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| Florence Skyline |
Rome and Florence Italy
Monday 21st
July 2014
The
first thing I felt as I got up was the intense strain in my legs yet again.
Despite the pain, I picked myself up and headed into the restaurant for
breakfast. I noticed that each day in the restaurant there were always
different faces each morning. I must have been the only one staying for the
whole week. As I was having my breakfast I was constantly focused on my plans
for the day. As I had seen the main sites of Rome,
I made the decision to take a trip to Florence.
My mind was full of excitement with the thought of being there so I then
grabbed my essentials for the train journey and headed to the station.
Unfortunately, on the way to the train station, I was caught in the rain whilst
wearing only shorts and t-shirt; so I was quite wet by the time I arrived there.
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| Roman Aqueduct |
I headed straight to the ticket office and asked for a return ticket to Florence. I had second
thoughts when I was told it would cost 96 Euros but I always wanted to go to Florence and I had the
money available so I paid and received my tickets. As soon as I got my tickets,
I was excited to get going but I soon ran into a problem. In my haste, I was standing
at the wrong platform reading my ticket completely wrong and had to get to the
right platform within 10 minutes. Thankfully, I managed to get onto the right
train with slight help and we set off at 10:35am. I was told that it would take
an hour and a half to arrive at the station in Florence and so I plugged my
headphones in and listened to my music as I watched the beautiful Italian
countryside go by my window. Despite the weather being overcast, it was a
magnificent site to witness as I felt so relaxed even whilst sitting with 4
complete strangers. I couldn’t believe how fast we were going too as the trains’
onboard computer showed that the fastest we were going was 155mph. Time had
passed and the train slowed down as we arrived into Florence. I soon realised that the weather
was a lot worse here than in Rome
so as soon as I got off the train and bought a map of the area, I headed into
the first shop I could see which sold coats and jackets. Moments later I left
the shop with my new red jacket and kindly gave my umbrella to a stranger who
needed it more than me and checked out my map of Florence again. I already knew that this city
was smaller than Rome
as far as locations were concerned and as I turned the first bend in the road,
the first location was dead ahead; the one I had always wanted to see; the
Duomo. Everything I expected about the look and size of the church was achieved
and I was speechless when I stood right next to it.
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| Duomo |
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| Duomo Main Doors |
I could see a large line
forming to get into the church so I joined it. It was the most miserable game
of conga I had ever been a part of but the line was moving pretty fast and I
was soon inside the Duomo.
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| Conga Line to enter Duomo |
Yet again I was gobsmacked when I first walked in. Like
the Basilica of St Peters, the Duomo had a large dome which was magnificent in
its own way. It also had a unique clock above the main entrance which had
bizarre roman numerals around it which didn’t make sense to me at all. I could
see that I could get to the dome and look down upon the city so I headed out of
the church to get to it plus to get away from the jam packed crowd. As I was
leaving, there was a Chinese family in front of me taking a picture of their
daughter. The difference between them taking a picture than any other family
was that their daughter had the full Assassin’s Creed 2 costume on. I couldn’t
believe what I saw as I was smiling at the sight of this. I asked them if I
could take a picture and so I did. I think I was the only one in the church who
understood who she was dressed up as and why (the game was set in Florence).
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| Inside Duomo |
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| Duomo |
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| Duomo |
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| Duomo |
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| Chinese Tourist - Assassins Creed 2 Cosplay |
I exited the
building standing right next to the tower alongside the church. At this point I
changed my mind about going up to the dome and wanted to go up the bell tower
instead. Whilst I was queuing up I could hear the sound of a choir singing
right behind me. I turned around and had realised the choir singers were
British and were singing whilst lining up to get up the tower. It was nice to
hear to relieve the boredom I felt of queuing up until I eventually got into
the building.
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| Duomo |
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| Bell Tower |
Just in front of me there was my enemy; the stairs. Without a
second thought I climbed and climbed the narrow stone steps with half the time
giving way to people coming down the steps which was monotonous. I had sweat
pouring down my back but I kept thinking that these stairs were nothing compared
to St Peters
dome so I kept going until I reached the top. My heart was in my mouth with the
views of Florence
surrounding me at al sides. Familiar sites of the city were around me such as
the Palazzo della Signoria, Palazzo di Medici, Santa Croce and Ponte Vechio. I
spent a long time taking in the breathtaking sites of Florence and also gathering my bearings to
easily find the main locations before heading back to the bottom.
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| View from Bell Tower - South |
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| View from Bell Tower - South East |
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| View of Duomo from Bell Tower |
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| Inside Bell Tower |
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| Duomo |
After passing
the Palazzo di Strozzi, I ended up right next to the Arno River
which was completely calm giving off a mirror effect of infamous Ponte Vechio
right in front of me. It was a very unique sight to look at with its buildings
built onto the bridge. It was a great feeling when I set foot onto the bridge too
and to witness all the little shops on it with spectacular views of the Arno River
on both sides of the bridge. The shops were jewellery shops, clothes shops, sweet shops and there were a few market stalls selling trinkets too.
