Woke up normal time (before mum!!) so that was nice.
Breakfast downstairs was nice, had a decent variety.
We decided to head out as soon we could, because the weather forecast was for clouds. Looked up some bus options while having breakfast, but couldn't find any useful maps for the area around the train station.
Asked at the hotel about buying tickets. She said there were machines at the tram stop opposite, so that was handy. 1.50 for 90 minutes (one validated on the bus). Bought a couple of tickets, then walked around the station looking for anything resembling a bus stop. And just like that a number 12 pulled up - the bus I was looking for. Confirmed with the driver he was going to Piazzale Michelangelo. Hurray! Except the machine to validate the tickets wasn't working. hrmm. Then just after we crossed the river three ticket inspectors got on. Oops. We told them about the machine not working, so they hand wrote a validation time on them. On the way up the sun was still out. But as we arrived, thin cloud obscured the sun somewhat. Doh!!
Buildings reflected in the Arno River
It was still a pretty awesome view though.
View of Florence from Piazzale Michelangelo
Ponte Vecchio from Piazzale Michelangelo
From Piazzale Michelangelo we walked all the way down to the river, and then along to Ponte Vecchio, a medieval stone bridge with shops on top.
Porta San Niccolo
Ponte alle Grazie and Torre di Arnolfo Palazzo Vecchio
Ponte Vecchio and Florence buildings
Ponte Vecchio arches
River Arno from Ponte Vecchio
Ponte Vecchio
Then wandered through town, through Piazza della Signoria, through Piazza della Repubblica, to Duomo.
Reproduction of Michelangelo's David
Fontana del Nettuno (Fountain of Neptune)
Fontana del Nettuno and Palazzo Vecchio
Loggia dei Lanzi
Hercules and Nessus by Giambologna
Rape of Polyxena by Pio Fedi
Battistero di San Giovanni (Baptistery of St John) and Florence Cathedral and Campanile
Catterdrale di Santa Maria del Fiore (Florence Cathedral)
Entry to the cathedral is free, although people in the queue said they'd been waiting an hour (although they said they arrived half an hour before it even opened, so shrug). But we wanted to go up the dome or bell tower. So we went to the ticket office opposite the Baptistry, and there were no queues to get tickets which was nice. Sadly tickets for the dome were sold out both days we are here, but for 20 euro you can get a ticket which covers the bell tower, the baptistery, the crypt and the museum, so that's what we got. She also said the cathedral isn't open Sundays for tourists, so that was handy information.
Went to the baptistery first because it was right there, and there was no queue. It was quite nice inside, but what was cool was the acoustics - a staff member called some notes which reverberated around which was quite lovely.
Roof of Battistero di San Giovanni
Interior of Battistero di San Giovanni
Next up, the bell tower. About a half hour wait to get in (manual bag checks, backpacks ok). 414 steps. Yipe!! But there's a few terraces you can stop and rest at. It was just before 12 and I wanted to hear the bells go off. I got to the top just before 12 and heard them echoing off the cupola, but if I'd waited at the last terrace I would have actually been right under them. Although they probably would have been so loud I would have needed my hands to block my ears rather than take a video! Sadly the view from the top is obstructed by a fence with quite small holes. The Dome would have been a *LOT* better. Oh well.. if I'm ever back...
View over Florence Cathedral from Campanile di Giotto
View north from Campanile di Giotto
Fondazione Osservatorio Ximeniano (Ximenian Observatory)
View northwest from Campanile di Giotto
View south towards Palazzo Vecchio from Campanile di Giotto
View southeast towards Basilica di Santa Croce di Firenze
View over Florence Cathedral from Campanile di Giotto
Top of the bell tower viewing platform - not as good as from the cupola of the cathedral
After we got back down we decided to queue for the cathedral. We figured the queues weren't going to get any smaller (unless it rained), and we wouldn't have a chance tomorrow. We asked someone how long they'd been queueing and they said 15 minutes - win! So yeah about a fifteen minute wait to get through, slowed by the metal detectors and bag checks. The nave isn't anything super spectacular, but the dome was quite nice.
Interior of Catterdrale di Santa Maria del Fiore
Roof of Catterdrale di Santa Maria del Fiore
On the way out we noticed stairs downstairs, which was the entrance to the crypt, which we had a ticket for. And because we'd already been through security, we could go straight in. (and vice versa, anyone going through crypt security could go up into the cathedral without queueing again). That was quite interesting. There's a few layers of old churches they've excavated, going back to Roman times.
Archaelogical excavations under the cathedral including mosaics
Archaelogical excavations under the cathedral including Roman mosaics
Next we decided to see if we could get in to see David, or at least get tickets for tomorrow. Via Subway for lunch which was very nice. Outside Galleria dell'Accademia there were various queue controls. We asked an attendant about getting tickets. He said you could join the "blue" line which was about a two hour wait (for 12 euro tickets), or go across to the ticket office to see about a timed ticket. So we did that. For 16 euro she said there were tickets for 8:15/8:30 or 17:30 tomorrow.. or 15:00 today. It was 14:30. !!!! Hell I'd pay 4 euro to not have a two hour wait. We looked at the queues for a bit then decided to go for a bit of a wander. Found a park with some seats and sat on my parka (it had been raining) until it was time to go back for our timed entry. So much more civilised than standing in a queue for two hours. Metal detectors and x-ray bag scans.
Museo di San Marco and Monumento a Manfredo Fanti
So. David!!
Hall with Michelangelo statues
Michelangelo's David
Michelangelo's David
Michelangelo's David closeup of his face
Michelangelo's David from the rear
Michelangelo's David closeup of his face
Someone taking a photo of David on his phone
Pretty cool.
Then wandered around the rest of the gallery.
Another statue by Michelangelo
Photo by Mum
Part of Coronation of the Virgin (Alessandro Allori, 1593) showing the beautiful paintings he did of many species of flowers
Church wood panel art
Preparatory model for The Rape of the Sabine Woman by Giambologna
Musical instruments in the early music museum (Luigi Cherubini Conservatory of Music)
Hurdy gurdies in the music museum
The Resurrection of Christ by Raffaelino del Garbo
And then back to the hotel.
Northern side of Catterdrale di Santa Maria del Fiore
Salsiccia Fat Bus by Erwin Wurm outside Basilica of Santa Maria Novella
Photo by Mum
Had a couple of beers sitting on our balcony watching the world go by, so that was very pleasant.
View over Florence from our hotel balcony in the rain
Then went down to the restaurant downstairs. They don't do wine by the glass, so had to get a 375mL bottle. Grunt. We got spaghetti carbonara and some veggies and a beautiful steak with gorgonzola sauce. Yum yum yum. But way way way too much food - doh! *Almost* finished it all. By far our most expensive meal so far. But hey, not having to go out in the rain was a bonus.
Then photo stuff, but too tired for blogging.
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