Florence in an eye-blink, Rome in a flash
Sep 8th, 2022, 01:01 PM
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Florence in an eye-blink, Rome in a flash
Several times I've suggested to people who have a very short time to see Italy, but want to see the "big three" of Venice, Florence, and Rome, that they stop over in Florence for a quick visit en ruote to Rome. This would mean leaving Venice early in the morning, leaving luggage at the train station in Florence, making a quick visit, and then taking a late train to Rome.
My situation was a little different. My daughter and granddaughter were coming to visit me in Italy for the first time in three years, no thanks to Covid, and to the overwhelmed passport office last year. They only had eight days they could carve out this summer, and would have spent all of the time at my home in Le Marche, visiting friends and relatives. However, my 17-year-old granddaughter wanted to bring her best friend, who had never been to Europe, so I started thinking of the possibility of letting this girl see a bit of the part of Italy that is more famous than Le Marche. Le Marche is possibly the most beautiful region of Italy, but you can't go home and tell your friends you only saw Senigallia and Fabriano when you were in Italy.
After an early start from Le Marche, at an hour the two teenagers were not enthusiatic about, we arrived in Florence at 11:24, and settled into the Hotel Berna, a stone's throw from the station. This is a simple 2-star hotel, with no full-time desk staff. It's clean and comfortable, and has decent air conditioning, which was needed, as we were just beginning what turned into a 6-week heat wave. It's on the second (third USA) floor of a building that houses other lodgings and apartments, with a tiny elevator that could carry two people, or one person with a large suitcase. we all had small suitcases, so we were able to make it in two trips. After that, when we were unburdened by luggage, we took the stairs.
After a quick lunch at a nearby bar/restaurant, we headed out for our blitz-tour of Florence. We walked first to the Duomo. We walked all around it, but didn't go in. The inside isn't all that impressive, as most of the art that used to be inside is now in the
Duomo Museum, il Museo dell'Opera del Duomo. There are now three types of tickets to the various parts of the Duomo area. All are valid for three days. You really couldn't see all of the sites in one day, so it's good to have a choice of how much you want to see. The Duomo itself is free to enter, without a ticket, but there's usually a long queue waiting to get in. Since we were short of time, I got the Ghiberti pass, which is the cheapest, and allows entrance to the Museum, the Baptistery and the ancient Church of Santa Reparata under the Duomo.
The Duomo museum, often overlooked, doesn't have a long queue waiting to get in, and you don't have to time your visit. (Timed visits are killers of short visits.) The Museum was completely reorganized and restructured and reopened in 2015. It's a truly beautifu and l museum. My granddaughter's friend had never been in a museum, and she was reasonably impressed with her first visit. Many, maybe most, of the interestingworks of art that used to be in the Duomo are in this museum, including sculptures by Michelangelo and Donatello. There is also a full-size reconstruction of the face of the Duomo as it was in the 14th century, with surviving sculptures placed in niches in their proper places. On the other side of the same room is the original of Brunelleschi's bronze east door of the Baptistery, known as the Gates of Paradise, the name given to it by Michelangelo. It's worth getting a ticket to the museum just to see this. The replica on the door of the Baptistery doesn't do it justice. This was the first time I had seen the full door in all its glory. On previous visits, only representative panels could be seen, while the door was undergoing a full restoration. Another of my favorite works of art is the Penitent Magdalene, by Donatello. There is also a little-known unfinished Pietà by Michelangelo, but it's not one of his best efforts.There is also a very interesting exhibit about the construction of the cupola, with tools used by the workmen and even one of their payroll books. One of the new features of the museum is the terrace on the roof, which gives you an up-close view of the cupola of the Duomo. The girls took a number of selfies there, with the cupola in the background.
After visiting the museum, we had a snack break at the bar at the entrance to the museum, which is operated independently.
Next we visited the Baptistery, another overlooked treasure. The Baptistery is older than the Duomo itself. the original building is 4th-5th century church, but it was expanded in the 13th century and the interior cupola was covered with beautiful mosaics, predominantly golden. The present Duomo was built around the same time. If someone has a short time in Florence, I highly recommend skipping the inside of the Duomo, which, with the long wait, would eat up a large part of your day Anyway, as I said, most of the works of art that were once in the Duomo are now in the Museum. The Museum and the Baptistery are well worth seeing even on a short visit, though. You can see the Baptistery in half an hour or less. The Museum could take several hours, but we were selective in what we saw.
