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Wordless Wednesday: Renaissance Florence
florence
Modern art in Florence
The historical city of Florence in Italy is famous for being the home of some of the most magnificent renaissance art and architecture in the world. Visitors to the city don’t have to venture into a museum or gallery to view great examples of renaissance art because you are literally surrounded by it in this UNESCO heritage listed city. However, if you like something a little more 21st century, look around and you will see modern art everywhere you walk. When we were in Florence in 2011 I never really noticed any street art, but in 2015 we saw plenty and the artwork varied greatly in style from cartoonish to realistic. This is a small selection of what can be seen as you walk around the city and as you can see, nowhere was off limits with art painted on metal utility boxes as well as on the walls of buildings.
For more examples of street art in Florence as well as information about the artists, check out the Girl in Florence blog post A Guide to Street Artists in Florence.
Travel theme: Early
Possibly a tad late to participate in this week’s travel theme from Where’s My Backpack however I needed some motivation to start posting more often and this provided the perfect kick in the pants. Taken reasonably early for the time of year, but not quite sunrise, these photos are a selection from our trip to Europe in November last year. Our morning walks were always crowd free, we would see people heading off to work or school but generally there weren’t many people around and we had the streets and piazzas to ourselves.
A few favourite moments in Florence
This was my third visit to Florence and after reading that November was usually quieter for tourists I was surprised to have to dodge so many people on our way from the station to our accommodation. The streets and piazzas were humming, but it was the weekend and upon arrival at our hotel we discovered that the Pope was coming to town and that was when it all started to make sense. We were told that the Pope would be passing underneath our hotel window and that it would be the first visit by a Pope in almost 30 years.
On this trip we didn’t visit the Uffizi or see the David however we did spend time hanging out in Piazza della Signoria, I love the loggia and spent quite a bit of time with the beautiful sculptures residing within. We also went for a stroll across to the other side of the river, a lovely part of Florence that is home to wonderful artisans and the Antico Ristoro di Cambi where we tried the famous and delicious Bistecca Fiorentina. Florence is perfect for strolling and it seemed that wherever we went there was something for us to enjoy, whether it be gelato, coffee or a work of art.
The rape of the Sabine
Il Papa visiting Florence as seen from our accommodation
Loggia Lion
View of the Arno from Lugarno Hotel
Visiting a vineyard in Tuscany
Santa Croce Basilica
Perseus
I love food
Travel provide so many opportunities to try sifferent and delicious food. In Australia we have access to a variety of cuisines however there is nothing like eating food in the country of its origin. In Paris it was confit canard, in Turin truffles and in Florence wild boar although the bistecca fiorentina and lampredotto are on the list of thing to try over the next couple of days.
I share with you some of the yummy food we have eaten. Buon appetito!
Food glorious food…part two
Whilst travelling around Europe last year I took thousands of photos, some of these focused on the delightful array of food available from markets and the meals we consumed. Many of the photos are merely happy snaps, badly lit and slightly blurred photographs of the food we ate and often I was so absorbed in the eating of a tasty dish that I completely forgot to take a photo. Anyway, the first part of our journey and the food we ate is covered in Food glorious food…part one and I had meant to continue the story but never got around to it…until now.
The food in Italy can be bad, good or fantastic, we were lucky in that we chose good to fantastic food for the majority of the time and the two bad meals we ate were due to laziness and convenience, not bad for four weeks of eating in Italy. Italians don’t really do breakfast, at least not the way we do so we settled for the in-house breakfasts most of the time, although not great, we enjoyed trying Cruesli (Muesli with choc chips) and the array of home baked cakes and tarts at the B&B Villa degli Ulivi were scrumptious. Occasionally cold cuts of meat and boiled eggs were also available in addition to the pastries, jam and bread rolls, the coffee was usually very ordinary so we took to visiting the local bars for an espresso.
