Woin in Firenze - 4 days
May 2nd, 2017, 06:51 AM
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Woin in Firenze - 4 days
TR WoinParis Florence
Background : family very long week-end (Friday- Monday) Four of us, my wife went in via Brussels to Firenze airport, we did Charleroi – Pisa. We is 2 daughters – one teenager and a bambina and myself.
Arrived at Pisa (being Belgians we are blessed with a lot of airports at 3 hours from home : CDG, Orly, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Charleroi, Zaventem, without taking into account the regional ones. Ryanair flight was cheap and uneventful.
Background : family very long week-end (Friday- Monday) Four of us, my wife went in via Brussels to Firenze airport, we did Charleroi – Pisa. We is 2 daughters – one teenager and a bambina and myself.
Arrived at Pisa (being Belgians we are blessed with a lot of airports at 3 hours from home : CDG, Orly, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Charleroi, Zaventem, without taking into account the regional ones. Ryanair flight was cheap and uneventful.
May 2nd, 2017, 06:58 AM
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PISA :
We took a shuttle and went into Pisa. Jumped out of the bus 500 m from the tower, which was a good decision as we had a great breakfast : Panini with prosciutto and pesto – mmmmh.
Leaning tower, baptistery, church, then to trainstation.
FIRENZE :
1h30 later in Firenze. Welcomed by my wife who was already there.
Good meal at piazza della signoria (perseo ?) which surprised us since we were thinking it would be tourist stuff.
Museums / Gardens :
Pallazzo Vecchio : I loved it. With a nice view from the top towards galleria de uffizzis.
Bargello : some Donatello’s work, David was splendid, I really loved it. Not too crowded.
Duomo (fabulous) An interesting wooden sculpture of an old lady who must have eaten the year before she was used as a model of Donatello - didn’t like it but it was impressive and so modern.
Baptistère (fabulous)
Cuppola : super fabulous you only ha ve to climb about 500 stairs and have a view of MichelAngelo’s masterpiece (included some at your level and up to the sky) then climb inside some more and have a fantastic view of the city. THE highlight for me.
Villa Bardini (great gardens, ugly villa, with an unimpressive exhibition of ? Nero su Nero).
Then Boboli gardens (more like a park) and the Pitti palazzo (loved it, saw a lot of painting and some sculpture + furniture and what was normal decoration in a palace. The palace in itself is great. Some Raphael work inside.
Uffizis : Tried at 10 30 am – full of people, thought it would be worse inside. At Uffizzi’s by 8 45, queuing for 15 min (poor guys without Firenze cards would queue much more) saw Boticelli’s sculptures, etc. Had an orange juice on the terrace where we had a nice view to palazzo vecchio. Left by noon, must say at some times I just sped up. My favourites : Annunciation by Boticelli, Caravegio (but not Bacchus – God knows why I disliked it). .
Santa Croce (nice church).
Cappella dei Medici (we disliked it, pompous and full of relics – hate relics)
San Lorenzo – bof (next to Medici’s) but a very good pizza.
Santa Maria Novella (close to trainstation) – church (nice)
Places :
Piazza dei Signoria is great, can be full of people at times…
Piazza del Duomo – breathtaking.
Ponte Vecchio and some walking in the city.
An old pharmacy (oldest of Firenze) where you can buy tea and even drink it. Close to SMN
Exhibitions :
We saw a temporary exhibition of Bill Viola somewhere – the villa itself was bof and I didn’t like at all Viola : the guy makes videos and it is art. Maybe. Wife says I’m a conservative moron when it comes to art…
We wanted to see Klimt, but not on the Firenze card, my wife at seen it at Vienna, my daughter was non-plussed, so I skipped.
Day Trip (or half day trip) :
Fiesole, visited the roman ruins – great – and the church, bought some ‘saucisson’ and cheese at the market and had some quiet. Ah, to be in a place where you can actually relax without being bumped into…
Weather : great. 5 days there only half a day of rain, cold in the evening and we had some wind the first day.
Luggage : one backpack for each of us, one luggage for my wife.
Shopping : they (they !) bought 3 pairs of shoes and 2 bags – seems leather is either very nice or cheap. I bought a belt for 15 €.
