Florence is not a place you can see in part of a day as we discovered. It had been on our list of places to visit and we headed out after breakfast.
It's a 125 km drive so we took the Autostrada there and followed the GPS route to the old down town. We passed through one of the narrowest walled roads we have seen so far. It was like a slot car track!
Finally we followed signs to a parking building (always the hardest part of visits to these places) and left the car.
Florence is a city where the motorcycle or scooter is king. There are streets full of them parked. They pass you on both sides when you drive and seem to have their own road rules. Everyone from businessmen to kids are on two wheels.
There are also a lot of pedestrian streets and in addition to walkers you have to watch for bicycles. If you're lucky, they ring their bell as they come up behind you.
The center part of the city is dominated by the huge domed church all done in green and white carved marble. Stunning.
There was no way to get near it with the crowds. We had lunch in the square and looked at it and all the people streaming by. This is the first place we had noticed gypsies working in the crowds. The women were begging for money for their children. Most people ignored them.
There are artists everywhere around this city, more than any other place we have been. Some places there were 8 or 10 in a row set up with canvas or paper and either painting or sketching. If you wanted to sit for a few minutes you could have your portrait done.
There are lots of statues on display as well. The famous "David" is here but every corner has something displayed. Again, we didn't get into any of the exhibits due to lineups and lack of time.
What you could not avoid were the stores and shops. Barbara bought a few things, the prices seemed better here than certainly Venice. The famous Ponte Vecchio bridge is lined on both sides with jewelry stores all competing for the tourist euro. There is a lot of gold on that bridge.
In a city this big with so many people we were surprised to run into members of the wedding party we had met the night before. They were shopping as well.
It was back to the villa once we got tired of the crowds. This time we ignored the GPS and took the slower back roads home, seeing some of the same country from a different direction. It was after 6 by the time we got there. There were snacks and beer by the pool before another of Barb's wonderful suppers. She created her own ragout like we had made in cooking class the night before using the ingredients we had on hand.
If we come back to this part of Italy again we'll plan on staying in Florence for a couple of nights to get a chance to see more of its art and history.
We have only two more nights in the villa before we head north so tomorrow we visit some wineries.
It's a 125 km drive so we took the Autostrada there and followed the GPS route to the old down town. We passed through one of the narrowest walled roads we have seen so far. It was like a slot car track!
Finally we followed signs to a parking building (always the hardest part of visits to these places) and left the car.
Florence is a city where the motorcycle or scooter is king. There are streets full of them parked. They pass you on both sides when you drive and seem to have their own road rules. Everyone from businessmen to kids are on two wheels.
There are also a lot of pedestrian streets and in addition to walkers you have to watch for bicycles. If you're lucky, they ring their bell as they come up behind you.
The center part of the city is dominated by the huge domed church all done in green and white carved marble. Stunning.
There was no way to get near it with the crowds. We had lunch in the square and looked at it and all the people streaming by. This is the first place we had noticed gypsies working in the crowds. The women were begging for money for their children. Most people ignored them.
There are artists everywhere around this city, more than any other place we have been. Some places there were 8 or 10 in a row set up with canvas or paper and either painting or sketching. If you wanted to sit for a few minutes you could have your portrait done.
There are lots of statues on display as well. The famous "David" is here but every corner has something displayed. Again, we didn't get into any of the exhibits due to lineups and lack of time.
What you could not avoid were the stores and shops. Barbara bought a few things, the prices seemed better here than certainly Venice. The famous Ponte Vecchio bridge is lined on both sides with jewelry stores all competing for the tourist euro. There is a lot of gold on that bridge.
In a city this big with so many people we were surprised to run into members of the wedding party we had met the night before. They were shopping as well.
It was back to the villa once we got tired of the crowds. This time we ignored the GPS and took the slower back roads home, seeing some of the same country from a different direction. It was after 6 by the time we got there. There were snacks and beer by the pool before another of Barb's wonderful suppers. She created her own ragout like we had made in cooking class the night before using the ingredients we had on hand.
If we come back to this part of Italy again we'll plan on staying in Florence for a couple of nights to get a chance to see more of its art and history.
We have only two more nights in the villa before we head north so tomorrow we visit some wineries.
No comments:
Post a Comment