Wherever possible we tried local wines and local specialties, guided by the waiters in the restaurants and in Rome we asked the ‘host’ of the Cantina Cantarini to help us choose our meals, selecting fresh, seasonal produce and simple flavours so good that we returned the following night. In Florence we ate picnics outside the Boboli Gardens, pasta in the San Lorenzo Markets and spent an evening with our travellers at a inTavola cooking class, the class was so much fun and at the end of the evening we sat down to enjoy the fruits of our labour accompanied by a couple of glasses of wine.
Wherever we went I managed to track down a gelateria (even in Germany), I was on a mission to try as many flavours as possible and am proud to say that I tried 25 different flavours, some of them twice (pistachio, zabaglione and pannacotta) and some of which I don’t remember. I have to admit that there are just some flavours that I’ve never been really fond of such as melon or licorice so I stayed clear of them and there are possibly hundreds more flavours I could have tried however there was still a budget to stick to and having gelato for every meal was not the objective. Some of the more unusual (for me) flavours were: Coconut, Riesling, Fior di Latte (Milk), Torrone and Cherries and cream.
Here is just a taste of what we enjoyed in Italy, starting with local specialties in Vernazza to wild boar in Umbria, panettone in Siena and seafood in Sorrento, it really was a food tour of Italy and the extra kilos in weight that I gained were well and truly worth it 🙂
Buon appetito!
My dear friend in Tuscany
One of my dearest friends and a fellow art/food lover is currently travelling around Italy with her partner, J has been wanting to visit Italy for many years and I am so excited that her time has come and that she is getting to see the chaotic city of Rome and the beauty of the countryside. It also means that I’ll have someone else to talk Italy with and she hopefully won’t get that glazed look in her eyes that I see in others when I’m daydreaming aloud about my holiday.
Today J will be travelling through Tuscany and spending time in Florence, on my desk is a copy of her itinerary and it is great for reminiscing about our trip and the various cities and towns we visited. My first visit to Florence was in 1999, I was travelling alone so had signed up for a tour, not everybody’s idea of travelling but perfect for a shy, single girl who had mainly travelled overseas with family. The David was a highlight for me, at that stage photography was allowed in the gallery so I made sure I captured him from all sides, the rest of my (short) time in Florence was spent on the hunt for a leather jacket and eating delicious pizza in a restaurant near Basilica di Santa Croce. There was no time to rub the nose of the boar on the Ponte Vecchio, nor did I try the local gelato and the Uffizi was not even on my radar, however I did get to see the interior of the Duomo and Basilica di Santa Croce and began to appreciate the influence that religion had on art and architecture. Apart from driving through the countryside to reach our accommodation in Pontassieve and stopping for a quick visit at Pisa to see the Leaning Tower, there wasn’t a chance to really see much of Tuscany so I made sure that we spent some time in a Tuscan hill town on our last trip.
Last year we spent three nights in Florence and four in Siena, we could have stayed longer however I was keen to also visit a few towns in Umbria and didn’t want to waste time hopping from town to town each day. Florence the second time around was a different experience, we didn’t have a set schedule although there were a couple of things that were a must: The Uffizi, climbing Brunelleschi’s Dome, Boboli Gardens, a cooking class and the Ponte Vecchio. The aim was to also spend time just enjoying the city: walking along the river, drinking coffee or a glass of wine in a piazza, exploring the food markets and doing a bit of shopping. I am hoping that J is able to enjoy some of the simple pleasures and not spend all of her time racing from tourist attraction to tourist attraction, however, when you spend over 24 hours on a plane and several thousand dollars in plane tickets it is important to make sure that you see everything you want to see.
