Firenze. The most beautiful place.

When i was planning to go to Italy, in fact the only city that I had thought to know was Florence. I learned in the school about the Renaissance's  period and i knew that most of the great masters were there. Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Rafael Sanzio, Donatelo, Filippo Brunelleschi, Giotto, Boccaccio e Petrarca and others. So to be there it was a obligation. I should  known this place.

Even with all these reasons, I was almost giving up because I was in Milano and to go there I would have to spend a big money but, like a divine providence, I found a good way.

How I got there?

Once again i chose to go by train but in this case i was rushed because I traveled with a friend of mine whose was going to a city close to firenze and she had to arrive early in order to change the train. Looking for the tickets we've found a promotion. Two people going to Firenze, by frecciarossa should pay only €50,00. 

So we take the frecciarossa (the famous high speed train) we got our destiny in 1h30min. The train was really comfortable and fast

The first picture

Hostel

The hostel it was good. Just four beds in the room, clean enough, organized and helpful staff. The only problem with the hostel were the guests. Nobody talking. A boring silence.
The price was quite good. I paid 11€. Good bathroom. Wi-fi working. But i didn't find the kitchen. Therefore i dont know if they have a kitchen.

Located 500 metres from Santa Maria Novella Station, New Ostel Florence has free Wi-Fi and a terrace with a BBQ. It offers rooms and dormitories decorated in a simple, functional style.

Some rooms at the New Ostel feature a private bathroom. The dormitories are fitted with single and bunk beds.

The property has a communal TV room. Vending machines for drinks and snacks are also available.

The Fortezza Da Basso Exhibition and Congress Centre is 300 metres from the property. Florence Cathedral is a 10-minute bus ride away.

The view from the terrace

Basilica of Santa Maria Novella

The River Arno

The river originates on Mount Falterona in the Casentino area of the Apennines, and initially takes a southward curve. The river turns to the west near Arezzo passing through Florence, Empoli and Pisa, flowing into the Tyrrhenian Sea at Marina di Pisa.

With a length of 241 kilometres (150 mi), it is the largest river in the region. It has many tributaries: Sieve at 60 kilometres (37 mi) long, Bisenzio at 49 kilometres (30 mi), and the Era, Elsa, Pesa and Pescia. The drainage basin amounts to more than 8,200 square kilometres (3,200 sq mi) and drains the waters of the following sub-basins:

• The Casentino, in the province of Arezzo, formed by the upper course of the river until the confluence with the Maestro della Chiana channel.
  
• The Val di Chiana, a plain dried in the 18th century, which, until then, was a marshy area tributary of the Tiber.
  
• The upper Valdarno, a long valley bordered from East by the Pratomagno massif and from West by the hills around Siena.
  
• The Sieve's basin, which flows in the Arno immediately before Florence.
  
• The middle Valdarno, with the plain including Florence, Sesto Fiorentino, Prato and Pistoia.
  
• The lower Valdarno, with the valley of important tributaries such as the Pesa, Elsa and Era and in which, after Pontedera, the Arno flows into the Ligurian Sea. The river has a very variable discharge, ranging from about 6 cubic metres per second (210 cu ft/s) to more than 2,000 cubic metres per second (71,000 cu ft/s). The mouth of the river was once near Pisa, but is now several kilometres westwards.

It crosses Florence, where it passes below the Ponte Vecchio and the Santa Trìnita bridge (built by Bartolomeo Ammanati, but inspired by Michelangelo). The river flooded this city regularly in historical times, the last occasion being the flood of 1966, with 4,500 cubic metres per second (160,000 cu ft/s) after rainfall of 437.2 millimetres (17.21 in) in Badia Agnano and 190 millimetres (7.5 in) in Florence, in only 24 hours.

The flow rate of the Arno is irregular. It is sometimes described as having a torrent-like behaviour, because it can easily go from almost dry to near-flood in a few days. At the point where the Arno leaves the Apennines, flow measurements can vary between 0.56 and 3,540 cubic metres per second (20 and 125,014 cu ft/s). New dams built upstream of Florence have greatly alleviated the problem in recent years. 

A flood on November 4, 1966, collapsed the embankment in Florence, killing at least 40 people and damaging or destroying millions of works of art and rare books. New conservation techniques were inspired by the disaster, but even 40 years later hundreds of works still await restoration.

Ponte Vecchio

Open all of the time, along the pedestrian zone south of Piazza della Repubblica towards Palazzo Pitti built very close to the Roman crossing, the Old Bridge was until 1218 the only bridge across the Arno in Florence. The current bridge was rebuilt after a flood in 1345. During World War II it was the only bridge across the Arno that the fleeing Germans did not destroy. Instead they blocked access by demolishing the medieval buildings on each side. On November 4, 1966, the bridge miraculously withstood the tremendous weight of water and silt when the Arno once again burst its banks.

