches the very top. We chose, instead, to hike the adjacent bell tower which had about 50 fewer steps. It also had the advantage of having fairly even stairs and observation decks at 3 different heights before reaching the actual top of the tower. Reaching the top one had a perfect view of the adjacent dome as well as the countrside in all directions for miles around. I was initially rather nervous of the climb but I think the limited hiking we did in Cinq Terre was sufficient preparation.
As for the Accademia and the Uffizi, I would have to say, the latter was a much better "bang for the buck" Other than the famous Statue of David there was little else in the Accademia to hold one's interest. Most of the artwork consisted of plaster casts and reproductions and I doubt that most tourists remained there once they had captured their photos and selfies of MIchelangelo's most famous statue.
The Uffizi, on the other hand, kept us occupied for well over 3 hours. The ceilings alone were enough to entertain me for many hours without even looking at the actual artwork on display.
Key masterpieces included Botticelli's Birth of Venus and a recently restored Adoration of the Magi by da Vinci but besides these and hundreds of other paintings, the gallary boasts a massive collection of sculptures, of which only a few (hundred) are displayed. Essentially Roman copies ( 2000 years old) of Ancient Greek statues many seemed familiar as we had encountered them or their originals on our many travels through Greece and Turkey.
While we did see quite a lot on our 4 day visit to Florence, what we did not see will have to be the basis for a future return to the area.
As for our dining experiences we actually limited our lunches to a single location called Pizzicheria Antonio Porrati. A hole in the wall of a deli that served food by weight. Anything from tripe to tagliatelle that was mostly remade and re-heated once ordered. At an average cost of $6-7E a person it was tasty, fast and a lot cheaper than a set meal at a restaurant. Dinners were split between a local trattoria and take out options like pizza or fried chicken. I imagine I'll post reviews on TripAdvisor when I get a few minutes.
Tomorrow our next stop is Siena where, I hope, the pace will be a little slower.
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