When thinking of Tuscany I had a particular image stuck in my mind, one of rolling hills, stone houses, cypress trees, fields filled with poppies and olive trees. Thankfully it wasn’t far from the dream, renting a car made it really easy to get around and there were plenty of places to stop for a break, have a bite to eat and take photos. In the four days we visited Volterra, San Gimignano and Pienza as well as spending time in Siena and it was a nice balance because we could take our time in exploring the towns without feeling pressured to move onto the next destination. Next time we will stay somewhere else and see a different region of Tuscany, if you have any suggestions I would be happy to hear them 🙂
Welcome to Florence
Our time in Florence didn’t start in the best possible way, we misread the timetable (trains don’t run as regularly as thought from Vernazza) and missed the early train from Vernazza to Monterosso and which also meant that we missed the train from Monterosso to Pisa. A little frustrated and cranky we caught the train from Vernazza to La Spezia, changed at La Spezia and hopped on a train to Pisa and from Pisa we caught a train to Florence, arriving about an hour later than expected. Better than not arriving at all and we were able to have a picnic lunch on the train. Before leaving Vernazza we stocked up on picnic supplies, fresh pane, huge slices of mortadella, a slab of cheese and locally produced pesto, roughly 13 euros in total which is no cheaper than buying a couple of freshly made panini but at least the pesto lasted for more than one use.
We were booked into the Hotel Castri, it had received reasonable but mixed reviews on TripAdvisor so I was a little nervous about what we would find upon arrival. Staying in Florence and Rome for budget prices can often mean old buildings, small rooms and furnishing requiring an update. As long as it is clean and secure I am happy to stay just about anywhere. As it turned out, we didn’t even get to see inside the room because it wasn’t ready, apparently there was a problem with plumbing/electricity or something similar, arrangements had been made with the Hotel Basilea around the corner so we were to spend our first night there. I had read about similar happenings on a number of travel websites so it wasn’t a completely unexpected and I had thought that if this was going to happen it would happen in Florence or Rome. At the Hotel Basilea we discovered that our room hadn’t been cleaned and it would be an hour before it would be ready for us. Another minor glitch and although not completely happy we hit the streets of Florence in the hope that all would be okay.
The Duomo (cathedral) is a huge building that dominates the square, you don’t expect to it to hit you in the face as you walk around the corner but that is what happens. Open space is lacking in this part of Florence, the Duomo, Baptistery and Campanile (bell tower) consume the area and tourists fill the gaps, artists have their easels set up outside the Duomo and you can have your portrait or caricature done in a matter of minutes. For a view of the city you can climb the 463 steps to the top of the 15th century dome designed by Filippo Brunelleschi or climb slightly fewer steps to the top of the Campanile, we opt for the dome, pay our 8 euro admission fee and take the claustrophobic path within the dome to the top of the Duomo. The interior of the dome can be admired up close during the journey, frescoes designed by Giorgio Vasari and painted by Frederico Zuccari depict the Last Judgement, looking down you can see barely see the faces of the people below as they look up at the frescoes. From the top you can see Piazzale Michelangelo, the Santa Croce church and the Arno river, even on a hazy day it is a fantastic sight and it is not surprising that getting a photo is difficult. Everybody who has made the climb wants their picture taken with Florence as the backdrop, elbows and minimised personal space are required.
Perhaps my recollection of Florence from 12 years ago is a little hazy or I’ve romanticised the beauty of the city in my mind, but it seems a little dirtier than what I remember. Only the facade of the Duomo is clean, the rest is blackened by pollution and the streets look grim and grotty. I have to remind myself that Florence is still a city and the majority of it is older than the Anglo history of Australia so you’ve got to expect a little dirt and grime.
The San Lorenzo markets are famous for cheap leather goods such as bags, belts and jackets, there is also an extensive selection of souvenirs, t-shirts and scarves. The leather jacket I had bought on a previous visit needed replacing, it was outdated and spent all of its time hanging in the back of my wardrobe. I don’t like being hassled or pressured into buying something and wanted to take my time in selecting a jacket, at Michelangelo’s store (not sure of full name) near the markets I found two jackets to my liking and whether they were a great bargain or not, the price was right for me so I bought both. I didn’t buy any handbags, surprisingly leather handbags were cheaper in Venice and I had already purchased a couple.
For our first night in Florence we dined at Antica Osteria Napul’e on via Guelfa, just down the road from Hotel Basilea. Very little english spoken and some of the menu items are a mystery to us, yet we were able to order and enjoy tasty pasta, salad and wine. We would soon discover that the ‘insalata mista’ (mixed salad) we ate that night was quite different to the ‘insalata mista’ we would be presented with throughout Italy.
Two Black Dogs 