Ho lasciato il mio cuore in Firenze

Ciao ragazzi!

I hope no one is trying to read several blogs in one day, as I now realize how long they will all be, especially this one as I try to put into words how wonderful Firenze is. For those of you who don't know Italian, the title of the blog is "I left my heart in Florence" (or at least I think that's what I wrote). Florence was an absolutely perfect city. I didn't want to leave, and I really can't wait to return.

We left Venice Monday morning around 9 a.m. As we went to get on the vaperetto, Clay paid for his ticket, but he didn't have exact change. I think he had a 10 euro maybe. Well, the Italians are crazy about exact change, and when you don't have exact change, they at least expect to pay with a larger bill, and then the extra change so that they only have to give you entire euros (I actually don't even know what "cents" is called in the euro system). So this lady yells at him for several minutes in angry Italian when he tried to pay for the ticket with a 10 euro. She eventually gave him change, but man, they really don't like making change. Needless to say after being yelled at in Italian and freezing to death for three days, we weren't too sad to leave Venice.

We hopped on the train without problem. This was a Eurostar, which is a really nice train. We probably paid more for it, but our only choices were Eurostars or waiting all day for another train. It was like a nice airplane really, and they even had a "restaurant" car where you could buy lunch. The train went through several tunnels and then suddenly, when we emerged from one of the tunnels, we were in a beautiful countryside with the sun shining brightly! I all of suddent got really excited and happy, and that's the moment I fell in love with Tuscany. I have no doubts I'll return there one day for a few weeks, or months, or maybe a lifetime. It's that gorgeous.

When we arrived at the train station, we were starved, so we grabbed a quick lunch at the station. I'm embarassed to say where, but just pretend you're a European for a minute. Where do all Americans eat? And what restaurant is in every train station? Yes, we ate there. And sadly my Mickey D's stories don't end there. But I'll elaborate on that later. We checked into the hotel without any problems, and then we headed off for the first sight: Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. It's a gorgeous cathedral designed by Brunelleschi, who from what I can tell did most of the churches in Florence. Apparently his architectural design for this dome was ingenious, although I don't really understand it. (And I realize this is probably a huge disappointment to Michael who could really understand the significance of the structure). I just know it looked cool The exterior is amazing. There is so much detail and color, and it's made from green and pink marble. Absolutely incredible. The inside is also amazing, and I'm not actually sure which part I liked better.

On the ceiling of the dome is a painting of The Last Judgement by Giorgio Vasari and Federico Zuccari (yeah, I don't know who they are either). The painting is massive, though, and it looks really awesome. I couldn't see too much from the floor, but thankfully, we could actually climb the Duomo, so we got an upclose look at the painting. The heaven part of the painting was pretty, but the lower part depicting hell was awesome. They were very creative when painting detailed flesh-eating demons in the depths of hell. I think they might have gone a little crazy since often religious art depicts some serene scene like the Madonna and Child. I think they just got excited to paint demons.

So we climbed the dome. There's 463 steps to the top, and the staircase is narrow, steep and winding. There's only room for one person on the staircase, so it's a bit tricky when someone tries to come the other way (which must happen in a few places). It was a bit closterphobic in the stairwells, so I was happy to reach the top, especially when I realized what waited for me. After all those steps, we emerged through a hole onto the balcony (don't think that's the right word) outside the basilica. We then walked around the top and enjoyed a full 360-degree view of Florence on a gorgeous sunny day. I fell in love with the city all over again!

We climbed back down, enjoying The Last Judgement ceiling one more time. Needless to say this was an excellent introduction to Florence. We walked around the piazza a bit, and we also took in the exterior of the baptistry, which is right across from the cathedral. The bapistry is famous for its bronze doors, each one depicting various religious scenes. For more information on the doors, you can check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battistero_di_San_Giovanni_%28Florence%29, as I don't care to retell all the history here. One set of doors still was very much in tact (meaning the bronze wasn't green, but actually bronze), so that was really cool. I did some close-up pictures of them, so I hope to show them to you soon. I should also note that the piazza has an impressive Campinile (bell tower) to match the cathedral. We didn't go up into the Campinile as it affords pretty much the same view as the basilica, minus the cool interior painting. But I'm sure I'll go there when I return to Florence!

We then walked to Piazza della Signoria. The piazza is home to Palazzo Vecchio, an old palace we saw on Wednesday, so I'll get to it later. The piazza also houses the Fountain of Neptune, which was cool. There is also an area where there are a ton of statues. I was really impressed until I realized that most of them are copies, which isn't mentioned on the labels oddly enough. There's also a copy of the David in this piazza. We stopped for some gelato in the piazza, and Clay ordered the better flavor, naturally. It never fails that he seems to order the better flavor every time we order gelato (and often times he orders the better dish at dinner too!).

