Days: 10 - 12
Sept. 25-27, 2006
Conversion rate on
our visit:
$1.27 = €1.00
Florence
                    
   
What We Had
Cloudy then Clearing
Low 70s
Averages
High: 76° F Low: 54° F
 Current Conditions
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Page Index
WOW Moments
•  Accademia Gallery
•  Galileo's Finger...Really!
•  Galileo`s Telescopes
What We Saw
•  Basilica Santa Croce
•  Piazzale Michelangelo
•  Santa Maria del Fiore
Cathedral, The Duomo
•  Science Museum
•  The Uffizi Gallery
Where We Ate
•  Lunch in the Plaza
•  Ristorante Giglio Rosso
Where We Stayed
•  Hotel Centrale

 
  Overview On to Florence
 

Itinerary
On our way to Florence we passed a monument and cemetery dedicated to American soldiers from WWII.  Italy gave the land for the cemetery to the U.S. so that our soldiers would be buried on American soil.   We made a quick stop outside the town of Bologna.  This was an area famous for food such as bologna and balsamic vinegar.  We drove by our destination of Florence to see the region of "Tuscany" and the town of San Gimignano.  You'll notice in the pictures, it rained while we were there, but like the rest of our trip, the rain stopped by the time we entered Florence.
 
   
 
 
  Overview On the Way To and Around Florence

San Gimignano is a small hill town south of Florence in Tuscany.  The town has a distinct Medieval flavor and unlike many other towns of the area, still contains a number of towers, built by prominent families during the cities high point.  The tower housed the family and served to show their position within the community.  Bigger does count.  At its height, there were 72 towers.  Today, 15 remain.
 

San Gimignano Town Square
 
The town flourished until 1348 when the plague (Black Death) struck most of Europe, including Italy.  It wasn't until the 19th century that tourism rejuvenated San Gimignano.  Today it stands as a wonderful example of Medieval Tuscany, including a number of museums, churches and, of course, the towers.

On to Florence, the David, the Uffizi and the Duomo!  What a wonderful city.  After checking into our hotel (niceee place!) we made our way to the center of Florence, location of the Santa Maria del Fiori Cathedral,  the Giotto Tower and the Baptistery.  We gathered as a group for Lisa's introduction (shhh! keep an eye out for the tour-guide police).  The intro included much of the center of Florence in order to get us oriented to the layout of the city.  The day ended with a group dinner.
 

Uffizi Gallery Court Yard
 
Day two in Florence was a busy time.  We started as a group meeting to tour the Uffizi (offices) Gallery, one of the most famous museums of paintings and sculpture in the world.  Originally built to house the offices of the Medici family, it was given to the Italian government by the last member of the family along with all the works or art it housed.  Since we weren't allowed to take pictures inside the gallery, the only shots I have are looking out.  The tour was an outstanding overview of the art works inside and a history of the gallery itself.

As we neared the exit we were treated to a fabulous exhibit entitled "The mind of Leonardo da Vinci...the universal genius at work."  What an absolute genius!

On to the Istituto E Museo Di Storia Delle Scienze (woo, the Science Museum).  Another wonderful place.  Below you'll see one of our Wow Moments and further details on our visit there.
 

Arno River & the Back of the Uffizi Gallery
 
As we left the Science Museum we took a moment to stop along the Arno River.  We can't tell you the number of times we've heard that name on the History Channel!  The amazing thing is to realize that the river (so far below us) flooded so severely in 1966 that 40 people died and a tremendous amount of artwork was destroyed or damaged!

After lunch (see Where We Ate) we walked to the Basilca Santa Croce.  We originally believed we would see the tomb of Michelangelo.  The church contains much more.  Details are under What We Saw (below).
 

David
 
We met late in the afternoon to go as a group to our final tour of the day.  But since we were meeting outside the Santa Maria del Fiori Cathedral, we decided to take advantage and visit the inside.  There are a number of pictures and details of the interior under What We Saw, below.

Our final stop for the day was a group tour to see Michelangelo's David (right) at the Accdemia Gallery.  Lisa was our guide and, as usual, did an outstanding job of introducing both the David and the Captives (a series of statues promised to the Pope, but never finished).  Details below under What We Saw.
​
   
 
 
  WOW Moments Galileo's Finger...Really!


Galileo`s Finger
 
It's on display at the Science Museum. The story behind the finger is as follows:
The finger was detached from Galileo's body by Anton Francesco Gori (Florence, 1691-1757, literate and antiquary) on 12 March 1737 when Galileo's remains were transferred from a small closet next to the chapel of Saints Cosmas and Damian to the main body of the church of Santa Croce where a mausoleum had been built by Vincenzo Viviani. Subsequently the finger was acquired by Angelo M. Bandini, the librarian of the Biblioteca Laurenziana and was exhibited for a long period in this library. Then, in 1841, it was brought to the Tribuna di Galileo, which had just been opened in the Museo di Fisica e Storia Naturale on the via Romana. Along with the instruments of the Medici and Lorraine dynasties, it eventually became the property of the Museo di Storia del la Scienza.
   
