Firenze in autunno

There was a storm the day we arrived.

A huge storm with lightning and thunder and bucketloads of rain.  

I mention this becuase, during the storm, we were sitting on the terrace of a Tuscan villa.  Outside of Florence.  Drinking chianti.  

Right now, my life could be a lot worse.

Views like this are standard practice around this city.

Yes, we have arrived safe and sound in Florence, the home of the Italian Renaissance.  And it is truly a beautiful city.  The city is this interesting mix between small passage ways and vast open squares and the beautiful Arno river snaking its way past the city, and all of this placed amongst the beautiful hills of Tuscany.

On top of that autumn is now in full swing which means that, even though the temperatures are still in the mid twenties (w00t!), the leaves are falling.  All the colours match with the beautiful browns of the city.

After settling in on Sunday, we used Monday to get out and have a look around the town.  Here's a hint for future travelers, Mondays are good days to travel around Europe because a lot of the sights are closed. Anyway, we still managed to find plenty to do.  

First off, a walk along the Arno River and making our way up to Ponto Vecchio, a beautiful bridge across the river with built in shops.  There we saw the local authorities using bolt-cutters and power tools to remove all the padlocks that young lovers had put in place.  I wonder what happens to the couples when the bond is broken...

Then up to the Palazza Vecchio (The city's Town Hall), which is filled with beautiful artwork and overlooks the Piazza della Signoria which is filled with amazing statues.  Off to the Palazzo Medici Riccardi, the Palace of the Medicis (Remnants of this family are everywhere in this city!).

After two palaces in one day, we decided to head up to the Piazzale Michelangiolo.  If you do nothing else during your stay of the city, go here!  It's quite a walk, however the views out over the city and surrounds are second to none.  It is simply astonishing.

Then a quiet dinner and bottle of wine back at the villa.

The Firenze Duomo

Today we have completely arted ourselves out (is arted a word?).  Starting off with the Uffizi Gallery, which took a two hour queue to get into, but well worth it.  Sculpture and painting overload, but so much to see!  Probably what strikes me the most is the Bottocelli's Birth of Venus... I kept imagining Terry Gilliam doing the animations of it! (Original and Python version for those who have no idea what I'm talking about...)

Then, after lunch, we went to the Palazzo Pitti, a staggeringly large palace (yes, another palace) once owned by the Medicis (Yes, again...) with a huge collection of art.

So, after two staggeringly large art collections, we decided to... of course, go to another art gallery.  However, this time it was the Galleria Dell'Accademia.  This one is slightly special.  There, in pride of place, stood Michaelangelo's David.  I was standing at the feet of one of the greatest sculptures known to man.  And it was truly awe-inspiring.  The size, the level of attention to detail, it was just amazing.  A must do.

The Pitti Palace

So tomorrow, finishing off Florence then an afternoon in Piza.  Expect trashy touristy photos of running away/pushing down a certain tower.

Okay, time to get some sleep.  Lots of walking done today!