Firenze

So yesterday I really started to get a taste of Italy outside of Rome for the first time since arriving. Living in Roma is amazing; it's a place with such immense cultural history and a rich tapestry of human stories, beautiful architecture, and antiquated scenery that it really is tough to describe it as anything other than Roma. It sometimes feels like its own country, if that makes sense. The Vatican in Roma is slightly like a microcosm of Roma in Italia in general: it's walled in, filled with history, and surrounded by the landscape that shaped its existence and yet operates on its own agenda.

That's Rome, really.

Florence (or Firenze in Italia) is similar and yet infinitely different from Rome: it was the capital of the Renaissance, with such intense art and architecture and cultural impact that it really is its own beast. Seeing it really did make me feel like I live in Italy, the country, more than just Roma, the city.

So it all began yesterday with a 5:20am alarm, a shower/shave/breakfast combo, and a quick day-pack organizing and train schedule check before Bert and I headed out to Termini, or the Central Station here in Rome. The Metro line runs directly to it from just about 200 metres or so from our apartment, so we walked over there around 6, got to Termini around 6:20, bought our tickets from there to Firenze and got ready to go.

A quick note on trains here in Italy: they have about 3 or 4 different types of trains, and they all cost a bit different amounts with their own perks and cons. The Eurostar (the fastest) doesn't stop anywhere but the destination and is obviously the fastest, complete with individual seats and tables. The IC trains stop a few times, cost about 2/3 as much as the Eurostar, but you just get a seat and no table in a compartment of 6 seats. The final trains are the cheapest, stop-at-every-stop trains, and they are about 1/3 the price of the Eurostar, but take about 3 times as long.

So really, you pay for speed and comfort, or wait for cheaper. Makes sense.

Bert and I took an IC train to Firenze for 27 Euro, which is around 40 bucks. Expensive? A little. But it was to see the capital of the Renaissance and totally worth it. We left around 7 and got to Florence around 9:30 after about 4 stops and 2.5 hours of train riding and sightseeing out the windows, which was fantastic. I really loved seeing the Italian countryside, complete with Villas and fields of green and sheep and hills and just general beauty. This picture is lame and really doesn't do it justice, but it was very beautiful to see slideshow out the window.

We got to Firenze and hopped off into the Santa Maria Novella Train Station and were immediately greeted with train hoppers, pay-to-use facilities, and a McDonalds that sold Grade A, Parmeggiano Reggiano cheeseburgers. No wonder foreigners think highly of Mickey D's: they're gorgeous and smell delicious over here (and by delicious I don't mean in the fries way, even though that always smells sooooo good).

So we had a rough plan in our head of what to see for the day, and as to what that was I'll keep it a surprise for reading. The first thing up we knew we were close to and had to hit was the Duomo di Firenze, or the insanely ornate and beautiful Catholic Church of Florence. We walked about a km or so and really just followed the signs, eventually turning a corner to be blindsided by this gargantuan church out of nowhere in a huge plaza, bell tower, and of course, the church itself. I'll post pictures here, but later I'll post them to the Picasa feed so you can see all of them, it's much more useful that way.

Basically, it's beautiful, and a perfect rendition of how amazing the Renaissance really was, and what a progressive leap forward from the ancient stylings of a city like Roma. It's so massive, just look at the people at the bottom of it and know that it's as big as you can possibly fathom, with tons of little sculptures and beautiful decorations adorning the entire walled side of the facade. Awesome.

We read about a way to take the 414 stairs of the bell tower next to the Duomo up to the top and see all of Florence, and since it was still early, we decided to do it then and now, both to kick off our day in Firenze and to avoid the warmest part of a relatively (read:82 degree) cool day. Look to the left and see the bell tower in relation to the Duomo itself: they're roughly the same size, the actual dome and the tower, with the facade being about 2/3rd the height of the tower.

It cost 6 Euro to head up the tower, we paid our way and proceeded to spindle our way up the ever-narrowing, Statue-of-Liberty esque staircase up the tower, and every 100 steps or so, there'd be a lookout where you could see views of Firenze from ever-increasing heights. I took pictures all the way up, and you're welcome to see the online album of them, but for the sake of the length of this post, I'll just mention when we finally, after about 15 minutes of climbing a bit of sweatiness later, reached the top.

The view? Breathtaking. I know I use that word a lot in this blog, but know when I say it that I am really meaning that your breath is ripped from your chest and you just go slack-jawed taking it all in. I really, really wish that I could show you just how high it is and how amazing it really is. Take from this picture that that is only about 1/8th of the total view, but it's tough to capture just how high and amazing the view really is.

