Italy Trip (Post 2 of 3): Florence!

My first post from our 20th anniversary trip to Italy this past August was our first 3 days in Rome. Here I pick up at the train station midday in Rome as we headed out to Florence for 3 nights:

Waiting for our train to arrive in Rome.


We had this "pod" of 4 seats to ourselves.


Riding through the Italian countryside.


Sunflowers...


... and grapes.

We took a taxi from the train station to our hotel, and that was the first transportation we paid for outside of our payment to our travel agency. (It ended up being our ONLY extra cost [besides a few train rides up-and-down the coast a few days later] as we were fine walking everywhere!) We learned it wasn’t necessary to get a taxi as we were probably within a mile, and the roads were pretty much just walking paths once we got within a few blocks of our hotel anyway:

Busy streets and lots of leather goods (to the right) - must be in Florence!


A 2-story room at Hotel Degli Orafi.


Out to explore Florence and find some food!


The Florence Cathedral (and Giotto’s Bell Tower) was just a few blocks from our hotel.






Lots of leather goods!


Hunting for supper at Mercato Centrale: a big indoor market.


Pizza by the pound! (Literally. That’s how you pay.)


Two kinds of pizza for me...


... and truffle oil pasta and wine for my wife.


Canolli at another stall for dessert...


... and a cream-filled donut.


More exploring. Brunelleschi's dome is the largest concrete dome in the world.








Lots of lions in Florence - a symbol of the city.


This “porch” full of sculptures was 2 blocks from our hotel.


Back alleys near our hotel.


Ponte Vecchio! The famous “gold bridge!”




Sunset over the Arno.


View from Ponte Vecchio. I was walking over the bridge to...


... wash some stinky laundry at a laundry mat. That morning was
my long run in Rome, and we both had some stinky clothes.


All the gold stores on Ponte Vecchio were closed up like jewelry boxes for the night.




Dusk on Ponte Vecchio.


A cozy (slightly outdated but still nice) room.


Breakfast hall the next morning (day 2 in Florence).


The Arno River was out those doors at the far side.


Our hotel was the area with the plastic (construction) on the left.
The world famous Uffizi Gallery is 2 buildings past that!


On a walking tour with Martina.


More of that “sculpture porch” near our hotel.




Inside Vecchio Palace. We wanted to go up their tower, but didn’t find the time.




Piazza Croce which is in front of the Basilica di Santa Croce
(looks like a mini Florence Cathedral) where Michelangelo is buried.






My wife and Martina.


Back at the Florence Cathedral.




Our tour with Martina concluded at the Accademia Gallery, which is famous for...


... a few Botticelli paintings...


... but mostly for having Michelangelo's David!!








(I started taking photos of butts for a while in Florence. Just because.)




This room full of plaster models from Bartolini and Pampaloni was amazing.




Shopping for a scarf for my mom on the streets of Florence.


Such a good and cheap lunch watching our sandwich meat being freshly cut...


... at I' Girone De' Ghiotti. TASTY sandwich!


Back at the “porch.”


An evening self-guided tour of the Baptistery of St. John (part of the Florence Cathedral complex).








The famous ceiling was being repaired (that’s just a covering up there).


Then we headed to the Cathedral museum, which was HUGE.
These were the original gold doors recently taken off the Baptistery.


In the museum.


So many (creepy, but interesting) relics! This is the arm of St. Justus.


St. Peter's chains.


Finger of John the Baptist...


... and the jaw of John the Baptist. All of this was so morbidly amazing.




Also, all of the historical wealth in these amazing old churches
was sometimes sickening. Lots of feelings about this history!


Detail of a silver alter.


More butts.


A flowing wall of chocolate behind Sarah!




Back on Ponte Vecchio with the “hidden walkway” above.






A quick stop at the rooftop bar of our hotel. There’s Ponte Vecchio in the lower left...


... and Florence Cathedral's dome, and the tower at Palazzo Vecchio.

We got to bed at a decent time, and then we both got up early the next morning (day 3 in Florence) for a run along the Arno:

QUIET Ponte Vecchio!


Along the Arno.


This was the busy street shot of the sunset from 36 hours before. DEAD now!








After a few miles, I found myself in more of a park (on the left).




Heading back towards the “downtown” area where we stayed.






Breakfast was good, but not as amazing as our hotel in Rome.


But an amazing room though!


Back at the cathedral for a tour up Giotto's Bell Tower!


In line with our tickets to get in.


On our way up the 414 old and uneven steps to the top.




