Our Italian Adventure

Before we left for Italy, I had left Tuesday, May 20th as a day with options. One choice would have been to take a regional bus to the Tuscany hilltop town of Arezzo. The other option was to keep it open. The two destinations on our itinerary with the most activities and sights were Rome & Florence. In Rome, it was mainly the historic sights of ancient Rome. In Florence, it would be lots of churches and cultural attractions. We decided to have a down day for our last day in Siena. We took it easy and had a relaxing day to refresh ourselves for Florence. One correction from the previous blog is that we actually had our dinner with the German couple on this day, not right after the wine tour. We would have been too tired to socialize that evening.

On Tuesday evening, I called the local taxi company to reserve a taxi to the train station. For all of our destinations, Siena had the longest distance from our lodging to the train station. The distance would have been around three miles plus plenty of hills. Since our train would be departing at 848am, the taxi was the only logical choice. The taxi operator informed us that reserving a taxi for Wednesday would be impossible. The Siena taxi drivers were going on strike for the entire day. We were somewhat stressed, and began to make plans for leaving at 6am on Wednesday morning. That should give us enought time to walk to the station with our luggage. I messaged our VRBO host to check if she had any other ideas. Bless her soul, she volunteered to pick us up and drive us to the train station in the morning! Any complaints about the water in the VRBO not being hot enough disappeared with that kind gesture. As a way to make it easier for her, I grabbed the apartment key on our way out the door.

We made it to the station and this time the regional train provided us with a quiet ride to Florence. Before we boarded the train, I reached into my pocket, and crap, located the apartment key which I had forgotten to turn over to our host. In Florence, we learned how to use the Italian Postal Service to get those keys back to our Siena host. Since we were too early for our Florence VRBO, we stored our luggage into a commercial baggage facility near our VRBO. We browsed in the neighborhood, and grabbed some snacks before the VRBO was ready. .

Location and appearance was the reason I chose this VRBO. It was only two blocks from Ponte (bridge) Vecchio and right on the Arno River. The reviewers had given top marks for the apartment, and almost all mentioned the mother of the owner who lives next door to the VRBO unit. We met the mother aka Migi, who is about 80 years old as she let us into the apartment building. A modern elevator took us to the second floor, which was nice because most of our other lodging required walking up stairs. Migi led us into the apartment, which had fantastic views! The Uffizi museum was right across the river from our apartment. We had enjoyed a show called “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” in 2024. Well, now we have met in person, “The Marvelous Mrs. Migi.” More on that during our last post in Florence.

Our VRBO View of Arno River & Ponte Vecchio. Below picture from our VRBO, that is the Uffizi with the Arches!

From our travels and research, we had discovered the fate of Italian cities coming into the 14th & 15th century were intertwined with powerful family dynasties. Florence was no different as the wealthy Medici banking family consolidated power in Florence in the early 15th century. This family would produce some of the most influential bankers in the world, along with four popes, two French queens, and eventually political rulers of Tuscany. Say what you will about the very rich, but this family helped launched the Renaissance by funding now famous inventors and artists. They funded those who invented the piano, the opera, Saint Peter’s Basilica, and enlisted the services of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Galileo. To this day, Florence is known as the cultural center of western civilization. Florence is all about the arts and sciences. World class museums and churches abound in the city. Some of man’s greatest historical art can be found right here in Florence.

After moving into the VRBO, our next mission was to walk to the majestic Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. We had noticed the area around our VRBO was pretty busy, but as we approached Ponte Vecchio, we noticed the bridge was chocked-full of pedestrians. We learned this was normal for the bridge. Ponte Vecchio was the only Florence bridge that was spared destruction in WW2. It is a beautiful medieval stone arched bridge built over the original Roman bridge. I assumed it would have a variety of shops and restaurants, but each shop was a jewelry or goldsmith store. This was due to the Medici family banning all of the butchers and tanners from the bridge.  They had occupied this area until the unpleasant smells became too strong for the Medici to stand in 1593.  The butchers and tanners were moved to a different location and were replaced with goldsmiths & jewelers

As we wound our way on narrow streets amidst throngs of tourists, we arrived at Piazza della Signora. In addition to the museums and churches, Florence has an abundant supply of large, beautifully, designed Squares. We also quickly learned that Florence probably has more statues than any other location in the world.

