Through Florence to Venice
Trip Start
Jul 21, 2005
1
10
15
Trip End
Aug 05, 2005
Florence,
Italy
Sunday, July 31, 2005
We had breakfast at the hotel in Maiori, and said goodbye to the sun and surf to drive north to Florence with the intention of seeing the Statue of David. After navigating the coast road for one last time, we got onto the Autostrade at Vietre sul Mare, and continued past Napoli (crazy drivers), Rome (our second home) and made our way to Florence.
The city is very sprawling, and much flatter than I anticipated. Our guide book described it as a captivating city, "the Cradle of the Renaissance, overly blessed with art, culture and history". All we saw was a city devoid of the flavour and architectural flair of Rome, filled with apartment houses and suburban like streets. We navigated our way into the centre of town in search of the Galleria dell'Accademia, home of the statue of David. After driving in circles (not stuck on ring roads or turn abouts) we knew we were close, but couldn't seem to find the building. After asking several locals for directions we were told we were a block and a half from it, but that it had just closed TWO MINUTES earlier. Feeling very frustrated, we debated about staying in town for the night, but with our lack of interest in the city itself, we decided to drive on to Venice.
Our arrival into the city found us at the Ponte della Liberta, where we parked our car in a huge garage on Piazzale Roma, and set out to find the vaporetti station. After waiting for the right boat to come along, three came and went but were not stopping at San Marco, we finally arrived at S. Marco station and walked into the magnificent Piazza. Enclosed by the Basilica and the arcaded Procuratie Vecchie and Nuove, the square was immense. There were still many people about, even though it was nearly 1 a.m., and many were lying in the middle of the piazza gazing up at the stars.
We walked past the beautiful Byzantine style basilica, and wandered the streets behind in search of a hotel for the night. We found one close by and settled in for the night. www.hotelpananda.com Our room was decorated in complete Venician style with ornate furniture and gaudy chandeliers, but beautiful in it's own way.