 

When the Medici moved from Palazzo Vecchio to Palazzo Pitti, they decided they needed a connecting route from the Uffizi to the Palazzo Pitti on the other side of the Arno that would enable them to keep out of contact with the people they ruled. The result was the Corridoio Vasariano, built in 1565 by Vasari and which runs above the little goldsmiths' shops on the Ponte Vecchio.

There have been stores on the Ponte Vecchio since the 13^th century. Initially, there were all types of shops, including butchers and fishmongers and later tanners, whose industrial waste caused a pretty rank stench. In 1593, Ferdinand I decreed that only goldsmiths and jewellers be allowed to have their stores on the bridge. Cellini, a 16^th century goldsmith, is honoured with a bust on the bridge. By night, the wooden shutters of the shops make them look like suitcases and wooden chests, making it a very suggestive route to take along an evening passeggiata, or stroll.

Getting lost in Firenze

Florence Cathedral (Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore)
Piazza Duomo

There isn't anything like that. It's big, whole decorated in marble. Inside it's possible to see some paintings but in the top there is a impressive painting inspired in Dante's Divine Comedy. Unfortunately my camera was unable to capture good pictures but even so i am putting these bad quality pictures.

The Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore (English, "Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower") is the main church of Florence, Italy. Il Duomo di Firenze, as it is ordinarily called, was begun in 1296 in the Gothic style to the design of Arnolfo di Cambio and completed structurally in 1436 with the dome engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi. The exterior of the basilica is faced with polychrome marble panels in various shades of green and pink bordered by white and has an elaborate 19th-century Gothic Revival façade by Emilio De Fabris.
 

The cathedral complex, located in Piazza del Duomo, includes the Baptistery and Giotto's Campanile. The three buildings are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site covering the historic centre of Florence and are a major attraction to tourists visiting the region of Tuscany. The basilica is one of Italy's largest churches, and until development of new structural materials in the modern era, the dome was the largest in the world. It remains the largest brick dome ever constructed.

Giotto's bell tower (campanile)

The cathedral is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Florence, whose archbishop is currently Giuseppe Betori.

Trompe l'oeil of Niccolò da Tolentino.

Dante and the Divine Comedy.

(Vasari's fresco begun in 1568, and completed by Federico Zuccaro in 1579.)

 (The Last Judgement (detail) under the dome.)

 

 

Food

Starving. I was really starving. I started my day eating only a latte macchiato and a brioche. In the metro station. I thought to ask for some food in the train. It was not expensive but i would like something more substantial so i waited untill arrive in firenze. When i got there. I saw a Mc Donalds (no way) and a counter with some fogazza and italians foods. Ok i could wait a little bit, so i went to looking for the hostel first.
Ok i left my stuffs there an i went to walk around and after 4 hours walking i deserved a good food.
I was lost again but close to the duomo i started to search for food and good prices and then i found a crowded place. I waited for 2 min outside and the people left. So i got inside. I got. Good food and good prices.

I asked for a fogazza (ham, cheese and tomato). Delicious. Coca-cola to drink. The size was good but i was really hungry so i asked for a another one now, ricota and spinach. (I hate spinach). It was delicious. Soft, salted enough, warm. Follow the pictures i am hungry again just remembering that.

Piazza della Signoria, Palazzo Vecchio and Uffizi Gallery.

Things to see

Sculptures, it's unbelievable the quantity of sculptures in the city. Where you put your eyes you can see a new one. I love sculptures. (Actually i became interested in this kind of art after do some jobs carrying bronze sculptures).
Michelangelo is in e everywhere. There is a Davi in front of the Palazzo Veccio, another one in the piazzele michelangelo but both of them are replicas. The real one is inside the museum da academia.
On the Uffizi Gallery. we can see lots of sculptures. Maquiavel, Colombo, Donatelo, etc.

Uffizi Gallery

 

Piazzale Michelangelo and the panoramic view.

In the first day i was really tired to walk around but even so i decided to see the piazelle and the city's night view. I was regretful because its a big climbing but happy because the view is awesome, the city's lights plus the architecture to make a spectacular combination and behind me there was a illuminated Davi.

On the next day i didn't think twice. I came from Piza by ride and the driver left me in a bus station and ai had to take a bus to go to the city center but the ticket was valid for 90 min then i took another bus to go to the piazzale and then i could see the city illuminated for the sunlight. The city and the around were so beautiful, so old and well protected. Still have a wall that surrounding the city.

The cemetery

Close to the piazzale Michelangelo I found a church and my curiosity was touched on so I went there in order to check and see if it was interesting. When I got there I was surprised, because it wasn't a real church but in fact it was a cemetery.

Inside the church, on the floor there were some writes, like "here rest in peace sir..." and the whole floor was full of tombstones. In the basement under the lord's table I found even more.

