The world is kind of a stupid place sometimes. I'm not talking about war, poverty, and suffering: that stuff is clearly stupid. What I'm speaking of is something that Lindsay and I have noticed on our trip in terms of what the Countries actually refer to their cities as - for example, Italy calls and spells Rome as Roma... meaning that the name of the city isn't Rome... it's Roma. Why on earth other countries would have to change that seems absolutely retarded to me. We call Pisa - Pisa, why should the big cities be called different. Also, Florence as we know it is actually Firenze (Fear-ens-eh)... and Venice is actually Venezia (Ven-eet-zee-ah)... Milan is Milano... the list goes on. Are we so entirely degenerate in our language skills that we refuse to acknowledge the actual pronunciations, instead nationalizing the names into our own version? It's dumb... plain... simple... one-sided. What a dumb culture we've fostered, so much that I would likely never have known this had we not traveled to Italy. France isn't so bad, though Paris isn't pronounced Pair-iz, rather Pair-ee. Is that SO hard to say? I don't get it. There's no valid excuse in my head apart from it's just the way it's always been... which in itself isn't even an excuse not to change. Anyways, that's my rant for the day, lol. On to Firenze!!!
We left Roma yesterday morning as early as our bodies would allow us, which wasn't too late. I think we were out of the hotel by 10am. The drive out wasn't nearly as bad as the drive in, which I kind of expected. I had found on the way in that I was quickly picking up the nuances of Romano driving, and as we had kind of got turned around a few times on our way to the hotel, I had a pretty clear image in my mind of the local streets. Traffic also wasn't as jammed up, so we were out of the city in about a half an hour on our way north to Firenze.
I can't begin to describe how different and beautiful the Italian countryside is. Small mountains, with small villages and cities, span the entire country it seems. The roads are much nicer than people had led me to believe as well, though the polizia are everywhere it seems. France had next to no gendarmerie on the roads, so it's been a bit of a shock. We've kept our speed down a tad just to be safe. I've heard that France has a ton of radar camera's though instead, and Linds and I have joked about getting home to a mailbox full of speeding tickets, lol. We'll see.
We got into Firenze around 12:30pm and checked into our four star hotel just outside of the downtown core. Really nice place, huge bathroom, free breakfasts which were good, and a parking spot included. The concierge was really good as well, helping us find restaurants and call taxis for us. We decided to drive to nearby downtown Firenze ourselves, taking a scenic route around the outskirts, and ending near a restaurant that looked good for lunch. The place was called Mamma Gia's, and we just made it before they closed for the afternoon. We had some interesting pasta dishes that were so-so (which again has me surprised, as I was expecting ALL pasta to be heavenly in Italy). The best part was this incredible lemon pie that we shared for dessert, I've been craving it since.
After lunch we made our way into the real downtown, where all of the museums and sites to see are located. We crossed the famous Ponte Vecchio that I'd read about. It was described as a bridge with a bunch of shops built along it. I was excited to see it... until I saw it. Every store was for jewelery or stupid tourist crap. Not a single variation to offer. What a shame. Interesting to see, stupid for shopping unless you're loaded and want jewelry. We continued on, and found ourselves in this long, thin, rectangular courtyard lined with statues of the famous renaissance artists and contributors. The courtyard and buildings basically make up the Galleria degli Uffizi, a massive art museum and former court I believe of the royal family back in the day(1700's). We got in line to go in, but it was loooooong, and wasn't moving much. It was close to closing for the day as well, so we decided not to waste our time there. We never went back in, but don't really care either :-) We moved on to another piazza that was filled with scupltures, elegently positioned for display. They were nothing short of incredible. With the day running out, and our desire to relax a bit, we headed back to our car, passing a place called the Palazzo Pitti - which is a large palace that didn't make the cut for places to go in our short time in Firenze. It was funny though, cuz it had a giant statue of a pair of lips at it's entrance - people sculpt the strangest things.
We drove back towards to hotel, though stopping first at a place called Piazzale Michelangiolo, a large piazza at the edge of cliff overlooking Firenze designed by Michelangelo. It was spectacular - FREEZING COLD - but spectacular. I forgot to mention that, after it rained the last night in Roma, the temperature has dropped down to around 5 degrees, and yesterday in Florence was super windy to boot... we were NOT happy campers. Anyways, the panoramic view was awe-inspiring to say the least.
