Florence - Day One (just catching up....)

Day 3 (Our first day in Florence)

We missed recording this day but it was a big day. We drove the 5 kilometres into Florence. Somehow we didn’t get lost. We took heaps of narrow and one-way back streets.

We parked at Piazza Michaelangelo which is on top of a hill overlooking the city. It was a perfect place to start with a panoramic view of the city. We jumped on an open top bus for a 45 minute tour through Florence. Then we walked around all the city sights including Ponte Vecchio bridge, Arno River, Santa Croce Basilica, Piazza Del Duomo, Medici Chapel, Uffizi Gallery, museums everywhere, Pallazo Vecchio, Pitti Palace/Museums, San Lorenzo Church, Santa Maria Del Fiore Cathedral. Most of these places date back 700 to 800 years.

Florence (Firenze) is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. Florence is famous for its history. A centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of the time, Florence is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance. A turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful Medici family, and numerous religious and republican revolutions and wars. (We are hearing that there were many local wars back in medieval times, sometimes between regions, sometimes between nearby villages).

Florence was established in 80 BC. Now that is pretty old. For a short time in history Florence was also the capital of Italy. (Now it is Rome).

Florence is noted for its history, culture, Renaissance art and architecture and monuments. Florence is also an important city in Italian fashion. Heaps of ritzy clothes shops and gold shops too.

We looked through many cathedrals and churches. Some cost money to enter. Mum was not allowed in one because she had shorts on and was showing too much leg. She tied her cardigan around her waist to cover up a little and we got in.

One great church was the Santa Croce Basilica. Inside it has over 200 tombs of famous people. For example it is the burial place of some famous Italians, such as Michelangelo, Galileo and Machiavelli. Like most of the churches, there were incredible paintings and statues inside and there were paintings (frescos) all over the ceilings. All by very famous painters of the time such as Donatello.

Michelangelo is very famous. He was an Italian Renaissance sculptor, painter, architect, poet, and engineer. He and Leonardo da Vinci are the two most famous Italian Renaissance people, both strongly influenced the future of art and architecture. Michelangelo is considered one of the greatest artists of all time. A number of his works in painting, sculpture, and architecture are among the most famous in existence. We saw many.

Florence has lots of bridges across the Arno River. Ponte Vecchio Bridge has shops all along it, particularly gold and jewellery shops. We learnt that there was a massive flood here about 15 years ago which flooded the whole city and damaged many famous buildings and artworks.

Walking through the city we saw lots and lots of statues. Also we saw lots of incredible buildings with towers, spires, domes and ornate windows and doors and walls. The streets were packed with people walking around including Florence people and tourists. Often cars and taxis weaved their way through the people. We had gelati ice-cream. We went shopping for Erin’s birthday in a cool department store, much like DJs.

At the end of the day we jumped on the open top bus again and went up into the mountains above Florence to a beautiful place called Fiesole which had many massive residences and beautiful views. Lots of trees.

We drove home in the evening. Got lost a little but we have discovered getting lost when driving takes us to incredible places that we wouldn’t normally go to and we see the local suburbs and areas. We see where people live. Colourful mostly old two storey buildings with lots of windows and wooden doors. Some houses have front doors that open right onto the street. No footpaths sometimes. The roads sometimes are only wide enough for one car. In some places sometimes you see people hanging their washing out on a clothes line on a pulley outside their upstairs windows.

We had dinner at a restaurant (starting with Marguerita pizza again!!) and then home and had a quick swim in our pool.

A great day! We are going to come back in next couple of days to see the Uffizi Museum and do some more exploring.

Arriverderci. The Creber Girls xxx