Firenza

In the wet sunshine (rain), we departed Lucca for Firenza (Florence), driving along the winding roads, through the mist clinging to the rolling hills of Tuscany. While not brilliant as in Canada, the fall leaves highlighted the hills with soft earthy shades of mustard and brown. Lucca had been beautiful (as far as we could tell from under our umbrellas), and we were looking forward to experiencing the Renaissance splendor of Florence.

We had found a suitable hotel through Tripadvisor.com, the aptly named Hotel David (after Michelangelo's David, which is displayed in Florence). We arrived and were shown a nicely appointed room that was lacking only heat to actually make it comfortable. As is common in Italy, heating was restricted to the morning and late afternoon/early evening periods...at other times, you were expected to be either sightseeing or wearing a heavy sweater. The hotel made up for this by hosting an evening happy hour, which enabled us to meet a few nice folks from England, Australia, and the US.

We spent the afternoon after arriving relaxing and enjoying some remarkably good take out food (roasted chicken, bread soup, pasta, etc.) from a deli around the corner. The Italians must like to keep this place to themselves, because we never saw it open again over the following three days.

That evening we enjoyed an excellent meal at Bellagi, where we met Sue and Mike, a charming British couple on holiday. We again bumped into the them the following evening at another restaurant they had recommended and shared another meal, exchanging travel stories.

We tackled Florence the next morning, after a good breakfast supplied by the hotel. We started out walking along the River Arno, which bisects Florence, until we arrived at the famous Ponte Vecchio, a bridge that had been built in more or less its present form in the mid-14th century. This bridge is lined with jewelery shops, having been home to goldsmiths since the 16th century.

Thereafter, we made our way to the Uffizi, a palace built in the mid-16th century for the city's administrative and government offices. It later was used to house the art collections of the Medici family (leading family of Florence) and subsequently enriched through various acquisitions. Today, it is one of the most important artistic collections in the world. We were impressed.

Florence contains, like many European cities, a compact core in which most sights are situated. We spent many hours wandering the streets and taking in the beautiful buildings, churches, and monuments. Some notables included the Piazza della Signoria (where David was originally displayed; a replica remains, but was under renovations while we were there), the Church of Orsanmichele (built for grain merchants and later consecrated as a church), and the Cathedral & bell tower (left), and Baptistery.

A delightful find was the Church of San Miniato al Monte, which is was located on a hill overlooking Florence. This church was built, starting in 1030, on the site of a previous church to honour Saint Miniato. According to Wikipedia, and the leaflet from the church, he was an Armenian prince serving in the Roman army. He was denounced as a Christian and  ordered to be thrown to beasts in the Amphitheater. A panther was called upon him but refused to devour him. Beheaded in the presence of the Emperor, he is alleged to have picked up his head, crossed the Arno and walked up the hill where the church now stands. The photo shows the Saint (with head fully attached) handing his crown to the rightful king.

Another highlight of our visit was attending Puccini's La Traviatta, presented in an intimate setting in a small church by four performers with piano accompaniment. It was a lovely performance, although, shockingly, she dies in the end.

Our last day found us eating a picnic lunch by the banks of the Arno, basking in some welcome sunshine, reading our books, and trying not to look like tourists. We forgot glasses, so had to drink our wine from the bottle...we fit right in.