Florence

I just want to share my experience of Florence in the Autumn. It was October 2013. We left Britain after severe storms and the threat of our flight being cancelled. I even saw a rainbow from the window of my plane. The weather in Florence was still warm and sunny enough to leave your jacket off.
Our hotel, the Grand Meditarano, was a tall modern six storey building with a strikingly lit entrance. There were potted plants either side of ascending steps, to a spacious foyer where  marble columns supported high ceilings. A polished wooden bicycle featured in the shop window to the left as you came through.

 The River Arno was only about one hundred meters in front and so we had a room with a view. It was only a short walk away from the Piazza-le Michaelangelo square where the main attractions were and rightly so for it would've looked out of place amongst the old historical buildings there.

Breakfast at the hotel was a buffet including continental and Tuscan dishes.  I enjoyed scrambled egg and bacon with cherry tomatoes cooked in herbs and Tuscan beans. 

We walked to the Piazza Della Signoria, one of the most famous places in Florence  known as the old palace. Situated roughly halfway between Duomo and the Arno, it houses the museum of Florence. The square had a medieval feel to it when the bell of the tower rang and was bustling with tourists.

The Duomo or Brunelleschi’s  Cathedral   is an amazing piece of architecture and so enormous that you can see it almost  from wherever you are standing in Florence.It took over one hundred years to build, and was completed in 1436. The magnificent carvings on the outside were already beautiful just in stone but they stand out even more because colour was added to them in the 19^th century. The Dome of the Cathedral was built by Filippo Brunelleschi  1377-1446 one of the greatest architects and engineers of his day. The bell tower was designed by Giotto. The photo below was taken from the top of the bell tower in Palazzo Vecchio in Piazza Della Signoria which was an extremely steep climb and not for the weak.

Inside, the sheer size was awe inspiring.

The Baptistery building beside it had the most spectacular carvings on the doors. It was a much smaller structure  of the 10^th century and had three sets of bronze doors. The South  doors illustrated the life of John the Baptist, the patron Saint of Florence and were made by a Pisan artist Andrea Pisano. Another set of doors created by Lorenzo Ghiberti illustrate the old testament scenes.  (originals were completed in 1452)

We wandered around a bit more and  we turned a corner, to be faced with yet another exotic structure. The Santa Maria Novella with a very pretty garden leading up to the entrance. There was a small fee to pay as I remember but there was so much to see inside.  The paintings were of religious content obviously  as it was a church. The ceiling art was stunning and there were further grounds with other chapels to be explored including a Spanish one. There was so much art to drink in at the Santa Maria Novella, that we spent half of the day in there. Out in the grounds military police, better known as the Carabinieri, were doing a drill with riot shields. We passed their head quarters each day on the short walk into town. 

Later Steve asked a police woman to guide us in the direction of The Ponte Vecchio. It seems we already close.

 The Medieval stone closed bridge over the River Arno, had shops along it above the three arches which had once been five. This bridge, the oldest of six in Florence, had undergone many rebuilds due to damage. In the 15th century the shops were mainly butchers, grocers and fish mongers but were later replaced by goldsmiths. It continues to have lots of jewellery shops at present.

To be continued