Gelato

I must make a confession. I was resistant to try the famous Italian gelato. It was cold. My throat was painful and i am not too fan of sweet things but i was thirsty, hungry and tired, walking the whole day then i decided to ask for a gelato. Chocolate of course.
After that, I asked for more two. It's amazing, i dont have words to describe the taste.

Galleria dell'Accademia   

The Galleria dell'Accademia di Firenze, or "Gallery of the Academy of Florence", is an art museum in Florence, Italy. It is the home of Michelangelo's sculpture David. It also has other sculptures by Michelangelo and a collection of Renaissance paintings

The Galleria dell'Accademia has housed the original David by Michelangelo since 1873. The sculpture was allegedly brought to the Accademia for reasons of conservation, although other factors were involved in its move from its previous outdoor location on Piazza della Signoria. The original intention was to create a 'Michelangelo museum', with original sculptures and drawings, to celebrate the fourth centenary of the artist's birth. Today, the gallery's small collection of Michelangelo's work includes his four unfinished Prisoners, intended for the tomb of Pope Julius II, and a statue of Saint Matthew, also unfinished. In 1939, these were joined by a Pietà discovered in the Barberini chapel in Palestrina, though experts now consider its attribution to Michelangelo to be dubious. The "David" in the Accademia is the original. There is a replica in the Piazza della Signoria

(Filippino Lippi - 1496 Saint Mary Magdalene; Saint John the Baptist)

Michelangelo's unfinished works 

Galleria dell'Accademia  

The Bearded Slave

Galleria dell'Accademia  

(Italian: Schiavo barbuto) is a marble sculpture by Michelangelo datable to around 1525–1530 and kept in the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence. It forms part of the series of "unfinished" Prigioni intended for the Tomb of Pope Julius II.

La Pietà di Palestrina

Galleria dell'Accademia 

The Palestrina Pietà is a marble sculpture by the Italian High Renaissance, dating from c. 1555 and housed in the Academy of Fine Arts, Florence, Italy. It was formerly attributed to Michelangelo, but now it is mostly considered to have been completed by someone else. The sculpture depicts three figures, one of them the body of Jesus Christ.

David

Galleria dell'Accademia

The history of the statue begins before Michelangelo's work on it from 1501 to 1504. Prior to Michelangelo's involvement, the Overseers of the Office of Works of Florence Cathedral, consisting mostly of members of the influential woolen cloth guild, the Arte della Lana, had plans to commission a series of twelve large Old Testament sculptures for the buttresses of the cathedral. In 1410 Donatello made the first of the statues, a figure of Joshua in terracotta. A figure of Hercules, also in terracotta, was commissioned from the Florentine sculptor Agostino di Duccio in 1463 and was made perhaps under Donatello's direction. Eager to continue their project, in 1464, the Operai contracted Agostino to create a sculpture of David. A block of marble was provided from a quarry in Carrara, a town in the Apuan Alps in northern Tuscany. Agostino only got as far as beginning to shape the legs, feet and the torso, roughing out some drapery and probably gouging a hole between the legs. His association with the project ceased, for reasons unknown, with the death of Donatello in 1466, and ten years later Antonio Rossellino was commissioned to take up where Agostino had left off.

Rossellino's contract was terminated soon thereafter, and the block of marble remained neglected for 25 years, all the while exposed to the elements in the yard of the cathedral workshop. This was of great concern to the Opera authorities, as such a large piece of marble was not only costly but represented a large amount of labour and difficulty in its transportation to Florence. In 1500, an inventory of the cathedral workshops described the piece as "a certain figure of marble called David, badly blocked out and supine." A year later, documents showed that the Operai were determined to find an artist who could take this large piece of marble and turn it into a finished work of art. They ordered the block of stone, which they called The Giant, "raised on its feet" so that a master experienced in this kind of work might examine it and express an opinion. Though Leonardo da Vinci and others were consulted, it was Michelangelo, only 26 years old, who convinced the Operai that he deserved the commission. On 16 August 1501, Michelangelo was given the official contract to undertake this challenging new task. He began carving the statue early in the morning on 13 September, a month after he was awarded the contract. He would work on the massive statue for more than two years.

Michelangelo’s David has become one of the most recognized works of Renaissance sculpture, a symbol of strength and youthful beauty.

  

Other Sculptures

Blablacar

Lets see. To come back by train it would cost something like €100,00 so I started looking for alternative ways to comeback to Milan. A friend of mine told me about a website called blablacar.com it's a kind of sharing car service and I paid something just to help with the gas. I already had taken one to come back from Piza to Firenze on that morning and it have been ok.
 

I were waiting and the guy he arrived some minutes later but still on time. He was fast. We did firenze to milan in 2h30min and I paid 18€ for the ride.