Florence

We had a short time in Florence (just one night), so we’ve written a short post. Here are the four best and four worst thingsabout our time in Florence:

4th Worst: Boboli Gardens. It cost us 10 euro each to get into these gardens, which were pretty average. The ticket includes admission to some of the exhibits in the Palazzo Pitti, but since we went in near closing time, we were passive-aggresively chased around the museum by a posse of museum staff anxious to get home.

It’s not all bad, as we did come across this rather bemusing sculpture in the gardens.

**3rd Worst:**Getting pooped on by a pigeon. ‘Nuff said.

2nd Worst: The footpaths on many of the streets were hardly wider than our shoulders. This didn’t stop drivers in Florence from flying past, just inches away. Not the most relaxed urban environment we’ve been in!

The worst thing about Florence: The city centre is absolutely saturated with tourists. To the point of barely being able to move at times.

And now for the four best…

4th Best: We found a great pizzeria and had a delicious meal for 5 euro each.

3rd Best: The Duomo (Basilica di Santa Maria) is mighty impressive. It has the largest brick dome ever constructed.

2nd Best: Unsurprisingly, we enjoyed seeing the incredible art in Florence. While we didn’t get to any of the famous art museums, we still saw plenty on display around the city. Check out this particularly gruesome sculpture, Perseus:

By the way, Michaelangelo’s David has a freakin’ huge right hand (yes, we’re aware that this one is a replica):

The best thing about Florence: Our favourite time in Florence was during a visit to the Great Synagogue when we started chatting to a guide at the end of a scheduled talk. We learnt heaps about the history of the Jews in Italy, Zionism/Israel and her outlook on the future for Jews in Europe. The guide gave us a very honest and personal perspective and was also interested in knowing about religious and race relations back in NZ. This may not sound like much, but it was really interesting having such an in-depth and open conversation about a culture we know only a little about.

We couldn’t take photos inside, but it was a beautiful building. The synagogue was designed by a Christian architect who gave the building a pulpit and organ (even though Jewish services don’t use pulpits and music is not allowed in a synagogue!)

So there’s our experience of Florence. It was quite a contrast after the easy pace of Moneglia! We’re bound for Venice next before heading to Rome.

Comments from WordPress

• Alice 2012-09-19T08:58:34Z

  Ah but you went to Florence in September! Unavoidable, but it doesnt start quieting down until Novemeber, and when I went there again in March it was filling up again! Crazy! But if you thought that was bad, wait for Venice… =p

• Craig and Sal 2012-10-02T06:50:03Z

  You weren’t wrong about Venice! But we found some quieter areas which were nice.

Written by Craig Drayton and Sally Robertson