The Sights of Florence

After being abandoned on our tour we decided to try and find the Ponte Vecchio bridge.  I asked my son if there was anything he wanted to see since we were here and he mentioned the Palazzo Vecchio.   Purely by accident we stumbled across it.  Perfect.  However, before we found the Palazzo we found the ultimate Gelato place.  So many great flavours to choose from and they were delicious.  We ate our weight in gelato here since we were waiting out a brief shower anyway.  Seriously it puts our ice cream parlor's to shame.

 

 

 

 

Caffe Fiorenza Gelateria - I would like to thank the kind owner's and servers for their patience with us.

 

Then we continued down the avenue and found the Piazza della Signoria which houses both the Palazzo Vecchio and  the Loggia dei Lanzi

 

 

 

The Palazzo Vecchio is on the left in this picture.

 

 

The Loggia dei Lanzi with Fortitude, Temperance, Justice and Prudence set into the façade and overlooking the square.  I liked this setup as it's free and the statues are some really important works of art.  Such as Benvenuto Cellini's Perseus with the Head of Medusa the dark statue on the left just under the first arch.  Detailed and gory truthfully but it was Medusa with the hair of snakes so I guess that's ok. 

 

 

 



My surprise was the little statue of Hermes set into the base of the statue.  There were others but I couldn't get around to see them.

 

 

Birds hitching a ride on the backs of the Medici lions that guard the entrance.

 

 

The Rape of the Sabine Women - apparently abducting women from other areas for wives was a common practice. 

 

 

Hercules and Cacus by Baccio Bandinelli stands just outside the entrance to the Palazzo Vecchio.  A replica of The David guards the other side of the entrance.

 

 

Palazzo Vecchio

 

 

 

Inside the First Courtyard

 

 

There is a museum and entrance to the great hall as well as beautiful sculptures but we were again beginning to feel the affects of crowds and the heat and humidity and decided to press on. 

 

 

And then we found it - Ponte Vecchio.  I had seen this bridge so many times in pictures before and still marvel at it remaining standing to this day.  What started out as butchers shops in medieval times now houses fine jewelry stores and antique shops.  Sometimes you need to see this to believe so I've included shots of some of the better pieces displayed.  I so wanted to spend a fortune here but again my more reasonable son kept moving me away from the entrances.  He knows his mother too well.

 

 

And now for some serious shopping. 

 

 

Marco Bicego Jewelry - my son was so right to keep me out of this store - I would have gone nuts in here.  I loved everything.

 

 

 

 

 

This store was all about pearls, coral in many colours and I would have gone crazy in there as well.

 

 

I loved these roman coin necklaces and was looking for one.  However, there not as common as I thought and the one ring I found was too big for my fingers. 

 

 

The centre of the bridge is open with great views. 

 

 

A state of Benvenuto Cellini occupies centre stage the right hand side of the opening. 

 

 

 

I did my best to avoid showing images of the crowds, and took most of my shots looking up, but is on the middle of the bridge and I couldn't get a shot that wasn't full of people.

 

 

If I couldn't shop - I could as least look and take pictures to drool over later.

 

 

 

Cameo's - I was really tempted here.

 

I took this shot to show the size and views beyond.  The shops are  really quite pretty and unexpected.

 

 

 

We visited our favorite pizzeria for dinner again that evening.  Pulcinella Pizzaiolo doesn't open until 7:00 p.m. but the pizza was the best I've ever had.  I wanted to take pictures of our food while we were over there, but my son would be half way through his meal before I could even pick up my camera.  It didn't work so no food images - sorry.

Up Next ... Venice

The Beauty of Florence ... in Crowds

Florence is the city where Roman soldiers spent their retirement... if they survived that long.  It's a beautiful city filled with art and music.  If you're planning a trip to Florence spend more than the two days we had.  There is just so much to see here.

We set off for a bus tour to the Piazzale Michelangelo which includes replicas of Michelangelo sculptures including the David.

 

This is an amazing view and unfortunately my photos really don't do it justice.  I would have loved to have explored more but our tour guide was really on a strict schedule. This is a lovely area driving through pretty tree-lined residential streets, past historic and incredible homes - palaces really.

 

 

 

What's left of the ancient walls around Florence.

 

Our guide was extremely annoyed when I showed up since everyone was waiting on the bus for us and we had an appointment at the Galleria dell'Accademia where David was waiting for us.

 

 

I must admit I was grateful for the guide because this building is one that if you blinked you might miss it. 

 

 

Just inside the lobby - stunning.

 

There are so many incredibly beautiful works of art in this museum and I'm sure we only saw a small portion.  Our tour guide must have been a history teacher because she went on and on about Michelangelo and we never really got to much past the David - again out of time.  I don't recommend this type of tour if you really want to explore.  I'd really like to go back and do Italy at a more leisurely pace.  However, last minute impromptu visits can go like that.

 

I'm not going to include all the works of art we saw since there were so many and you can view the site itself for better shots.  I had too many heads popping into my shots. 

 

 

There is an entire area showcasing musical instruments of the Medici Family who were quite a famous and influential family in Italy.  Their family crest is attached to this Stradivarius as with most of the instruments.

 

 

The David

 

I've seen so many images of this statue and knew it was by Michelangelo and that it was The David, and so on but for whatever reason I had forgotten it was David of the David and Goliath fable.  This is supposed to show him immediately after slaying Goliath.  He holds small rocks in his one hand and the sling tossed over his shoulder.  (What can I say - one of my blonde moments).   The detail on this is amazing when you really get up close to look at it.  Veins, muscles, structure... that's when you really appreciate his genius.

 

 

Love these door handles - just across from the Academy.

 

 

The most prominent feature in Florence is the red roofed Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore.  The line up to go in was so extensive that we gave this one a miss as well.  We had other things we wanted to fit in and it was spitting rain at this point.  I'm sorry to have missed it as the detail work just on the outside of green, white and pink marble was so intricate that I'm sure the inside would have blown us away. 

 

 

The gilt copper ball and cross just glow. 

 

 

The intricate massive front doors to the Basilica.

 

 

It's so hard to take it all in.

 

 

Giotto's bell tower 

 

 

 

 

I took so many image of this Basilica and still don't feel that I did it justice.

 

 

 

 

 

The Baptistery was naturally under construction and covered up so the only images I have are of the great doors that lead into it.

 

It was at this point that our guide dropped us suddenly.  I wasn't expecting that but was becoming so turned off of tours at this point that I figured we were better off on our own and at our own pace.

 

A few close ups of the details I had time to take once we were on our own...

 

 

 

Up next...  Palazzo Vecchio and of course Ponte Vecchio...