Apartment : our apt was great, ideally located close to piazza Signoria, had one double bed (in mezzanine) and 2 single beds. Small kitchen – enough for eggs for breakfast. No view, relatively quiet (one guy – US – had rented an apt one floor below and we wondered if he ever went out but girls went in. Loud music.
Transportation : we flew in/out via Pisa, 1 h 40 something Pisa airport to Firenze trainstation MSN from there 15 min walk. Worked great. 10 € per trip trenitalia. Bought tickets from a machine, very easy.
Food : food was good to excellent – better than in some other touristy cities. Difficult ot find a place with bad food. We simply ate where we found we were hungry. Special recommendation for Caffe del Oro, close to Ponte Vecchio, very good quality price ratio.
Language : we started all our conversation in English by force of habit and ended 90% of them in French – seems Italians love to speak French. They do speak English too…
Greatest tips :
trains work great – less than 2 hours from Pisa airport for less than 10€.
Firenze card is 70 € per adult, one child free – turned out to be a fanstastic bargain for us. Valid 3 days, we were there 3 days…
Clothes : Italians are well dressed. Tourists were ok mostly (weather was not summer so they had to have some clothes on). Flip-flops ? Saw only one – guess what nationality…
We took a shuttle and went into Pisa. Jumped out of the bus 500 m from the tower, which was a good decision as we had a great breakfast : Panini with prosciutto and pesto – mmmmh.
Leaning tower, baptistery, church, then to trainstation.
FIRENZE :
1h30 later in Firenze. Welcomed by my wife who was already there.
Good meal at piazza della signoria (perseo ?) which surprised us since we were thinking it would be tourist stuff.
Museums / Gardens :
Pallazzo Vecchio : I loved it. With a nice view from the top towards galleria de uffizzis.
Bargello : some Donatello’s work, David was splendid, I really loved it. Not too crowded.
Duomo (fabulous) An interesting wooden sculpture of an old lady who must have eaten the year before she was used as a model of Donatello - didn’t like it but it was impressive and so modern.
Baptistère (fabulous)
Cuppola : super fabulous you only ha ve to climb about 500 stairs and have a view of MichelAngelo’s masterpiece (included some at your level and up to the sky) then climb inside some more and have a fantastic view of the city. THE highlight for me.
Villa Bardini (great gardens, ugly villa, with an unimpressive exhibition of ? Nero su Nero).
Then Boboli gardens (more like a park) and the Pitti palazzo (loved it, saw a lot of painting and some sculpture + furniture and what was normal decoration in a palace. The palace in itself is great. Some Raphael work inside.
Uffizis : Tried at 10 30 am – full of people, thought it would be worse inside. At Uffizzi’s by 8 45, queuing for 15 min (poor guys without Firenze cards would queue much more) saw Boticelli’s sculptures, etc. Had an orange juice on the terrace where we had a nice view to palazzo vecchio. Left by noon, must say at some times I just sped up. My favourites : Annunciation by Boticelli, Caravegio (but not Bacchus – God knows why I disliked it). .
Santa Croce (nice church).
Cappella dei Medici (we disliked it, pompous and full of relics – hate relics)
San Lorenzo – bof (next to Medici’s) but a very good pizza.
Santa Maria Novella (close to trainstation) – church (nice)
Places :
Piazza dei Signoria is great, can be full of people at times…
Piazza del Duomo – breathtaking.
Ponte Vecchio and some walking in the city.
An old pharmacy (oldest of Firenze) where you can buy tea and even drink it. Close to SMN
Exhibitions :
We saw a temporary exhibition of Bill Viola somewhere – the villa itself was bof and I didn’t like at all Viola : the guy makes videos and it is art. Maybe. Wife says I’m a conservative moron when it comes to art…
We wanted to see Klimt, but not on the Firenze card, my wife at seen it at Vienna, my daughter was non-plussed, so I skipped.
Day Trip (or half day trip) :
Fiesole, visited the roman ruins – great – and the church, bought some ‘saucisson’ and cheese at the market and had some quiet. Ah, to be in a place where you can actually relax without being bumped into…
Weather : great. 5 days there only half a day of rain, cold in the evening and we had some wind the first day.
Luggage : one backpack for each of us, one luggage for my wife.
