Florence, Italy

Thanks to the quick Italian train rides (something we're very unused to), the day was still young when we arrived in Florence. After dropping our bags off at the AirBNB, we headed to the center and began exploring. After seeing the gorgeous frescoes inside the church of Santa Maria Novella, Rodrigo and I headed separate ways.

I began by wandering the street market by the Basilica di San Lorenzo, where vendors try very hard to sell you "Italian" leather, "Murano" glass, and "designer" handbags. Then I went to check out the famous Galleria dell'Academia, which houses Michelangelo's David, but was discouraged by the long line winding around the block. Independently, Rodrigo had reacted similarly, so we later decided to come back the next morning to try to avoid the line.

I continued towards the city's Synagogue, which immediately stood out to me for being a large impressive structure rather than hidden inside the walls of some apartment building. Unsurprisingly, the interior decor was a refreshing change from all the churches I'd been visiting, with the artistic material of choice being wood rather than marble, stained glass, or gold. It was very beautiful in its own right, but unfortunately pictures were strictly forbidden. I also walked through the small Jewish Museum in the same building, housing ancient religious artifacts of the Jews of Florence and the rest of Italy.

From there I wandered towards the famous Duomo, which I knew I would be visiting again the next day but simply couldn't wait to see. It is one of the top attractions I had been looking forward to this whole trip, and as it towers above the city, visible on any side from every street, it was hard to resist. Indeed, the magnificent structure did not disappoint. The first thing you notice standing next to it is its sheer enormity, amplified by the small flat-roofed apartments that make up the rest of the city around it. The next thing that stands out is how colorful it is. Even the most beautiful basilicas and cathedrals we've seen so far, such as Notre Dame and the Sagrada Familia, have been grey monochrome on the exterior. The Duomo however is built of vibrant white, green, and red marble, enabling beautiful patterns and color contrasts on the walls of the building itself. The adjacent Campanile tower, which is almost the same height as the dome itself, shares the same colorful marble design. I climbed up 414 steps to get to the top of this tower, from which I was treated to a breathtaking view of the surrounding city as well as a cool view of the Duomo from the top.

Notably, on my way to the Duomo I ran across the best gelato I have had in Italy (writing this on the last day of my trip). For those who know me and my love of ice cream, this is a big deal. I have been eating about 3 gelatos a day since I got to Italy, but this one, named Rivareno, takes the cake. If you're in Florence, go out of your way to come here.

The next day, we planned to wake up very early to return to the Galleria dell'Academia and dodge the long line, and we would have been successful, but our BNB host surprised us with an opulent breakfast of champions that we simply couldn't turn down. It so happened that those 20 minutes made the difference between potentially waiting 1 hour in line and - I kid you not - 2 and a half hours in line. The line's length was misleading because it didn't look bad but moved very slowly. I considered leaving several times, but used the time instead to write the Venice blog that I posted previously. For future travelers, I would recommend booking a reservation online 48 hours in advance, or signing up for a tour group that gets to skip the line.

Once we were finally inside, I was in a grumpy mood along the lines of "David BETTER be amazing." He was. The first thing that immediately stands out about the sculpture is his enormous size (no, not that, get your mind out of the gutter). David is 17 feet tall and stands on a pedestal that adds 5 more feet to his height. The site is almost intimidating to behold, especially from afar. The second thing that stands out, once you get closer, is how smooth and detailed the sculpture really is. With such an enormous piece you might expect to see some imperfections up close, but the minute detailing of Michelangelo's chisel is surpassed by none other. There's a reason they call it "the perfect sculpture."

After seeing the rest of the beautiful art collection in the relatively small Galleria dell'Academia, I grabbed some lunch and headed back to the Duomo because I still hadn't seen the inside. Whereas the previous day I had climbed the campanile, this time I climbed the dome which is even taller. The city view from the top was pretty much the same, but what made the experience worthwhile were the amazing frescoes decorating the inside of the dome, which you get to walk right next to on your way up. You also see a birds-eye view of the inside of the whole church, which of course is just as nice on the inside as on the outside.

From there I continued my fast-paced tourism, because we only had one and a half days in Florence. I visited Palazzo Vecchio, a bustling square filled with tons of beautiful sculptures, including a copy of David which once you see it you will realize what makes the real David so special. Nonetheless tons of tourists crowd around it taking pictures, probably thinking that it's the real one. I then visited the Basilica of Santa Croce, which in addition to the usual basilica beauty of stained glass windows and painted frescoes, houses the tombs of some people you may have heard of: Michelangelo, Machiavelli, and Galileo (irony???) just to name a few. It also includes large paintings by two of the ninja turtles, Rafael and Donatello.

After that I reunited with Rodrigo in line for the Galleria degli Uffizi, a large art gallery that used to belong to the Medici family. Much of the art is displayed in the same way that it would have back then, e.g. long corridors lined with busts and statues on the sides, frescoes on the ceiling, and portraits on the walls right below the ceiling. The gallery itself is almost a piece of art. Additionally, the gallery contains many beautiful frescoes and altarpieces removed from florentine churches, as well as a sizable Rafael collection, a few woks of Da Vinci, and one Michelangelo painting (of which there aren't many). The highlight however was the large Botticelli gallery, including his famous piece "The Birth of Venus" which has always been one of my favorites, and is surprisingly different in real life. The small highlights of gold leaf blowing in the wind and in Venus's hair are lost in the many reprints you can find, making the real thing worth a visit.

Continuing onwards we crossed the famous Ponte Vecchio bridge, the one with the shops hanging off of it looking like they're gonna fall into the river. From there, although tired, we undertook the walk up to Piazzale Michelangelo, to conclude our stay in Florence with a magnificent view of the city at sunset. Unlike the previous views, here you can clearly see the Duomo towering above everything else, making a great photo opportunity.

We concluded our stay in Florence with a great dinner and some well-deserved sleeping in the next morning. We hopped aboard the 1.5-hour train to Rome (damn Italian trains are fast!) for the very last stop on what has so far been an amazing eurotrip.