I've left work on time, rushed home to make dinner, then dawdled over to Shephards Bush to the internet cafe to write the next dredded installment of my beloved blog. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing more satisfying than finishing a post onhere, but they always seem to be such hard work!
I have a bad feeling I'm not going to get to post more pictures today because the connection is terrible... oh well we'll see.
In true Becky style I've left it for so long that I almost can't remember what I was going to write about Florence. Good to know I can travel half way around the world and still be a procrastinator!
So... Florence....
Stewart and I arrived in Florence via the train from Pisa and since I had no place booked (surprise surprise) and Stewart's hostel was only two minutes from the station I figured 'what the hell?' It turns out the trip to Florence is worth is just for this hostel, it is such an interesting experience! Marco was our host at Luna Rossa (hi Marco if you're reading this) he's a young guy from southern Italy who runs the place beautifully and sleeps in the kitchen. When I first got to Luna Rossa I was a bit confused by how many people worked there, but then it turned out that only Marco works there, everyone else was just sitting behind the reception desk so they could use the free internet. The hostel sort of became our family, it was quite small and very clean and we all went out for dinner or drinks each night. I met a lovely young Aussie girl called Maree, a very nice British girl called Catherine, and a whole bunch more Americans! We came across a really nice guy called Patrick (in the bed next to me) who also came from Ohio, and Stewart and I took him out to dinner and then introduced him to the delights of gelato. The night needless to say consisted of consuming large amounts of pasta, bread, gelato, wine and gin, but we all had a good time, meeting up with the Mississippi girls a bit later.
I was just about to write 'enough about the social stuff, now about the important stuff', but I think a huge amount of experiencing a place is deeply connected with who you're with and how you're sharing it. I love that the Piazza Santa Croce will always mean chinese food, poodles and crazy girls from Mississippi screaming 'Becky!' for me. And Piazza del Campo in Siena will always make me think of Stewart and Maree, the old man taking his grandson out for the day, and a cappuccino in a coke cup. Come to think of it, food always seems to play a big part in my sense of place as well....
Florence was amazing, absolutely beautiful, except for the 1000s and1000s of american tourists EVERYWHERE. (Sorry guys) I know I was a tourist as well, but seriously it is so overwhelming. The city is so small you can walk between all the main landmarks in 15 minutes. I think there are only 2 large buildings built in the last centruy in Florence, the train station and the market hall. Everything else is somewhere between 200 and 1000 years old. It is so beautiful.
The Piazzas are best early in the morning before everyone is out and it's cool and crisp. I lost count of exactly how many piazzas there are in Florence, but trust me there are a lot. I kept on finding myself wandering back to Piazza della Signoria outside the Palazzo della Signoria, maybe I was just swept in with the swarm of tourists, but I'd like to think it was the amazing sense on history and beauty in the place. The piazza has been the political heart of the city since the middle ages and it still is. The replica of the 'David' is there, and I have to say (shock! horror!) that this was my only experience of David while I was in Florence. I was just so captivated by the fake David that I was truely satisfied, that is I figured I would wait until I'm older and richer and can go back again and pay a rediculous price to get into the gallery where I can see the real thing. Other sculptures that captivated me were the Fountain of Neptune (1565-75) and the equestrian statue of Cosimo I de Medici (1591) both of which I have plenty of pics!
There are so many more cool things I saw in Florence, we lined up at 7 in the morning to get into the Ufizzi ('offices') which is up there as one of the most important art galleries in the world. If you get there in the middle of the day the line can take up to 4 hours!! I finally saw all the da Vinci and Botticelli paintings I have wanted to see, but to behonest they mostly slight let downs, especially The Birth of Venus which is what I reallywanted to see. One paintingdid get me morethan any others though, it was just a small painting from around 500 years ago of a boy. I have no idea who painted it or who he was (probably a medici) but I swear I could see into his soul. I've never felt anything like it, it wasso beautiful. I also fell in love with Carravggio's (mind the spelling) paintings, they are so amazingly haunting, almost completely black backgrounds yet you can see so much detail.
I also visited the Palazzo Pitti, another orthe Medici palaces on the other side of the river. There were 3 different tickets you could buy including 4 exhibitions and a very large garden and I figured what the heck why not, soI did it all. Needless to say it was stunning like everywhere else, but after a while my mind went blank. Unfortunately it was so hot that day that I couldn't bear to do more than a tiny bit of the garden, so it looks like I'll have to find another time to get there (darn).
The Ponte Vecchio (golden bridge full of shops) and the Duomo (big red dome cathedral) were the two main reasons I wanted to see florence but I hardly got to appretiate either of them. There is so much more I can say about Florence that I can't remember everything... The only other thing I thought was cool was that there is a completely closed in private walk way goingall the way from Palazzo della Signoria on the north, all the way past the Ufizzi, over the river and 10 minutes walk down to Palazzo Pitti. I had never heard of it, but I have to say it is the most interesting bit of olden days urban design I've ever seen. One ofthe Medici didn't want to have towalkthe street between his two palaces so he just built a bloody huge extension! It is full of lots of important art and it even has a peep-hole into a church so he didn't have to go in! Talk about luxury...
Anyway time forme to check if these photos are going to work. Apologies for all the spelling mistakes and lack of spaces between words, this keyboard is terrible.
Love to you all xxx
PS thanks for the package Adelle, I loved it all, but I'd have to say the erotic fiction novel was a bit of a surprise! Next time you see a drawing of a naked chick on the cover, maybe check the blurb... it may just not be an ealry feminist piece! hehe
PPS I've set my dates for my next flights! I'm in Scotland in september, back in Europe in October, in North America in June and back in Aus in July! Very excited!!!