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| Palazzo Strozzi |
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| Sweet Shop Window Display |
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| Arno River |
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| Ponte Vecchio |
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| Ponte Vecchio |
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| Arno River |
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| Ponte Vecchio |
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| Sandwich Shop Window Display |
My next
thought came to my mind as to figure out where to go next. I always wanted to
see the city at a distance and I was told to head to a place called the
Piazzale Michelangelo. I walked by this beautiful looking shop along the way which
had an ice cream stand inside and then a thought came to me that I never had an
ice cream during my trip to Italy.
So I went into the beautiful quaint shop and I picked a tiramisu ice cream and
it was the best tasting ice cream I ever had so far. I loved how the flavours
just melted in my mouth and I was not happy when I finished the lot.
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| Ice Cream Shop Window Display |
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| Tiramasu Ice Cream |
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| Palazzo Pitti |
While I
was having my beautiful ice cream, I tried to find a quick way to the Piazzale
but ended up in a different area right next to the Forte di Belvedere. I had to
climb down a hill only to climb up the right hill and my legs took a battering
because of that. After climbing more stairs trying to keep up with an elderly
man and failing, I eventually arrived to the sight of hundreds of people at the
Piazzale looking over to the city. It was amazing and felt relieved when I
looked onto the beautiful city of Florence
hitting me at the fact I was at this marvelous place. The Duomo was the main
building that stood out along with the Palazzo della Signoria. I spent a long
time admiring the wonderful views at a great angle placing the views in my
heart so I wouldn’t forget it. A long while had passed until I decided to head
to the Palazzo della Signoria.
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| Fiat 500 - Classic Italian Car |
It was quite a long walk from where I was to the
Palazzo weaving in and out of streets still focusing on my bearings but finally
I arrived with a sense of relief. It felt great standing in front of the
marvelous unique building admiring the architecture and the statues surrounding
the courtyard.
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| Piazza della Signoria |
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| Piazza della Signoria |
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| Piazza della Signoria |
By this time it was time for something good to eat; so I sat outside
a busy restaurant in the square at the front of the Palazzo and I had ordered
thinly sliced grilled meat with rocket potatoes and parmesan with a large beer.
Along with the balsamic vinegar it tasted magnificent. After I cleansed my
plate from the great food on it, I decided to go and see the Santa Croce which
was not far from where I was still working my way through the streets and then
I soon arrived to the sight of the beautiful marble architecture at the face of
the church. The inside of the church was like any other church with its mosaic
art and beautiful statues. I wanted to see the courtyard more next to the
church but I didn’t want to pay the entrance fee.
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| Santa Croce |
Instead I headed back to the
Duomo still mesmerised by its shear beauty and then I took a slow walk to the
church in the north called the San Marco. The difference with this church than
the Santa Croce was that there was a glass casket of a pope who had passed on
which was still an interesting site to witness. I passed the Palazzo di Medici
which didn’t have much to show on the outside but I assumed there was a lot
more wonders within its walls and ended up at San Lorenzo.
I sat at its steps for a brief moment and then walked into its courtyard. It
was small but pretty to see nonetheless as I sat for a long while resting my
tired legs and I couldn’t believe how peaceful it was too. I enjoyed this peace
and quiet admiring the beautiful courtyard with an orange tree at its centre
and then I looked at the time realising I only had an hour left to spare before
I had to return to the station.
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| Palazzo Medici Riccardi |
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| San Lorenzo |
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| San Lorenzo |
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| San Lorenzo Courtyard |
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| San Lorenzo Courtyard |
So I spent it by sitting in front of the Duomo
admiring its beautiful unique marble work with huge orange roof tiles with not
a care with what was going on around me. The peace in my heart ran away when
the church bells were chiming loud across the entire city. It was lovely to hear
though and this finished off a perfect day in Florence for me. Unfortunately, it was time
to head back to the station and as I didn’t want to make the mistake of
standing at the wrong platform again, I paid close attention to the board and
felt relaxed as I sat at the right platform watching my train pull into the
station moment later. I successfully sat in the right seat and I felt great
because there was nobody else sitting in my area which meant I had loads of
space to stretch my tired legs and relax. I plugged my headphones in yet again
and went into my own world. On the return journey the rain was becoming
torrential in the distance and I could see a lot of lightning bolts whizzing
through the clouds. Luckily enough, we had passed the worst of the weather an
hour and a half later finally arriving in Rome.
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| Train to Rome |
By this time it was completely dark and I was contemplating on going back to my
hotel to end the day but I chose to go to the café I was at last night at the
Pantheon. Before I knew it I arrived at the café and I was welcomed by the
workers there as a friend. The women who I met last night weren’t there but I
had a great chat to one of the waitresses telling her about my day to Florence. I then
mentioned to her that I was planning on going to Istanbul soon and she was telling me her
story of the time she was there. She shared her food with me too and it was
quite delicious as it was Italian brioche with sliced tomatoes on top. It was
starting to get really late at this point so I headed back to my hotel
constantly thinking about Florence
and thinking that I finally been to such a picturesque city and seen the places
I wanted to see. The pain in my legs was nothing compared to the soothing
comfort in my heart of this beautiful place of Italy.
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