Florence

Florence is another great Italian city with its renaissance architecture to its 700 year old castles, with wonders of the art world and where Michelangelo’s influence is felt everywhere. This truly is a city created for and by artists and Laurence was in his absolute glory.

View of the Duomo of the Santa Maria di Fiore

People on top of Duomo

  

Our bed and breakfast in Florence was an absolute pleasure with its Tuscan charm and hosts and fellow guests who made you feel right at home. And it’s location in the centre of the old city meant everything was literally a 10 minute stroll away. Including all the amazing trattorias with their great regional food, to Laurence’s dismay included bunny and lompredotto (cow’s stomach) all very delicious. And the wine in this country is cheaper than the water.

Stairs inside the Duomo

Our first adventure was climbing the famous Duomo of the Santa Maria di Fiore (designed by Brunelleschi), the architectural wonder of its time built in 1430 to a height of 286 feet. The view from the top was amazing as you could see the entire valley where Florence is nestled. This basilica is a site to see with its roman inspired facades and frescos painted in the 1500s, the journey up all those stairs was worth it.

Another true highlight of our journey to Florence was a visit the Galleria dell’ Accademia the home of the amazing statue of David by Michelangelo. I have seen many versions of the statue all over the world but the original truly is a work of art, and as our host so eloquently put it “the marble seems to breathe”. This truly is one of those wonders of the art world that has to be seen in person to truly appreciate, we were there for almost an hour just taking in the work along with other great works by this great master.

Maphew in front of Ponte Vecchio

Of course we visited the famous Uffizi gallery with its incredible collection of medieval, renaissance and modern art. The highlight of course was watching Laurence in the Botticelli room absorbing so many of his works and of course the famous Birth of Venus. And to top it off the gallery was having a Caravaggio show (Laurence’s favourite artist of this period) so he was in overdrive.

This city is so easy to discover as you navigate yourself through the tight streets and old piazzas with museums and old churches on every corner. In fact on Sunday I am sure we stopped in over 8 eight churches and even took in a portion of mass at one and got to experience vespers with the Gregorian monks at the monastery. And the interior of the Palazzo Pitti is like a small version of Versailles with it’s over top decorations and wonderfully ornate collections of the influential Medici family.

Ciao Bella

This city is on our list or repeats, so much that Laurence started in inquire about painting classes at one of the many art schools here. We could certainly spend a year in this Tuscan treasure called Florence.