I would have liked to visit the ancient church of Santa Reparata, but I was outvoted. This happens every time I'm in Florence. I'll have to go on my own one day. Instead of Santa Reparata, we walked to the Piazza della Signoria, where we could admire the outside of the Palazzo Vecchio, lots of little-known statues, and the replica of Michelangelo's David. Many people turn up their noses at this replica, but it's not at all bad. The same people often crowd around the Baptistery to take photos of the replica of the Gates of Paradise instead of going into the nearby Museum to see the original.
Next we walked to the River Arno, where we stopped a while to watch a crew race. The we went to the Ponte Vecchio, which the girls wanted to cross in spite of the crowds. My daughter and I passed, having been there many times before, and having an aversion to crowds.
Now we walked back towards our hotel. It was too late to visit the Basilica of Santa Novella, beside the train station of the same name, but I suggested a visit to the Antica Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica of Santa Maria Novella, located in the original pharmacy operated by the meieval monks of the basilica. I thought the girls might find some special gifts for people at home, but they were astounded at the prices and not much interested in the antique furnishings. At one time, the only way to buy their products was to go there, but now they have an online store, and branch stores, and I've even seen some of their wares on Amazon. In fact, they didn't have my favorite lotion, and told me it was no longer being made. However, when I got home, I found it on their online store.
The next morning, we visited the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella, which is a treasure house of Renaissance art. One of the main features is the Tornabuoni Chapel, whose three walls are covered with frescoes depicting the life of the Virgin Mary, by Ghirlandaio and his workshop, including the young Michelangelo. One of the figures in a fresco, representing an adolescent boy, is thought to be a self-portrait. Another important painting in the Basilica is the Holy Trinity, by Masaccio, which is one of the earliest Renaissance paintings to use the technique of perspective. There is also a wooden painted crucifix by Giotto, one of the greatest late medieval artists, and a wooden crucifix by Brunelleschi. The basilica has three interesting ccloisters, but we only saw one of them. After this, we returned to the hotel to pick up our bags and went to the station.
I think we managed to see a great deal in what amounted to 8 hours. We didn't go to the Uffizi, but that's a museum that I think would mostly be enjoyed by enthusiasts of Italian Renaissance art, with an emphasis on religious art. It's huge. My daughter and I once spent 7 hours there, spread over two days, and still didn't see all we wanted to see. We also didn't see the real David, but we saw the replica. And we did see the real Gates of Paradise. We would have had time to fit in another museum, or a church. I had suggested the Bargello, but the girls were tired, and our guest thought one museum was enough for one day.
And so on to Rome. I'll get to Rome in my next post.
My situation was a little different. My daughter and granddaughter were coming to visit me in Italy for the first time in three years, no thanks to Covid, and to the overwhelmed passport office last year. They only had eight days they could carve out this summer, and would have spent all of the time at my home in Le Marche, visiting friends and relatives. However, my 17-year-old granddaughter wanted to bring her best friend, who had never been to Europe, so I started thinking of the possibility of letting this girl see a bit of the part of Italy that is more famous than Le Marche. Le Marche is possibly the most beautiful region of Italy, but you can't go home and tell your friends you only saw Senigallia and Fabriano when you were in Italy.
After an early start from Le Marche, at an hour the two teenagers were not enthusiatic about, we arrived in Florence at 11:24, and settled into the Hotel Berna, a stone's throw from the station. This is a simple 2-star hotel, with no full-time desk staff. It's clean and comfortable, and has decent air conditioning, which was needed, as we were just beginning what turned into a 6-week heat wave. It's on the second (third USA) floor of a building that houses other lodgings and apartments, with a tiny elevator that could carry two people, or one person with a large suitcase. we all had small suitcases, so we were able to make it in two trips. After that, when we were unburdened by luggage, we took the stairs.
After a quick lunch at a nearby bar/restaurant, we headed out for our blitz-tour of Florence. We walked first to the Duomo. We walked all around it, but didn't go in. The inside isn't all that impressive, as most of the art that used to be inside is now in the
Duomo Museum, il Museo dell'Opera del Duomo. There are now three types of tickets to the various parts of the Duomo area. All are valid for three days. You really couldn't see all of the sites in one day, so it's good to have a choice of how much you want to see. The Duomo itself is free to enter, without a ticket, but there's usually a long queue waiting to get in. Since we were short of time, I got the Ghiberti pass, which is the cheapest, and allows entrance to the Museum, the Baptistery and the ancient Church of Santa Reparata under the Duomo.