We then took a stroll past the Uffizi Gallery and onto the road by the Arno River, where we got a great view of Ponte Vecchio. The cool thing about the bridge is that are still shops on the bridge, which apparently used to be customary when building bridges. And these shops aren't just on the bridge, they're practically half off the bridge as well. Looking at them, I wondered if one of the shops might just topple off and splash into the Arno. All the shops now are occupied by jewelers (I believe the stores used to be for butchers at one point), and the whole sparkles as the sun catches all the metal and diamonds in the storefront windows. One thing I love about Italy is that you can really window shop! Window displays are not small affairs here. Typically a shop "window" is actually a floor-to-ceiling panel of glass, so you can see lots of things. And often times, the displays only take up the lower half of the glass, so you can see past the displays and into the shop through this giant window. I think my favorite part about Ponte Vecchio, though, was watching all the older ladies window shop. They just walked up and down the road, stopping to peer into every store. They would point and smile as they admired all the jewelry, and I really enjoyed watching their husbands try to pull them away. I tried to get some good photos with my longer lens, so I'll try to put up one or two of those (I realize I keep promising photos without delivering, but really - they're coming soon).

We walked all the way to Chiesa di San Spirito, but there was a mass going on, so we couldn't go in. We headed back to the hotel then to relax and get ready for dinner. For dinner we had an excellent dinner with some wine. And I finally ordered a dish that was better than Clay's, so the day ended well!

Tuesday morning was the first time we had breakfast at our new place. Unlike the first hotel, our breakfast here was rationed. We were given a tray with a piece of bread and fette biscottate(basically really hard, dry, crunchy bread), along with some butter and jam. And the receptionist sat there and watched us eat, which was a little weird. Following breakfast, we headed to the Uffizi Gallery.

We should have made a reservation for the Uffizi, but we didn't have time to do it until the night before, and by that time, all the reserved times were taken up, so we had to wait in line for about an hour and 15 minutes. Unfortunately right behind us in line were four American girls who were loud and obnoxious. Not to mention they enjoyed swearing a lot, as if Europeans haven't learned those American words. They also were quite dumb, and for the most part Clay and I tried to pretend we weren't Americans. I really wish people like them weren't allowed to travel to be perfectly honest, because they are the ones who give all of us a bad name. In front of us was a very nice American family and the mother was quite funny as she leaned back a few times to tell us how embarassing these girls were (oddly enough, we ran into this same family in Accademia later, which isn't that far-fetched, but then we saw them in Rome . . . small world).

The Uffizi Gallery is huge, and to be perfectly honest it was overwhelming. In hindsight, we should have had a different strategy when approaching this massive gallery. I had read that it was huge and we should probably research which pieces specifically to see; however, as I've stated earlier, I am in no way an art buff, so I didn't even know where to begin in determining "important" pieces. Furthermore, we weren't given a map that showed what was in what room. If I ever go back, I will definitely fork up the extra 10 euro for the guidebook they sell downstairs. At least then I'll know where everything is and the significance of the paintings. We walked through every room, but you have to understand how overwhelming that is. There's just too much art in there. What I should have done was known exactly where the big stuff was and gone straight there, because after awhile, everything runs together, and it's difficult to be impressed with one painting when you've just spent all morning looking at hundreds of paintings. On top of that, practically every artist painted his own version of Madonna and Child, The Annuciation, The Adoration of the Magi, etc, etc. So they really do look all the same to the untrained eye. The cool thing, though, is that I got to stand and admire the works of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Michelango (there's were the only names I knew before I went in there, so those are the ones that most impressed me). If anything, maybe I'll become a bit more interested in art. After a tour at the Vatican, which I'll write about later, I realize how many little details painters leave in the pieces, and I really want to be in on the secrets.

After that exhausting experience, we stopped for lunch and then some home-made gelato, which was extremely good. We then walked to Piazza Santa Croce and enjoyed the music being played by a band in the piazza. We then walked back across town (we did a lot of walking last week by the way) to Accademia, home of Michelangelo's David, which was easily the most impressive art piece I saw all week.

I honestly don't know what words to use to describe David. He just looks so real. I could see the veins on his hands and arms. He had eyelids and pupils (most statues do not have pupils). All of his joints looked like they worked - ankles, kneecaps, etc. And his curly hair looked like it came from a Pantene ProV commercial. He looked so real that I would not have been the least bit surprised if he had blinked, stepped off his post and walked right out the door. He is quite huge, with a set of six-pack abs, which I found interesting. Whenever I read the biblical story I always pictured this puny little boy hurling the stone at Goliath. But David looks like a young man that could wrestle a lion. It really made me wonder what Michelangelo's Goliath would have looked like. We just sat and stared at David for awhile, waiting for him to move. When we decided he wouldn't, we left. Accademia also houses other statues, but you don't even see those until after you see the David, so really, what's the point? In comparison, these statuettes looked like they were done by 5th graders. I feel bad for the artists as the work would probably look quite impressive if it weren't for The David. There are also several unfinished works by Michelangelo, including his Pietà.