Shopping : they (they !) bought 3 pairs of shoes and 2 bags – seems leather is either very nice or cheap. I bought a belt for 15 €.
Apartment : our apt was great, ideally located close to piazza Signoria, had one double bed (in mezzanine) and 2 single beds. Small kitchen – enough for eggs for breakfast. No view, relatively quiet (one guy – US – had rented an apt one floor below and we wondered if he ever went out but girls went in. Loud music.
Transportation : we flew in/out via Pisa, 1 h 40 something Pisa airport to Firenze trainstation MSN from there 15 min walk. Worked great. 10 € per trip trenitalia. Bought tickets from a machine, very easy.
Food : food was good to excellent – better than in some other touristy cities. Difficult ot find a place with bad food. We simply ate where we found we were hungry. Special recommendation for Caffe del Oro, close to Ponte Vecchio, very good quality price ratio.
Language : we started all our conversation in English by force of habit and ended 90% of them in French – seems Italians love to speak French. They do speak English too…
Greatest tips :
trains work great – less than 2 hours from Pisa airport for less than 10€.
Firenze card is 70 € per adult, one child free – turned out to be a fanstastic bargain for us. Valid 3 days, we were there 3 days…
Clothes : Italians are well dressed. Tourists were ok mostly (weather was not summer so they had to have some clothes on). Flip-flops ? Saw only one – guess what nationality…
May 2nd, 2017, 08:10 AM
#3
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You saw a lot for 4 days there!
I was in Firenze and Pisa for 3 days but didn't see half of the things you did.
Inside the baptistery, did you hear the guard singing? The acoustic is superb. I just wish they sing some actual melody rather than a single note during 5 seconds and voilà c'est fini.
I was in Firenze and Pisa for 3 days but didn't see half of the things you did.
Inside the baptistery, did you hear the guard singing? The acoustic is superb. I just wish they sing some actual melody rather than a single note during 5 seconds and voilà c'est fini.
May 2nd, 2017, 08:46 AM
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Hercule was much better raised than myself and would never had said 'bof' ;-)
No unfortunately nobody sang when we were there. A pity.
Acoustic in some churches is great actually. I sneezed in SMN and everybody turned towards me, a few tombs opened a crack to see who was the idiot who was making such noise, and my wife and daughters were hiding themselves laughing.
It was my loudest sneeze of the decade and it had to happen in perfect acoustics.
No unfortunately nobody sang when we were there. A pity.
Acoustic in some churches is great actually. I sneezed in SMN and everybody turned towards me, a few tombs opened a crack to see who was the idiot who was making such noise, and my wife and daughters were hiding themselves laughing.
It was my loudest sneeze of the decade and it had to happen in perfect acoustics.
May 2nd, 2017, 09:18 AM
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Wo: normally many churches have great acoustic to sing religious songs inside, but the bastistery in Pisa is special in this aspect. Due to its double layer, or something like that, it gives a longer and more "luminous" echo, so the guard sings once a half an hour to demonstrate it. I was too curious so I sang a phrase inside it (despite the weird look from other tourists...) and it sound like a whole choir singing. Wonderful. Then the guard rushed to me and said that the tourists were forbidden to sing inside it.
Well, you enjoyed the baptistery nonetheless, that's what matters ^^
Well, you enjoyed the baptistery nonetheless, that's what matters ^^
May 2nd, 2017, 11:36 AM
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<i> Duomo (fabulous) An interesting wooden sculpture of an old lady who must have eaten the year before she was used as a model of Donatello - didn’t like it but it was impressive and so modern.
</i>
That must be the Mary Magdalene, in the Museum of the Duomo. It's one of my favorite sculptures of all time! I agree with you about the Medici Chapels, though.
<i> An old pharmacy (oldest of Firenze) where you can buy tea and even drink it. Close to SMN </i>
That's the Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella. They claim to be the oldest continuously operating pharmacy in all of Europe. However, you can't get your prescription filled there. They sell very overpriced lotions, creams, colognes, herbal concoctions, etc. Unfortunately, I'm addicted to their Crema Fluida Relax, and plain old Ponds won't do. Their tea is good; it's one of the few places in Italy that actually knows how to make tea.
I don't know what masterpiece of Michelangelo you're talking about in the Duomo. I can't remember any work of his there.