We prettied ourselves up back at the hotel, and made our way to a famous Firenze restaurant called Buca Mario. If you're ever in Firenze you have to eat here, it's fantastic. It was a nice return to a good Italian meal - something that had oddly evaporated since the first night in Roma. We enjoyed some antipasta's, some risotto and lasagna, and a secondi that almost killed me, lol. I had almost ordered something called the Bifstecca alla Fiorentina at a restaurant in Roma, but the waiter had mentioned it was too big, and I wouldn't want it. So I didn't order it, but at this restaurant they clearly had it label in portions for one or two or three, etc... So I figured it must be a more reasonable size and ordered it for one. The waiter turned the corner with our meals in hand, and my jaw dropped. I started laughing nervously as he placed the plate in front of me, asking if this was really 'for one'. He laughed maniacally (that's an exageration by the way) as he said, "si". People at the tables next to us congratulated me on my courage, and gave their condolences to my wife as I clearly would not survive the meal. On my plate was the largest slab of meat I've ever seen in my entire life. As round as my head and almost three inches thick stood the Florentine Beefsteak - a massive t-bone steak cooked to absolute perfection, and seasoned skillfully. We guess-timated the thing was at least 28 ounces. But hey, when in Rome... or in this case Florence... I proceeded to engage the enemy. I went into it with a pratical perspective, I had no intention of eating the whole thing. I managed to eat about three-fifths of this monster, in what all honesty was a fantastic piece of meat. I tapped out, satisfied yet surprisingly not stuffed. Last night was a little rough for sleeping, as my body worked its magic, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I had expected, and all in all I felt great today.
Today marked one of those unforgettable life moments, which I wasn't expecting. We saw Michaelangelo's famous statue of David today at the Galleria dell'Accademia. Incredible. Standing what must have been twelve feet tall at least, the David is the most magnificent scultpure I've ever seen in my entire life. I'd seen pictures before, and it's been a pop-culture icon forever, but in person is the only way to appreciate this masterpiece. What makes it so phenomenal is the pain-staking level of detail employed. Every single imaginable nook and cranny, muscle tissue, veins, facial detail, finger nails, my goodness the list goes on - they've all been accounted for. I could have spent all day just marvelling at the David. Apart from that though, the rest of the museum is really a complete write-off. Small and boring. The David is the only thing worth seeing, but boy is worth seeing.
We moved onto a small monastary nearby considered the birthplace of the renaissance movement in art. Basically a school of art, the head monk there was a brilliant fresco painter whose paintings inspired the break from the Byzantine era, into the Renaissance. It was a cool place. Afterward we headed toward the famous cathedral in Firenze, St. Marks. You can't miss this place, it's HUGE, and it's exterior is made up of what looks like dark emerald green and white marble. It's museum is across the street from it, so we went there first. Supposedly all of the major artwork and decor was moved to this museum from the church, and it certainly appeared that way. We had some pizza for lunch that was so-so, and then went into the church. We got into a line that I thought was to get into the church, but we found out that it was for climbing the hundreds of stairs up to the top of the dome. We've climbed the Arc d'Triomphe, a massive stairwell down into the Catacombs in Paris, up to the top of Mont-St-Michel, up to the top of Rocamadour, up the tower of Pisa, up the dome in St. Peter's in Vatican City, but none come close to the climb we made to the top of this dome in terms of stairs. It's a famous dome whose interior side is magnificently painted by Donatello. It features a scene of the spiritual realm, depicting the heights and beauty of heaven and it's citizens, down to the depths and horrors of hell and it's demons. It's amazing, AND by climbing to the top of it, it features a walkway around the interior that puts you a mere matter of 20 or so feet from the ceiling, giving the best view possible. We continued to the top, where you're spat out onto another fantastic viewing spot over the entire city. We had planned to climb the bell tower across from us originally, though this was WAY better so we didn't bother.
After that, we basically ended today by visiting the domed baptistry beside the church, another famous building in Firenze with a fantastic ceiling painting. We've made our way back to the hotel, where we've enjoyed a bottle of wine, some ordered pizza, and some skip-bo. We've packed up so that we can leave tomorrow morning as soon as possible, allowing us to get to Venezia with the whole afternoon to explore. Firenze has been cool for a few reasons, yet boring for many other reasons. You really HAVE to see the David and the panoramic view of the city, and also eat at Buca Mario, but other than that it's really not all it's cracked up to be (unless you're rich and can enjoy all the nice shopping the city offers, or are an art student or fanatic.) Here's the pics of the city that I thought were the best, mille grazie amici! Ciao!
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