Little windows showed us the thickness of the walls!


Getting closer to the level of Brunelleschi's dome.


Views from the top!


That’s the tower from Vecchio Palace to the middle/left.


View of the dome from the top!






Headed down. This was a 2-way staircase!




Down below the bells (but still high up).


Sarah was concerned the up-draft would
give someone coming up the steps an eye-full. ;)




Sculpture commemorating a bombing just outside our hotel.


Waiting for our driver in our lobby. We were heading out to Tuscany.


Our first of 3 stops was the medieval city of San Gimignano which is known for its
towers (seen in the distance). It once had like 70 towers, but now has less than 20.


First pic in San Gimignano: my wife waking a pic of a chocolate fountain.






We’d end up going in a little shop in the direction that my wife is
looking to get a gift for my mother-in-law (and a ring for my wife).




Two of the many towers.










Heading up on a tour.






On the way up to the top...


... there’s a museum.


Near the top!


At the top!










The bell at the top - we had to duck to walk under this.


Back on the ground.


My wife’s new ring.


Working our way back out of the city.




One of my wife’s favorite selfies from the trip.


Outside the city walls.


In the countryside on the way to a winery.

We were dropped off at a small winery named Sant’ Agnese Farm. We got a little tour of the operations by the owner, and he first had us sniff balsamic vinegar that was aging. It was STRONG:

Sarah getting a pungent sniff!


Aging wine.


Heading inside for a meal.


Lots of wine and little tastes.










Strawberries and ice cream with balsamic.


A short drive into another small town: Castellina in Chianti.


We just wandered this town for an hour or so.


Smaller towers in this town.








St. Faust was on “display” in an old church.










Sarah really loved this quiet little town.


Peaking through windows, finding fun things.








A few lizard friends climbing around.




From a quiet town, back to busy Florence!
This is right outside our hotel, with Ponte Vecchio ahead to the left.


View of Ponte Vecchio from the next bridge to the east
as we were out for a stroll across the Arno.


Discovering lots of old churches on the way.


The old city wall.




Purchasing 2 small paintings from a local artist.
(He’s wrapping them up for us here.)


Heading up to Piazzale Michelangelo.


What a view!


An old cemetery under the Church of San Miniato al Monte.




Just a quick peek inside as a mass was about to start.


View from the church’s steps: highest point in Florence!




From a few blocks over at Piazzale Michelangelo: Ponte Vecchio, the Palace, and the Cathedral.






With a boozy drink from a “to go” window on our way back into the city.


I had to stop for a sandwich.






Window shopping on Ponte Vecchio.


Out to eat right next to our hotel at Trattoria Ponte Vecchio.


Pizza for me!


A final evening of exploring in Florence!


A final good-bye to the Cathedral...


... and the Palace.


Our final breakfast in Florence.


We were up early and had breakfast almost to ourselves.


We got early tickets to the Uffizi Gallery!
(I also posted lots of photos from the gallery on my Photography Blog last year.)


Among the first hundred in for the day!




We had many spaces to ourselves! Amazing!






Della Francesca.


Botticelli’s “Spring.”


”The Birth of Venus!” My wife had never heard of this, and I still tease her about that.










One of a few Doryphoroses (Doryphoroi?) that I’ve seen.


Ponte Vecchio from the Uffizi Gallery.
Our hotel is just under the white tarp on the right.


Da Vinci’s “The Baptism of Christ.”


Raphel.


Michelangelo’s only surviving easel painting! (Non-fresco)




The typical large heads of Durer.


Rembrandt.


Rubens.








Another view of the Arno and Ponte Vecchio from the Uffizi.




The 2 most exciting things for me to see were near the end:
this was Artemisia Gentileschi’s “Judith Beheading Holofernes.”


And this was Caravaggio's “Medusa.”


I never knew it was so convex!


Rembrandt.


Heading out after a whirlwind 90 minutes!
(Again, there are more photos on my Photography Blog.)

We fit the Uffizi in right before we were heading out of Florence. I think our tickets were for 8:15 a.m., and then we had a 10:30 train to catch. This time, we just walked to the train station with our luggage (totally not a problem for us) and waited for our train to arrive:

Lots of space in this first-class car!


So much space!

Off to the coast! Back with the final set of photos shortly. In case you missed it, here’s the post with our first 3 nights in Rome - we did Rome for 3 nights, Florence for 3 nights, and then headed to the coast for 2 final days.

UPDATE: here's the final Italy post from the coast.