TWO FEET, A HEARTBEAT, AND THE SUMMER HEAT OF FLORENCE

By The Bondi Travel Bug on November 17, 2016 in Other

The famed statue of David, the Ponte Vecchio, the exquisite Florence Cathedral and the Uffizi Gallery, jam packed with works of art by greats such as Michelangelo, Botticelli, Caravaggio and Leonardo di Vinci, are just some of the reasons to visit Florence.

What I found pleasing about Florence was that in our three-day visit we literally walked our way around the entire city. Which, in hindsight, was a bonus considering the copious amounts of pasta, pizza and gelato we consumed.

It wasn’t enough to want to look, speak and act like Italians, we morphed into the local way of life and from the moment we arrived and we ate like Italians!

When back home, healthy smoothies, activated nuts, fish, chicken and salads are the usual fare, but not in Italy.
Every morning our breakfast consisted of savoury croissants (prosciutto, salami, cheeses), sweet croissants (mainly nutella and jam-filled numbers) and other pastry delicacies that were seriously unkind to a once-buff Bondi body. This was why getting around on foot was vital.

One of the great walks in Florence is the one you take to get to the highest point of the city, Piazzale Michelangelo, where the views of the Arno River, the Ponte Vecchio and all of the other iconic structures are incredibly impressive.
At Piazzale Michelangelo there was an exact replica of the original marble statue of the disrobed David, but in bronze, in all his naked glory, standing there looking like a sentinel guarding the city. After what he did to Goliath, I couldn’t think of a better person to look over Florence.

Winding our way back down the narrow cobblestone streets, we made our way to the Accademia di Belle Arti Firenze, where the original Michelangelo statue of David, carved from a single block of marble no less, is displayed.

A number of iconic artworks such as the Mona Lisa and some Salvador Dali paintings don’t have much of an impact when you first see them because of their small size. The exact opposite is true when it comes to the statue of David. The location where this iconic sculpture is placed allows the natural light to fall on it, giving it a God-like aura.

This good-looking nude guy with large hands and feet who slayed the giant stops you in your tracks at first sighting. Not everything is large, though…

To have grown up hearing about the great Michelangelo and to have now been to see his work is quite moving; you realise what an absolute genius he was.

Making our way back to our hotel, we visited the breathtaking Florence Cathedral. Words and pictures can’t do this cathedral justice. The more you look at it, the more astonishing it appears. The different types of marble used, the carvings, colour, design and size of this structure are mindboggling.

The line to get inside snaked around the cathedral for hundreds of metres and with the hot afternoon sun beating down upon us we decided to go down early the next morning when the streets were empty to give us a better perspective of this exceptional structure.

Near the Florence Cathedral was another square/piazza called Piazza della Signoria, which also has a multitude of near naked statues on display, along with a giant bronzed turtle. The atmosphere was glorious at this square; the warm summer evening breeze, the two buskers playing some of the best live music I’ve heard, the buzz of people, the architecture and the multitude of strategically placed statues on the square itself ensured this day in Florence will go down as one of my most memorable travel days.

From the square it was a brief walk to the Ponte Vecchio, the bridge famous for the multitude of old jewelry stores that seem to cling to the sides of this ancient structure, which draws in massive crowds of people all vying for space to photograph a gorgeous Italian sunset.

To complete our cultural tour of Florence, we spent our last day visiting the renowned Uffizi Gallery to view some of the world’s greatest Renaissance art and sculptures. With so much history and culture on display, we needed to sit down, relax and have another carb-filled meal of pizza, pasta and gelato.

There were some days when we ate so much that by dinnertime all we could fit in was some more gelato. I love Italy!

HOW TO GET THERE:
Vicki Gildon at Rose Bay Travel (02) 9371 8166