But I took a video of the other side, since I'm cool like that and I feel like it gets you all thismuch closer to being here with me, even though know that while seeing these videos is a fun thing, please, please do not imagine it as a substitute: there really is nothing like breathing in the air over one of the Western world's most legendary cities.


We soaked that view in for about ten minutes, really just seeing the city before descending down the steep stairs to the bottom of the tower and touching ground once again and lining up to check out the inside of said Duomo. It's very impressive from the outside, and I'm going to try and post a few pictures in a row that will not give a panoramic effect but give you an idea of the door paneling alone at the entrance to the church itself.

Don't know if that will work like I hoped it would, but we shall see.

We went inside and it's beautiful, no doubt, but the ceilings, unlike in say, St. Ignacio or Sistina, were blank. No frescoes. No adornment. Just blank. Beautiful. There was one fresco over the actual alter, The Last Judgment, but that's to be expected. It was done to be a beautiful place to pray from the outside, but it was a simple place for worship on the inside. I liked that message. Plus the floorplan from the ceiling shapes out to be a cross. Also cool symbolism. Tough to take pictures inside of there however due to low-light conditions, so I'll spare that for now and move on to our next, incredible, awesome adventure.

We went to the Galleria dell'Academica, or an art museum that just houses the most amazing sculpture ever created ever, hands down, end of story: the David by Michelangelo. We had to wait about 45 minutes in line, but we met some people from Denver and talked beer and Wii for the while before getting inside to pay the 10 Euro to simply see really the one thing everyone comes to see: David. There was a sign in there that made me laugh at the terrible translation, and I've included it just to see if it makes you laugh like it did me.

The museum was awesome, for sure, housing some of the most important religious artwork from the 1300's to the 1800's. It was really cool to see a lot of musical instruments as well, had fun touring that. But we eventually got to the David Room, and it is fantastic beyond description. But they have a no picture policy that they enforce like their lives depended on it. I, however, am a rebel and refuse to be held down, so I took a few guerrilla pictures that I have since included for you. Hope this turns out well, but no matter how beautiful it looks, it will never be like seeing David firsthand. Undoubtably, the most beautiful piece of art I have ever seen, and the reasons for praising it aren't exaggerated in the least.
Yup, so that was amazing.

We dallied there for a while and then went over towards the Piazza Uffici and Ponte Vecchio to eat, considering it was about 1 and I last ate at 5:30, we were both starved. Piazza Uffici is gorgeous, and it was where the original David statue was that we just saw, but it is now replaced with a rendition to spare the original. We got there and pictured it up for a while, and it was filled with high-end shopping, so KK, just for you, here's a little shout-out:

We ate at a nearby nice restaurant while taking it all in, before coming out and taking a video and leaving for Ponte Vecchio, or Old Bridge. It used to be an jewelery selling juncture in the 1400s, and it still is today, with the shops lining the bridge literally built over the edge of the water over, still selling some of the nicest things imaginable in terms of jewelery, cutlery, dishes, and whatnot. Pretty cool.

Picture time!








We enjoyed the view there and wandered a bit more, seeing far too many things to name and the history of which I couldn't possibly do justice to, and so I leave it to you to imagine a day in Firenze, just seeing it all, taking it in, and being lost in the pages of history, seeing it all.

I had fun. Here's an additional video of my trip in Piazza Uffici:



We decided to take an earlier train back and to just get home around 6 instead of leaving around then and took the Eurostar superfast train back for about 38 euro, which cost a lot, but hey, I was in Firenze and I enjoyed every minute, and I will remember it for the rest of my life, I don't doubt it in the least. I saw Florence. In a day trip. From where I live: Roma, Italia.

Ah, it's just the life I lead, I guess.

In a final, parting note, I just want to say this, since this blog is about what's important to me: today is three years since Kirsten and I started dating. Yeah, it's a long, long time, and I couldn't be happier. I'm such a lucky guy, I've got an amazing girlfriend who I'm getting to see the world with and couldn't be any more crazy about, a supportive, loving, awesome family (who I am very proud of . . . Megan, this means you, you know! I'm a proud big brother and I hope college starts well for you!), and really just a fantastic group of people I am proud to be related to and who care about me very much.

Without a doubt, I'm a very lucky man, and I have reason to smile like I am above. I don't need reminding of just how lucky I am, but days like today do just that.

So this post took about an hour and ten minutes to do . . . hope it was fun to read and know that I don't hold it against you if you didn't make it this far . . . it was a lot. I'll be updating again soon with my other life happenings, but until then,

Ciao.