 
 
  WOW Moments Galileo`s Telescopes
 

Galileo`s Telescopes
Galileo spent much of his later life under house arrest for his belief that the earth is not the center of the universe, let alone the solar system.  He used telescopes in his work to prove this theory.  Linda stood next to two of his telescopes! At one end of the display case you can actually look through one of the telescopes. Imagine looking through a telescope that Galileo looked through. Wow doesn't even come close!  yes yes yes
 
   
 
 
  WOW Moments Accademia Gallery
 

David

​The truly amazing thing about Michelangelo's David was its realism!  I know the statue was much larger then a real person, but the details on the various parts of the body (no...not THAT part!) have you believing that the statue could climb down from the pedestal and take on Goliath!  There are things we have seen and places we have visited where simple pictures don't do them justice.  The David was one of those things.  Wow!

But there's another set of statues, called the Prisoners (sorry no pictures allowed), on display in the hallway leading to the David.  They were commissioned by Pope Julius II for his tomb, but never finished.  You see both sculpture and raw stone and can almost imagine Michelangelo still working on them.  It was strangely moving. Wow!
   
 
 
  What We Saw The Uffizi Gallery
 
The Uffizi was originally built by the Medici family to house the offices of their business empire!  The name Uffizi translates to 'offices'.  The gallery, housed on the top floor of the building, was created by Grand-duke Francesco I and subsequently enriched by various members of the Medici family, who were great collectors of paintings, sculpture and works of art. The collection was rearranged and enlarged by the Lorraine Grand-dukes, who succeeded the Medici, and finally by the Italian State.

The tour Cindy gave us of the Uffizi was a great introduction to the gallery and the building itself.  While it lasted almost an hour and a half, we could easily have spent several days.  This was a place we definitely want to see again and one at which we'll spend a great deal more time!  Michelangelo's Holy Family (below) was the best we saw.  A true genius!
 
   
 
 
  What We Saw Science Museum

Science Museum
Like the Uffizi, the Science Museum was a place we will definitely visit on a future trip to Florence.  We covered Galileo's finger and telescope above (see Wow Moments above).  There were a number of other things we saw that could have been Wow Moments as well.  The most interesting was the Armillary Sphere given as a wedding present from one of the Medici family.  It was build at a time when most people believed the earth was the center of the universe as well as the solar system.  The sphere represents the "universal machine" of the world according to the concepts developed and perfected by the Greeks. The terrestrial globe was placed at the center. Surprisingly, it even displayed territories that were  relatively little known at the time.

Imagine, we stood INCHES AWAY from a Medici wedding gift built at a time when it was believed everything revolved around the earth!  Very cool!

But that's not all.  The museum was LOADED with hundreds of items most of which are older than our country!  Do not miss the museum if you're ever in Florence!
 
      
 
 
  What We Saw Basilica Santa Croce
 
We originally went to the Basilica Santa Croce to see the tomb of Michelangelo.  We saw SO much more including Michelangelo, Galileo Galilei, Vittorio Alfieri, Rosini . Unfortunately the monument to Dante, whose remains repose at Ravenna, was only a cenotaph.

As we walked through the Basilica we passed over many funeral monuments and tombstones (276 can still be seen on the floor alone).  It was said there were some that thought of it as the Pantheon of Florence.  Yet another 'must see' of Florence!
Basilica Santa Croce
Piazza di Santa Croce, 16
50122 Firenze, Italy
      
 
 
  What We Saw Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral, The Duomo
 

The Cathedral was started 1296 and dedicated in 1412. It had only recently been discovered that the Cathedral was built over the ruins of the Church of Santa Reparata. The Cathedral was the third largest in the world only smaller than St. Peter`s in Rome and St. Paul`s in London. The octagonal cupola wasn't started until 1418 and finished in 1434 on the project that Filippo Brunelleschi presented at the 1418 competition.  The cupola is actually a dome within a dome. While you can climb to the dome, claustrophobics are warned to stay away!  As you look up into the dome (from inside the Cathedral), you think that there must be special lighting to highlight its interior.  That's only partially true as the light comes from a series of windows hidden from view.

We hope you can appreciate that the interior was a very large space. We're told that worshipers stood during services. Clearly not the most ornately decorated church on our tour, but the size alone makes it worth a visit.
Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral, The Duomo
Via della Canonica, 1
Piazza del Duomo
50122 - Firenze
Tel: +39 055 2302885
FAX: +39 055 2302898
         
 
 
  What We Saw Piazzale Michelangelo
 

On the way out of Florence we stopped at the Piazzale Michelangelo which overlooks the city.  It is a rather recent addition to the list of monuments in Florence, created in 1869 by Florentine architect Giuseppe Poggi, as part of major restructuring of the city walls in 1869.
 
 
  Where We Ate Ristorante Giglio Rosso
 

By mistake...we eat at the same restaurant both nights.  We didn't realize that we were headed back to the same place the second night and in fact entered through the back door (how appropriate!).  When we discovered that we are actually at the same restaurant we decided to stay anyway because the food was very good.
Ristorante Giglio Rosso
35 Via Panzani
Florence, Italy, 50123
Tel: 055-211-795
   
 
 
  Where We Ate Lunch in the Plaza
 

Yum

Some of the best food you can have in many European cities comes from take away stands.  Lunch on this Tuesday (our full day in Florence) came from one.  It was a very tasty phyllo dough sandwich with ham and cheese.  
 
   
 
 
  Where We Stayed Hotel Centrale
Hotel Centrale
Via dei Conti
Florence, 50123 Italy
Tel: 011 39 055 215 761
FAX: 011 39 055 215 216
         
 
 
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