Bella Firenze!

Jul 7, 2019
4 min read

The very beginning of European aesthetics started from Florence. Everything here was beauty, money, and creativity, the power of the good money.

Alessandro Michele

I'm back!! I promise not to bore you too much about my hols however, I had such a fabulous time you'll have to indulge me this week. For a bit of background, two friends and I went to bella Tuscany and Umbria on a bit of a road trip for a couple of weeks. We started our adventure in one of my most favourite cities in the world, for four days and nights we explored the jewel of the renaissance crown, Firenze!

I'd been before so kind of knew what I wanted to see and as a self proclaimed foodie, where I wanted to eat! If Florence isn't on your bucket list, it really, really should be! Here's my top five tips on where to visit;

Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore - better known as the Duomo di Firenze.

One of the most iconic buildings in the world and rightly so! Designed by Arnolfo di Cambio on the behest of the Medici's it was constructed in 1436, but the astonishing front facade wasn’t completed until the 19th century. The majority of the treasures have been moved to the nearby Museo dell'Opera del Duomo so in reality, the interior is a little bland however, if you don't mind heights and tight spaces, the climb to the top of the dome rewards you with the most amazing view of the city! Top tip, go see it at night, the stark black and white construction is magnificent against the darkness of the sky.

The Uffizi

Another global icon, this time the world of classical art. I'd been before and did the whole whistle stop tour most people opt for, which is fine if you don't mind being completely over cultured, this time however we opted for a more focused tour which centred on the three iconic artists, Michael Angelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Botticelli. We dropped really lucky, we had a small group and our guide was an archivist at the Uffizi who was moonlighting, she was AMAZING, passionate, knowledgeable and articulate, she was German but fluent in English, Italian and French, had a cultural brain the size of a planet and to top it all, was drop dead gorgeous subsequently I initially hated her but by the end of the tour I wanted to take her home!

Galleria dell’Accademia

The beautiful Julia then took us onto the museum which houses the most iconic statues in the world, Michael Angelo's David. The museum is quite compact and devoid of air conditioning which I believe is a cunning ploy imposed by the museum hierarchy to prevent people lingering. There's actually not much in the museum, however from an academic perspective it's a treasure trove. On route to the museums jewel, you pass by several unfinished pieces by Michael Angelo which with Julia's narrative brought the whole process to life. The genius of Michael Angelo is such that he was, and still is the only sculptor that carved the stone from front to back unlike every other sculptor who chip away on multiple sides, its said that Michael Angelo could look at a block of marble and see the finished article inside. David himself is magnificent and the lovely Julia spent almost an hour walking us through every element of the statue with explanations relative to his oversized hands to the look in his eye as he sized up Goliath!

Piazzale Michelangelo

Get either a bus of a taxi here. It's actually a fairly innocuous square however, the view over the city is the source of every picture that soaks up the sights of Firenze. From here you get a spectacular view of all the architectural splendor of the city including the often overlooked but beautiful Great Synagogue of Florence, a building with a history and splendour that holds its own with any other of the spectacular builds in the city!

Mercato Centrale

The main market in the city, it's been keeping the Florentines well fed and watered for many years. Resisting the temptation to become yet another tourist attraction, you can still see the little old ladies dressed in black shuffling around the various stalls whilst negotiating the price on todays mushrooms! The colours, the deep reds, yellows and greens, the smells, the sweet smell of the figs and strawberries through to the musty smell of the truffles is an olfactory and visual delight which serves to sharpen your appetite, fear not though, upstairs in the market is now a kind of street food heaven with many Italian classics and some global contributions also – a real feast awaits those that ignore the ubiquitous McDonalds, Burger Kings and KFCs that have now muscled in around the station!

There’s loads more to see in Firenze, The Palazzo Vecchio, The Boboli Gardens, the Pitti Palace, the Ponte Vecchio…… the list is almost endless to the point I kind of wished we’d had an extra night but, hey ho, I’ll just have to go back again!!

What’s on today?