After resting some at the hotel we headed to Basilica di San Lorenzo, another big church in Florence. It's really amazing how much work went into all these churches. Then again, after we had seen several churches, the effect starts to wear off. San Lorenzo looked like just another church by the time we saw it. San Lorenzo is the burial place of several members of the Medici Family and also Donatello, who did the bronze pulpits for the church.

After the church, we headed to an Enoteca to try some Tuscan wine. Tuscany is known for their Chianti wine (which thankfully our wonderful friend (and chef) Michelle told us about), so we made sure to try plenty of it while there. We had a glass, accompanied by some cold cuts (specifically wild boar, another Tuscan thing). We kept speaking in Italian to the waiter (not sure if you really call him a waiter), who spoke in perfect English, but he was impressed that we were trying. He eventually started responding in Italian, and I think because we tried to speak the language, he gave us a free dessert. It was amazing! It was bread made from wine instead of water. On top of the bread was a slice of cheese (don't remember what kind), some grated orange zest and honey. I would have never put all those together, but it was amazing.

We left the Enoteca and actually went to a different wine shop to buy the wine. An enoteca is actually a place where you can drink and buy wine, but the one we went to was for a specific vineyard, so our choices were limited. We opted for the store instead as it didn't belong to a specific vineyard and we could browse a bit more. This is probably my favorite language story, though. Again, the guy in the store automatically spoke to us in English (although his accent was a bit more difficult to understand). Again, we kept responding in Italian. When we're in a restaurant, typically, the vocabulary is very easy. Furthermore, we already know what things the waiter will say/ask, so while they often switch to Italian, it's not like it's difficult Italian by any means. In the wine shop, though, once the guy realized we could speak it, he asked us if he could speak in Italian, and we agreed. This was huge for us as it was spending lots of time walking us around the explaining where the different wines came from, what different things on the label meant, etc. All in Italian, and we didn't miss a beat! And he was very pleased that we understood and could speak the language. Definitely one of my favorite moments!

We took our loot back to the hotel to rest and take showers before dinner. I can't fully explain my experiences in Florence without discussing the shower situation at Hotel Regina. In all the hotels we had a shared bathroom, which was fine. Hotel Regina's "shower", however was merely a faucet on the wall. There was a semi-curtain that we could use somehow, but when I took a shower, water basically went everywhere. I mean, I'm taking a shower right in front of the toilet, without any sort of side. Furthermore, while there was a drain on the floor, the floor was not sloped, and if the shower took too long, water would seep underneath the door and into the hallway. Not to mention there was no place safe to put clothes! We called the bathroom Hurricane Regina (yes, I realize this is probably politically incorrect). The other expression that was a favorite of ours was "The Floods". That wraps up Hotel Regina.

After the shower experience, we headed to another restaurant, where we had the best meal of the entire trip. We each ordered an amazing pasta dish, and then we split a plate of lamb with artichoke hearts and roasted potatoes. We also had the Chianti wine and finished off with another Tuscan thing - Vin Santo con biscotti (it's a dessert wine with biscotti, and you dip the biscotti in, just like we do in Sicilia, except this wine and biscotti were much sweeter and I liked them a lot better). One unfortunate event that occurred during dinner was the visit by the Flower Guy. In a previous blog (The Character of Taormina) I explained about the flower guy who runs around town trying to sell you a dumb flower. Well, apparently, those guys are everywhere as we saw them in every city, every day. Thankfully, we have great practice with avoiding them. But THIS Flower Guy came into the restaurant and downstairs into our dining room! Honestly, what owner would let in the flower guy to come bug his customers?? I was facing the steps, so I saw him first, and Clay says my face literally dropped, and I stopped what I was saying, mid-sentence. I was just in disbelief that the Flower Guy had tracked us all the way down into the basement dining room of this little restaurant in a back alley. Seriously. And unlike seeing them on the streets, we couldn't exactly run when we were sitting at a table. I don't think he left until I said "NO" for about the 5th time (we start with "no grazie" to be polite, but we have to switch to "no" for emphasis eventually). Other than that, the dinner was amazing!

By the end of the day, I was absolutely exhausted, both mentally and physically. Sight-seeing all day, and seeing such incredible things is difficult. I honestly think a lot of things didn't sink in because I saw so much. How can I appreciate a Leonardo da Vinci painting when two hours later I'm standing in front of David? ThankfullyI love Florence and I know I'll have to go back some day and spend a lot of time really taking things in some more. On the other hand, it's also easy to tell which things I really enjoyed the most, as those are the things that really stick out in my mind; and trust me, my mind is really full right now with all sorts of Italian words and now insanely impressive sights, so if something really sticks out, then it must have really impressed me, and both the David and Santa Maria del Fiore did.

I'm running out of time and this already long, so I'll save the rest of Florence for tomorrow.