I got to Florence at noon. It was HOT. I made it to the hostel (it was right next to the train station, but it was still hot), showered, and went out. After a quick meal and a cold beer, I found the famous Duomo. I did not go into into the main chapel part. Il Duomo is beautifully decorated on the outside. It is of an unusual green and white combination with countless statues and designs. And next to it, of course, is the Baptistry, with Ghiberti's bronze doors. I barely looked at the doors, because of the heat and tourists.
I walked around the historic city center, trying to match the buildings on the street with the pictures in my Eyewitness travel book. There is a church on every corner. Each one is different, quiet, and beautiful. And you never know when you might come across a jewel, like Filipino Lippi's "Annunciation" or one of Giotto's frescoes.
Towards the evening I went onto the Ponte Vecchio, and admired all the jewelry shops. The best part were the weddings though. Couple after couple posed on the bridge with a photographer following them. There was also a guitarist playing romantic Italian songs, who I saw the next day at the Uffizi Gallery.
The next day was much more productive, from the point of view of a tourist at least. I had a reservation to the Uffizi at 10 AM. Surprisingly, the line for people with a reservation was actually shorter than the line for those without one. I finally saw the "Venus of Urbino," which was the most impressive. From there I headed straight to the Palazzo Strozzi, which happened to be holding an exhibition of De Chirico, Max Ernst, Rene Magritte, and others. Also an awesome exhibition, and it couldn't be more timely considering my spring class on Modern European Art. Finally, after standing in a line (where the reservation side was longer than the non-reservation), in the heat, and damning everything in the world, I saw Michelangelo's masterpiece.
People say that there are two copies of "David" in the piazza's of Florence, but they do not even come close. It is the most realistic and living statue I have ever imagined. He seems to be relaxed if you look from the front. But his neck and muscles have so much tension, that it is easy to forget that this is only a statue and is not about to move. I must say though, that Michelangelo's women, which are said to look like "men with breasts" remind me of anti-war Soviet posters, where muscular working class women demand that their sons stay home away from the army. I got a deck of cards from Florence for my collection, and you can guess which part of the David was close-up on the Jokers.
I walked around the historic city center, trying to match the buildings on the street with the pictures in my Eyewitness travel book. There is a church on every corner. Each one is different, quiet, and beautiful. And you never know when you might come across a jewel, like Filipino Lippi's "Annunciation" or one of Giotto's frescoes.Towards the evening I went onto the Ponte Vecchio, and admired all the jewelry shops. The best part were the weddings though. Couple after couple posed on the bridge with a photographer following them. There was also a guitarist playing romantic Italian songs, who I saw the next day at the Uffizi Gallery.
The next day was much more productive, from the point of view of a tourist at least. I had a reservation to the Uffizi at 10 AM. Surprisingly, the line for people with a reservation was actually shorter than the line for those without one. I finally saw the "Venus of Urbino," which was the most impressive. From there I headed straight to the Palazzo Strozzi, which happened to be holding an exhibition of De Chirico, Max Ernst, Rene Magritte, and others. Also an awesome exhibition, and it couldn't be more timely considering my spring class on Modern European Art. Finally, after standing in a line (where the reservation side was longer than the non-reservation), in the heat, and damning everything in the world, I saw Michelangelo's masterpiece.
People say that there are two copies of "David" in the piazza's of Florence, but they do not even come close. It is the most realistic and living statue I have ever imagined. He seems to be relaxed if you look from the front. But his neck and muscles have so much tension, that it is easy to forget that this is only a statue and is not about to move. I must say though, that Michelangelo's women, which are said to look like "men with breasts" remind me of anti-war Soviet posters, where muscular working class women demand that their sons stay home away from the army. I got a deck of cards from Florence for my collection, and you can guess which part of the David was close-up on the Jokers.
Finally, with two hours left, I made up my mind to go up to the Piazzale Michelangelo. It's not really a long walk, but the heat and stairs, and standing up all day... Anyways, it was well worth it; a view of the whole city from the top, of the Arno River, the bridges, and of course the Duomo marking the skyline.
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