Duomo - Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore Florence

7/28/12

We got into Florence in the middle of the day. For five hours we had been staring at the hills of Tuscany and I had been reading on and off. In Florence it was hotter than Venice, much hotter. Not so much humid, but hot and dry.

Florence is known for its art. The two big art galleries are the Uffuzi and the Accedamia …

We thought we would head to Florence today.....bad idea! We began by driving down the tuscan hillside but before we could reach the main highway, we came upon a nasty accident between at truck and a car. The roads are steep and winding and people in Europe love to pass each other. Not a good mix. The road was blocked and were forced to turn around …

I am so tired right now but am pushing to deliver here. I have not been able to write because we are only allowed to have one electronic device connected to wifi at a time here in the Florence Hotel, which also limits my ability to upload pics :( I will hopefully find a wifi spot to post on facebook or at our next destination be able to upload a …

C. S is a game played in Florence which is very much like the Pallo G, (big ball game)

We have just taken the train to Florence - we all fell asleep on the very very hot train and feel even more exhausted. The train beyond Florence is very complicated :p

Piazzo San Lorenzo is a square for the saint which was put on a grill, he's a …

Nick made a good observation today: there are no clouds in the Italian sky. And it's true. Every place we have visited has been blue skies only and insanely hot. Florence has been no exception. In fact, we checked the weather report and learned it was a balmy 99 degrees with a 0%252525252525252525252525252525 chance of precipitation. The threat …

A bit later than planned, but warm, relatively dry, and in one piece, we arrived in Florence. We were greeted in the main plaza, called the Piazza del Duomo, by our friends and the Duomo itself, one of the largest churches in Europe. The Duomo, whose official name is the Basilica of Santa Maria di Fiore (St. …

This morning was perfect. There was a cool breeze and the sun wasn't out yet. We grabbed pastries and pineapple for breakfast then walked down to the Ponte Vecchio. We looked at all the gold and silver we couldn't afford :) and window shopped around the Palazzo Vecchio. We toured the Uffuzi gallery which was amazing, then walked to the Accademia. …

Hey everyone!

Last weekend two of my friends and I traveled to Florence. Our train was at 7:15 in the mornin' so we had to get up at 4:30 in order to catch it. The train ride was very interesting because every time you looked out the window there was a different landscape. One minute we would be going through a rural town in the …

8:30 - My first morning in Florence and it is a beautiful one. The sun is much appreciated over yesterday's cool showers. I started off like many in this town with a caffe and a pastry. The pastry, even though ordered "plain" was very sweet and delicious. I will need a few sessions in the gym once I get back to burn off all the great food (and …

OK so let's get this out the way right up front...ITALY IS HOT IN AUGUST!!! That may sound obvious, and it is, but it's just impossible to really know what it's going to be like walking around a 102-degree-high city all weekend long. The worst part of the heat though was that the apartment we booked didn't have air conditioning!! Apparently it was …

... and spacious. The classy wood work made the room a bit dark though. We had a nice balcony overlooking the rooftops of Florence and the Duomo. After settling in we headed out to get some food. I had my mind set on a legendary Bisteca Florentina. A ...

... suddenly which came as quite a shock. We decided we needed some time alone and spent 3 nights in a Hotel Ibis just outside Florence, where we had internet connection and could feel a bit closer to home at this time. We set off for Florence the next ...

... to the Bargello Museum where there were more statues from various important Italian artists - including different versions of David. Florence's Duomo and the neighboring Baptistry, one of Florence's oldest buildings, were also visited. The Baptistry ...

... the hills, we started to walk down the hill, stopping on the famous Ponte Vecchio where we enjoyed a street musician playing some Italian songs. It was a wonderful evening in Florence, it is truly one of the most romantic cities in the world. ...

Since Florence was only a little over an hour by train we decided to go and see Michelangelo's David and lots of his other sculptures. Thankfully we arrived at the museum around 11:00am because the line tripled its size at 12:00pm, we did have to wait an ...

... .  I took the long way around so I could feel a little lost, just to be authentic.  There was yet another queue for the Duomo, so I was a cheat and took the €6 ticket to walk 414 steps up some tower next to it, man what a slog!!  ...

... vote to build a new train station right next to the main plaza where the Leaning Tower and the duomo (it's a decent duomo, but a) I'd just come from Florence and b) I was there to see a tower not a church) to make it that much easier for people to get in ...

... being sick as well I haven't had much time for sight seeing, though I did climb the bell tower of the duomo today, which gave a lovely view over Florence. I will post some pictures next week. I hope to head to Cinque Terre (a group of 5 villages on ...

... ; Things to do: Not that I really need to tell you that there are lots of things to do in Florence.  Here are my favorites.  Love the Duomo at night. There are always dozens of artists around entertaining the crowd and it's just a great place ...

... nearly as cosy as the one in Rome and was quite a trek by bus to get into town. We probably would have experienced Florence very different had we stayed in town and we would not recommend this accommodation unless you have your own transport. That said, ...