This story picks up after Trip Recap 02: Venice.
After our feast on the train from Venice we arrived into Florence around 9pm-ish. We tossed on our packs and made our way to the lovely PLUS Florence hostel. My folks had seen something on Good Morning America about it a while back and so we decided to check it out. We would be in Florence for 4 nights, but we could only get a room there for 3. [more about what we did on that 4th night later on in the post]. After about a 15 minute walk from the Santa Maria Novella train station we arrived at the hostel and just chilled for a while before calling it a day. We were exhausted!
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On Wednesday the 13th of May, our first full day in Florence, we got an early start so that we could be near the front of the line to get into the Accadamia gallery and see the David!
You hear so much about this sculpture by Michelangelo but until you actually see it in person you have no idea how impressive it really is. I took the second photo and included the people below David just to give you a sense of scale. [note: no photos were allowed to be taken so I had to covertly sneak these ones in...shhh, don't tell anyone]
A quick aside here: Italy must be the motor scooter mecca of the world and by far the city of Florence has the most of them. They zip in and out of traffic and breakneck speed and you constantly have to be on the lookout for them when you cross the street. They come in all shapes and sizes and everyone from college students to business women ride them. Here are a few of them as well as a few other forms of transport we thought were interesting!
After the David it was on to see the Florence Cathedral otherwise known as the Duomo! Our first stop was actually the bell tower and all 400+ steps of said tower. It was well worth the climb though because it affords you a great view of the city and of course the Duomo.
More gelato...we also found some type of gelato that they serve on top of a waffle. That became known as the waffle-ato. It really wasn't that good though...
Here are a few shots of city hall and Santa Maria Novella church.
Later that day we decided to buy a bottle of wine and head up to Piazza Michelangelo to watch the sunset over the city. On our way across the river we of course used the Ponta Vecchio and checked out its many jewlery shops. Sunset over the city with a bottle of wine was a great way to spend the evening...and we weren't the only ones who had this idea.
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On Thursday morning we walked around town a bit more before taking a little excursion to the countryside. We saw the Duomo again and a really cool sculpture shop as well as SS. Annuziata Bascillica.
So, for our little sidetrip we decided to take a ride out to wine country. Heck, we're in Italy right? Just south of Florence is the region of Chianti where they make that oh-so-delicious chianti wine! We signed up for a bus ride/tour out there that would take us to a winery and give us some time out there to explore one of the towns. We hoped aboard our little mine-bus with about 8 other people and set off to Castello Vicchiomaggio, about 40 minutes away. The castle is now a very nice hotel but they still make wine there which you can get here in the US. So, if you see it in your local store be sure to pick up a bottle, it's well worth it. So we got a tour of the facilty and then got down to business in the tasting room. Come on...we all know how wine is made...let's just see how it tastes, right?
We did learn about Chianti Classico and the strict standards the wine needs to meet to get the little red lable with the rooster on it, so that was interesting. After our tour and tasting we took a short ride to the town of Greve in Chianti where we got about an hour to walk around and explore some of the local shops. By far our favorite was a great little butcher we came across. You should have seen all the meats and cheeses! I think we spent the entire hour in there!
After a great day out in the country we got on the bus back to Florence. I wish I could tell you we had a wild and crazy night, but that's not the case. After a week of travel it was finally time to do laundry! Oh well...it had to be done. We did however, find our way up to the roofdeck of our hostel where they conviently had a bar which was having a wine special that night. Hmmmm...right up our alley. And check out this view from the roof?
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On our final morning in Florence we went to the Uffizi Gallery. We had pre-purchased tickets so we didn't have to wait in line, big time saver! The Uffizi can be a bit overwhelming, but it's worth a stroll through it's maze of rooms.
I took these pictures on the way in...before they really started to enforce the "no photo" rule. How about those two busts...ugliest two guys I've ever seen!
So, as I mentioned above, since we couldn't get a 4th night at our hostel there in Florence we decided against moving to another hostel and figured why not just head out of town for the night. Que the 3pm train out to Lucca...
Be sure to read Trip Recap 04: Lucca. in a few days.
Aw I'm so jealous it looks like you guys had an awesome time. Your night shot of Palazzo Vecchio is really great. I won't lie the Chianti tours are amazing- especially the tasting!
Posted by: Emily | June 24, 2009 at 04:36 PM
How did you get the picture of the David sculpture ? NO PHOTOGRAPHY is allowed in that room !
Posted by: BobDOG | June 24, 2009 at 08:39 PM