We flew into Florence from Vienna on a sunny Sunday afternoon. The airport was smaller than we expected, and it was a bit of a headache to get to our hotel. To get a taxi, you have to walk around the side of the airport terminal building and get in line. There were a good thirty or so people in front of us, so we braced ourselves for a long wait. I even went back into the terminal and asked the help desk lady if there was a better way to get to our hotel. She said there was a tram of sorts running towards town, but then we would have to take a taxi after that anyway. Oh well, we waited it out, and eventually our turn came. 

Riding through Florence in the taxi was itself an experience because we saw quite a bit of the city en route.  No big buildings per se, just neighborhoods with mostly old apartment buildings, and some small parks with the occasional hotel or restaurant.  Pretty much what you might expect I guess. 

When we got close to the Arno river you could see that there were more hotels, and clearly there were a lot of tourists on the sidewalks.  The streets seemed to get narrower as we approached the river, and with so many people milling about the taxi driver had his work cut out for him to weave and dodge them.

Finally, we reached our hotel. We had booked 2 rooms for 5 nights at the B&B HOTEL Firenze Pitti Palace al Ponte Vecchio.  From the exterior, though smallish looking, it looked nice enough. But, once we got checked in and entered our rooms, it was a different story.  One of our rooms had a toilet that did not work, and no spare rooms were available to switch to. Bad start. The other room was nice enough, though dated. Frankly the whole hotel needs a serious refresh.

Despite our initial impression of the hotel, the location at Ponte Vecchio was superb.  The bridge, or ponte in Italian, crosses the Arno river.  It delivers some amazing views, and is an architectural wonder. It is actually two stories, with shops on the bottom floor. At the middle of the bridge is an opening for the views, and picture taking, and frankly anything. One night in the evening a guitar playing singer took up residence there and played to the crowd that gathered and danced. It was quite an amazing spectacle.

Be prepared to do a lot of walking in this beautiful city. Fortunately there are not very many hills, and so you should be fine.  Ok, here was our itinerary for the days we visited.

Day 1

Walking from the direction of the river, I remember peering down a side street, and in the distance I could see the famous Piazza della Signoria, the beautiful town square located in the center of Florence.  You will find the Palazzo Vecchio, Loggia dei Lanzi, and the Fontana di Nettuno are located there. A few restaurants are situated on the edge of the square.  We stopped for a pizza lunch in one of them.  

Palazzo Vecchio, or town hall, is a museum that still functions as a meeting and exhibition venue. A replica of the Statue of David adorns the entrance.  Walking through the vestibule you will see ornate columns and murals that are almost a surprise given the staid image of the building exterior.  As you enter the interior of the building you'll see a large open room where speeches, exhibitions and other activities are held.  Wander around inside to see numerous religions artifacts and paintings, as well as some very antique furnishings.

 

The Loggia dei Lanzi is a porch-like open-air structure filled with statues from eras whose varying styles each vie for your attention.  The loggia, or gallery, itself dates back to the 12th century, while the sculpures range from the 14th to the 17th century. Quite an eclectic mix of classic carvings.

A few blocks northwest of the Piazza della Signoria is the Piazza della Repubblica, which is considered the center of the city. Piazza della Repubblica is very large and square in shape, today a very stylish area.  Cafes and shops line the square, and there's even a merry-go-round for the kids. But it was not always this nice. In fact, the way it looks today was designed in the 1860's. Prior to this, it was a market area, and even a ghetto at one point in history.  Incidentaly, I bought a cap at one of the outside kiosks for 10 euros, a big discount from the posted price!   

 

At the end of the day we strolled up towards the Piazza de Pitti, and stopped in at Osteria Le Pietre for dinner.  We sat  at an outdoor table facing the beautiful Pitti Palace museum, which was very cool.  We ordered pizza and salads, and everything was good.  Frankly, it is tough to find a bad restaurant in Florence, so don't let the Google ratings dictate where you go.  (A lot of the reviews are fake anyway.)

Day 2

The following day, we went to the Uffizi Gallery.  You will have to buy tickets ahead of time for this must-see art gallery situated between the river and Piazza della Signoria.  Actually, the west wing of the museum is connected to Loggia dei Lanzi as well as The Mint.  Inside you will find an amazing collection of statues lining the corredors and rooms filled with masterpieces by various Italian artists.  Allocate at least a few hours for your visit.

 

After lunch we wanted to get one more destination in before the end of the day.  So, after a roughly ten minute walk from Ufffizi we arrived at the Basilica of Santa Croce.  The exterior is a classic gothic architecture which stands out boldly compared to the surrounding buildings. Inside you will find that a number of famous natives of Florence were buried here, with Michelangelo being the most well known.  Galileo Galilei is another one that is buried here.  