The Duomo museum, often overlooked, doesn't have a long queue waiting to get in, and you don't have to time your visit. (Timed visits are killers of short visits.) The Museum was completely reorganized and restructured and reopened in 2015. It's a truly beautifu and l museum. My granddaughter's friend had never been in a museum, and she was reasonably impressed with her first visit. Many, maybe most, of the interestingworks of art that used to be in the Duomo are in this museum, including sculptures by Michelangelo and Donatello. There is also a full-size reconstruction of the face of the Duomo as it was in the 14th century, with surviving sculptures placed in niches in their proper places. On the other side of the same room is the original of Brunelleschi's bronze east door of the Baptistery, known as the Gates of Paradise, the name given to it by Michelangelo. It's worth getting a ticket to the museum just to see this. The replica on the door of the Baptistery doesn't do it justice. This was the first time I had seen the full door in all its glory. On previous visits, only representative panels could be seen, while the door was undergoing a full restoration. Another of my favorite works of art is the Penitent Magdalene, by Donatello. There is also a little-known unfinished Pietà by Michelangelo, but it's not one of his best efforts.There is also a very interesting exhibit about the construction of the cupola, with tools used by the workmen and even one of their payroll books. One of the new features of the museum is the terrace on the roof, which gives you an up-close view of the cupola of the Duomo. The girls took a number of selfies there, with the cupola in the background.
After visiting the museum, we had a snack break at the bar at the entrance to the museum, which is operated independently.
Next we visited the Baptistery, another overlooked treasure. The Baptistery is older than the Duomo itself. the original building is 4th-5th century church, but it was expanded in the 13th century and the interior cupola was covered with beautiful mosaics, predominantly golden. The present Duomo was built around the same time. If someone has a short time in Florence, I highly recommend skipping the inside of the Duomo, which, with the long wait, would eat up a large part of your day Anyway, as I said, most of the works of art that were once in the Duomo are now in the Museum. The Museum and the Baptistery are well worth seeing even on a short visit, though. You can see the Baptistery in half an hour or less. The Museum could take several hours, but we were selective in what we saw.
I would have liked to visit the ancient church of Santa Reparata, but I was outvoted. This happens every time I'm in Florence. I'll have to go on my own one day. Instead of Santa Reparata, we walked to the Piazza della Signoria, where we could admire the outside of the Palazzo Vecchio, lots of little-known statues, and the replica of Michelangelo's David. Many people turn up their noses at this replica, but it's not at all bad. The same people often crowd around the Baptistery to take photos of the replica of the Gates of Paradise instead of going into the nearby Museum to see the original.
Next we walked to the River Arno, where we stopped a while to watch a crew race. The we went to the Ponte Vecchio, which the girls wanted to cross in spite of the crowds. My daughter and I passed, having been there many times before, and having an aversion to crowds.
Now we walked back towards our hotel. It was too late to visit the Basilica of Santa Novella, beside the train station of the same name, but I suggested a visit to the Antica Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica of Santa Maria Novella, located in the original pharmacy operated by the meieval monks of the basilica. I thought the girls might find some special gifts for people at home, but they were astounded at the prices and not much interested in the antique furnishings. At one time, the only way to buy their products was to go there, but now they have an online store, and branch stores, and I've even seen some of their wares on Amazon. In fact, they didn't have my favorite lotion, and told me it was no longer being made. However, when I got home, I found it on their online store.
The next morning, we visited the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella, which is a treasure house of Renaissance art. One of the main features is the Tornabuoni Chapel, whose three walls are covered with frescoes depicting the life of the Virgin Mary, by Ghirlandaio and his workshop, including the young Michelangelo. One of the figures in a fresco, representing an adolescent boy, is thought to be a self-portrait. Another important painting in the Basilica is the Holy Trinity, by Masaccio, which is one of the earliest Renaissance paintings to use the technique of perspective. There is also a wooden painted crucifix by Giotto, one of the greatest late medieval artists, and a wooden crucifix by Brunelleschi. The basilica has three interesting ccloisters, but we only saw one of them. After this, we returned to the hotel to pick up our bags and went to the station.
I think we managed to see a great deal in what amounted to 8 hours. We didn't go to the Uffizi, but that's a museum that I think would mostly be enjoyed by enthusiasts of Italian Renaissance art, with an emphasis on religious art. It's huge. My daughter and I once spent 7 hours there, spread over two days, and still didn't see all we wanted to see. We also didn't see the real David, but we saw the replica. And we did see the real Gates of Paradise. We would have had time to fit in another museum, or a church. I had suggested the Bargello, but the girls were tired, and our guest thought one museum was enough for one day.
And so on to Rome. I'll get to Rome in my next post.
Last edited by bvlenci; Sep 8th, 2022 at 01:18 PM.
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loumike
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May 29th, 2013 01:27 PM