The Loggia dei Lanzi is an open-air statue gallery since the 16th century. The lions symbolize the power & independence of the Florentine Republic.

The Fountain of Neptune was vandalized often for over 400 years. This included celebrating soccer fans in 1982 who decided to paint the fountain with the Italian national colors. A complete restoration was finished in 2019.

This depicts the moment that Hercules is about to execute Cacus for stealing his cattle. Statue was completed in 1534.

This depicts Perseus holding the head of Medusa from 1554. It symbolized the power of the Medici family and showed how order triumphs over chaos. Yep, the Renaissance apparently loved violent art!

We continued to fight the crowds as we found ourselves in the grand Piazza della Repubblica. The number of tourists was unlike any other place we’ve been to. Throughout our stay in Florence, we found that over-tourism was not a fantasy dreamed up by the locals. Even Rome was much less cramped than Florence. We’ll keep it positive going forward, but the crowds took some of the luster off the Florence appeal. There is no doubt that the summer months will double the number of tourists. No time to ride the Merry-Go-Round in Piazza Repubblica. We had a timed entry for the Cathedral.

We’ve been blessed by having the opportunity to visit some of the most beautiful churches in the world. In Paris, the Norte Dame Cathedral, Saint Chapelle, and Sacre-Coeur Martre. The Cologne Cathedral in Germany, Mattias Church in Budapest, Norte Dame de Senlis, Frauenkirche in Munich, the Marrienkirche in Lubeck Germany, and Nidaro’s Cathedral in Trondheim Norway. On our Italian adventures so far, we have explored St. Peter’s Basilica and the Siena Duomo. We also have planned visits to the Milano Duomo and St Mark’s Cathedral in Venice. It was now time to add one more to that list. The imposing, massive, and elegant Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence. It is one of the largest churches in the world and the name stands for “Lady of the Flower”. Florence is allegedly known as the city of flowers. The church was built between 1296 and1436. We had our Brunelleschi passes in hand which allowed access to the Duomo, St John’s Baptistery, Brunelleschi’s Cupola, the church museum, and the Santa Reparata. The Santa Reparata was the original church which the current structure is built over. It was discovered in 1965. Not only was Santa Reparata one of the largest medieval churches in Tuscany, but it contains tombs of the Medici and two popes.

After visiting the Cathedral and Santa Reparata, we visited the crown jewel of the Cathedral, the Brunelleschi Dome. This dome is the largest dome in the world and was designed by a man with no formal training as an architect or in engineering. He was a goldsmith and a sculptor. In 1418, church officials held a competition to award the right to build this dome without buttresses. All other previous churches with large domes had supported their domes with buttresses which pressed inwards and kept the dome intact. Due to a lack of wood around Florence, this wasn’t possible. When Brunelleschi submitted his vague plans on how to build this dome, he was mocked for the design, which called for two domes. His plans which he kept secret would allow for one dome to nest inside the other and thus act as the buttresses keeping the dome intact. After starting, he was even jailed briefly as many thought his design would never work. Brunelleschi’s design worked perfectly, and the dome he designed stands as a testament to his genius. Since his designs were never located, there are aspects still not understood today.

What this meant for the Miseners was that we would have to climb 463 narrow and winding stairs to reach the summit. While my knees have been aging the past few years, they did fine. This old man passed many others who were out of breath. This included those under the age of 25! The hard climb was worth the panoramic views of Florence. Plus, the cathedral was now closed, so it was cool to see the interior void of people.

Duomo

The Dome

View from Brunelleschi’s Dome

Amy captures a rainbow

After an early dinner, we returned to our VRBO on the Arno River. Tomorrow morning, we activate our Florence city cards to truly immerse ourselves in the Florence cultural experience.