We took the 9a train from Roma to Firenze. It took us almost 4 hours to get there, but we got to go through the beautiful Italian countryside so it didn’t bother us so much. We arrived in Firenze at almost 1p. We checked into our hostel and grabbed some lunch because we were starving. After that we decided to head towards the Duomo (or Santa Maria del Fiore).
Our first sight of the Duomo
Once we got to the Duomo it started to rain, and we had to wait in line outside, but thankfully not for very long. Once we got inside we paid for our tickets and started the long climb up the 414 stairs. The stairs start to wind you up and up, and then you land at the interior of the dome to be able to relish in the beautiful frescoes from almost eye level, and then you are led around the dome, and then up and up again, this time getting a closer up look at the frescoes before making the final climb between the interior and exterior shells of the dome and to the outside to overlook Firenze.
The beautiful interior of the dome.
Once we were at the top, we were struck with this breathtaking view of Firenze, and the rain had miraculously stopped, and the clouds had started to clear. I like to think it was just so we could get a beautiful view of the city.
View from the top.
Looking down the dome, I'm surprised I didn't fall!
Ecstatic to be there!
After spending a really long time looking out from the top of the dome we started wandering around the city and ended up at the Palazzo Vecchio. At the Palazzo there is a copy of Michelangelo’s most famous sculpture the David, which is where the original used to reside.
We just kept wondering around the city and ended up walking across the Ponte Vecchio, the most famous bridge in Florence. It is lined with vendors and little shops that were added on to the bridge. You can get a beautiful view of the river from this bridge.
Ponte Vecchio
Locks we found on the Ponte Vecchio-It's said if you and your lover put a lock on the bridge and throw the key in the river, than you will never leave each other.
We continued walking around the city and ended up at Santa Croce, another famous church in Firenze, that was designed by the same architect as Santa Maria del Fiore, the facades are very similar.
Santa Croce
Front door to Santa Croce
That night for dinner we wanted to find a nice place to eat at, but also a small non touristy, really authentic Italian restaurant. We ended up finding both at this cute place, when translated called the Talking Cricket. It was named the Talking Cricket because it was right around the corner from where Pinocchio was written. We found it quite ironic because Sarah always finds something to do with Pinocchio any city she is travelling in.
Best pasta I have ever had. We also had the best tiramisu EVER.
Our second and last day in Firenze we woke up pretty early and headed to the Academia, where the original David by Michelangelo now resides. We had to wait in line for a little bit outside, but the day was nice, and we got into the museum for free because it was culture week! We mainly wanted to see the David, but they had a lot of religious art and a lot of other sculptures that were nice to peruse for awhile. I couldn’t take pictures of the real David, but it is even bigger than I ever could have imagined. It is definitely a beautiful piece of work. That was the last thing that we wanted to see in Florence, so we just spent the rest of the day walking around the beautiful city of Florence until our train to Castiglion Fiorentino left.
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