I flew into Florence from Amsterdam at noon on Friday, and thanks to "No-Jet Lag," a homeopathic remedy, I hit the ground running. I'd been in flight for more than 12 hours, and waiting in airports for nearly 8 hours, but I never suffered any symptoms of jet lag. I found a shuttle, which dropped us off at the train station, only a few blocks from my hotel. I quickly dropped my bags off and headed out for a walk around Florence.
This is my first view of the Duomo, or the Cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore. And it's only a partial view of the entire church complex, which includes several other buildings. My first real trek in Italy was to the top of the Duomo on Saturday morning...I climbed 463 stairs, leading to an exceptional view of Florence.
Florence (Firenze) was amazing. Another place I quickly found was the Piazza della Signoria, which contains the Loggia dei Lanzia, where ancient Roman statues reside alongside famous Renaissance sculptures, out in the open. Nearby is the majestic Neptune fountain, created in 1575 to commemorate Tuscan naval victories.
Another popular area was the Piazza della Repubblica, where Roman-style arches commemorate Florence's time as the capital of Italy (1865-71).
One of the highlights of Florence was a 4-hour walking tour of the city, provided by my penpal Marco. He's from the nearby town of Pontassieve, and knows a great deal about Florence and its history; I feel so fortunate that he was willing to take time to share his knowledge with me. We went to many places I would never have known how to get to. Several of them provided amazing panoramic views of the city...just breathtaking. We visited many famous churches, and it turns out his cousin is an organist for several of the most important ones in Florence. In the following photos, taken from the terraces in front of San Miniato al Monte and the Piazzale Michelangelo, there's a panoramic view of the city, and two musicians who were serenading us.
Marco also introduced me to Vivoli's, which claims to have the best ice cream in the world. I didn't get a photo of that place, but gelato became standard fare for me everyday, and it was everywhere! I'm not a big fan of ice cream, but I like the sherbet-like texture of gelato, and wish we had more of it in the States. I saw mounds of gelato everywhere I went, something like this:
By the time I left Florence, I knew my way around, and felt at home there. The next part of my trip was a bit more unusual.
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