<i> San Lorenzo – bof (next to Medici’s) </i>
San Lorenzo has a beautiful library, designed by Michelangelo. It has an enormous number of manuscripts, many belonging to the Medici family.
<i> Santa Maria Novella (close to trainstation) – church (nice)
</i>
The Basilica of Santa Maria Novella is one of the hidden gems of Florence. It's full of Renaissance masterpieces, and the beautiful Tornabuoni Chapel. It also has a very nice cloister. (Actually there are two cloisters.)
</i>
That must be the Mary Magdalene, in the Museum of the Duomo. It's one of my favorite sculptures of all time! I agree with you about the Medici Chapels, though.
<i> An old pharmacy (oldest of Firenze) where you can buy tea and even drink it. Close to SMN </i>
That's the Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella. They claim to be the oldest continuously operating pharmacy in all of Europe. However, you can't get your prescription filled there. They sell very overpriced lotions, creams, colognes, herbal concoctions, etc. Unfortunately, I'm addicted to their Crema Fluida Relax, and plain old Ponds won't do. Their tea is good; it's one of the few places in Italy that actually knows how to make tea.
I don't know what masterpiece of Michelangelo you're talking about in the Duomo. I can't remember any work of his there.
<i> San Lorenzo – bof (next to Medici’s) </i>
San Lorenzo has a beautiful library, designed by Michelangelo. It has an enormous number of manuscripts, many belonging to the Medici family.
<i> Santa Maria Novella (close to trainstation) – church (nice)
</i>
The Basilica of Santa Maria Novella is one of the hidden gems of Florence. It's full of Renaissance masterpieces, and the beautiful Tornabuoni Chapel. It also has a very nice cloister. (Actually there are two cloisters.)
May 2nd, 2017, 01:29 PM
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PQ,
I tipped somebody. Ah, taxi driver. She was nice, could speak only Italian.
Yes, we did see a pickpocketer. He stole the Iphone of the lady who sold the bags to my wife. Italian looking, black hair, medium size. I took pictures of the shop and my ladies but not when he was there. Then I was engrossed in my book - or reading Fodors' excellent tips.
Bvlenci, probably Mary Magdalena. at the exit of the museum.
We missed the library... we were so disappointed with what we saw that we went out and after my wife said 'ah, the library was nice to see'...
Yes, the cloister of Santa Maria Novella was beautiful - and connects with the pharmacy but you cannot go from one to the other. My wife bought tea there.
Jeez, I miss Florence already - I had a great time there. Real great.
I tipped somebody. Ah, taxi driver. She was nice, could speak only Italian.
Yes, we did see a pickpocketer. He stole the Iphone of the lady who sold the bags to my wife. Italian looking, black hair, medium size. I took pictures of the shop and my ladies but not when he was there. Then I was engrossed in my book - or reading Fodors' excellent tips.
Bvlenci, probably Mary Magdalena. at the exit of the museum.
We missed the library... we were so disappointed with what we saw that we went out and after my wife said 'ah, the library was nice to see'...
Yes, the cloister of Santa Maria Novella was beautiful - and connects with the pharmacy but you cannot go from one to the other. My wife bought tea there.
Jeez, I miss Florence already - I had a great time there. Real great.
May 2nd, 2017, 03:01 PM
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Nice report! Makes me want to give Firenze another try, trip to Pisa included. I had assumed Pisa was further away than that so hadn't even considered it. Agree about Medicis but not about relics- I find those weirdly fascinating. With Bvlenci on trying to emulate your sneeze.
Wondering if the lines are pretty much the same year round. I gave up and bought Firenze card for that reason.
What's the name of that pharmacy? Sounds interesting!
Wondering if the lines are pretty much the same year round. I gave up and bought Firenze card for that reason.
What's the name of that pharmacy? Sounds interesting!
May 3rd, 2017, 12:17 AM
#16
"Then the guard rushed to me and said that the tourists were forbidden to sing inside it."
I believe it, we were in a church high above Florence where a guard used a megaphone to shout "Silenzio" to the tourists chatting in the church.
I bet God was taking note.
I believe it, we were in a church high above Florence where a guard used a megaphone to shout "Silenzio" to the tourists chatting in the church.
I bet God was taking note.