 

Day 3

We started our day by walking to the Piazza San Giovanni. In this plaza you will find two well known churches.  The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, more commonly known as the Duomo, sits in the far end of the plaza. The Duomo was consecrated when its distinctive dome was completed by Pope Eugenio IV in 1436, two hundred years after its cornerstone was laid.  It is one of the largest churches in the world, and with its neo-gothic exterior looks similar to the Basilica of Santa Croce, but more grand.  The interior of the basilica is as grand as is the exterior, with each alcove and side chapel more beautiful than the previous one. Don't forget to check out the basement!  The original ancient foundation can be seen, as well as other artifacts from its original construction.

 

Within a stone's throw of the Duomo is the octagonal Battistero di San Giovanni (Baptistry of St. John).  It's Romanesque style resembles the Duomo, and might give you the impression that they were designed with each other in mind, which is of course incorrect. The location of the baptistery varied over history, and is thought to have been a place of worship to the god Mars before it became a Catholic church.  It was reconsecrated on November 6, 1059, by Pope Nicholas II, a Florence native.  Inside, while we were there, construction was in progress, which was a bummer, but one could see the baptism basin as well as other artifacts along the walls.  I found it to be an afterthought in terms of tourists, as it was not crowded at all.

 

Surrounding the piazza were numerous kiosks that featured artwork, stuff to eat, and other hand made, mostly religious, craftwork. We bought a couple of original water-color paintings while browsing around the area.

It was getting close to lunchtime and so we decided to take a lunch break.  We chose the Osteria del Fiore, which faces the Duomo. We ate at one of the outside tables, and wow, I cannot remember ever having lunch with a such wonderful view of an historic and beautiful building.

After lunch, it was time to get in line to enter the Duomo, or more formally, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore.  Entering the church is free, but special tours of the upper and lower levels are not. We had bought ahead of time a ticket for the lower level tour. We skipped the upper level tour because there were too many steps. The price of getting old, indeed.

The lower levels provided a great look at the original foundation of the cathedral, as well as artifacts that were excavated beneath the church. Definitely was worth the time to explore.

 

There are so many restaurants near our hotel that we had trouble deciding which one to try.  After a little online checking, we settled on Trattoria de' Guicciardini da i Bigi e i Birghe.  Yes, quite a mouthful.  And yes, it was splendid.  We were ushered into our own dining area that had the feel of a dining room in someone's home.  The waiter was fantastic. He gave us some great suggestions and was very flexible. Everything we ordered was delicious, and wine pairing was spot on.  We liked it so much here that we returned for dinner a couple of days later.  Oh, and they run a gelato shop right out in front of the restaurant if you just want to satisfy your daily gelato fix!

 

Day 4

The following day we had scheduled a tour of the Tuscany countryside, with stops in two wineries.  To be honest, the tour left a lot to be desired.  We were expecting a pleasurable and scenic drive but instead were treated to freeway traffic with not much to look at.  We visited a winery and a restaurant. At the winery, we could see some acreage of grapes being grown, but not like you would expect when you look at pictures of Tuscany. The second stop, the restaurant, was located just off the freeway.  No views to write home about. They served what I would characterize as a snack lunch, with morsels of a number of things but no real main dish.  So I guess the lesson learned is to thoroughly investigate the Tuscany trips before signing up.

 

It was late afternoon when we returned from the Tuscany tour, so our time in Florence was running short as this was our last day.  One glaring omission that we discovered was that we had not visited Pitti Palace, even though it is right down the street from the hotel. Heck, we even had dinner at a restaurant in front of it, but haven't set aside the time to explore it.  So, we decided this was the time, so we bought the ticket that included everything - the museum and Boboli gardens.  

Pitti Palace was built for the Pitti family in 1457.  At that time, it only consisted of the middle part of the current building. In 1549, it was sold to the Medici family and subsequently became their primary residence. Over the years the Medici's expanded the building until it became what you see today.

Actually, Pitti Palace is not just one museum. It houses a number of museums under one roof, including the Palatine Gallery, the Royal Apartments, the Silver Museum, and the Gallery of Modern Art.  All of which include stunning collections of both local and international paintings, sculptures, and artifacts.  We were only able to see a small portion of all of these exhibits that day.  If you go, allot a full day or more to this wonderful collection.

 

As I mentioned, the Pitti Palace ticket also included access to Bobili Gardens (Giardino di Boboli). Frankly the gardens deserve a few hours of your time to discover the ancient statues, grottos, and exquisite landscape design that was perfected over the years by various curators.

 

Day 5

Ah, our time in Firenze has come to an end. We made our way to the train station to travel to our next stop, Rome. Sad to leave, but looking forward to see the ancient city once again.