Initial report from the Road-Florence
Oct 24th, 2004, 01:51 PM
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Initial report from the Road-Florence
Greetings from Florence. What a magnificent place this is!
arrival was pretty smooth walked to the hotel from the train station. Bus stops actually right in front of the hotel (no. 14 i think) Im staying at the Tourist House Ghiberti. Welcome was very warm and the hotel is very nice, with all the modern conveniences (fax, computer in room, sauna, whirlpool)Decoration is modern but rustic and nice high ceilings. Claudio and Christelle are very sweet, they reserved museum spots for me and have made recommendations on places to eat, sightseeing.
sighseeing in florence, god, where to start. well i started with the cathedral complex, the duomo, giottos belltower, the duomo museum. this american girl, who must have been an art history student, was having ecstacy attacks, but was describing everything in detail, was just like having aguided tour,,very cool.
The Accademia, well David is the star attraction and with good reason. one has to find oneself gazing..its just so perfect down to to the last detail. (IMO his hands are too big, anyone thought that?)no lines at the accademia, could easily have gotten in without a reservation. the uffizi, on the other hand, is presently saying no more reservations until wednesday. Getting in is a bit of a chore, having to cross the street and buy the tickets and then coming back to stand on line to get inside. I saw plenty of people come to stand in line, get near the front and then find out that they had to go across the street to buy tickets first,,it was not well clarified. Anyhow, once inside the museum was a renaissance ecstacy...of course the Boticelli, Titian, Michelangelos sagrada familia...just an incredible collection.
florence itself is gorgeous and a joy to walk around. Even with three days here i may only get to see half of what i would like, tommorow the medici chapel, the pitti palace and a few others. thinking of taking a later train to rome in order to see a few more things in florence before i leave.
Any museum lovers wishing to come to florence had better allocate at least 4 days or more if possible. Still packed with tourists late in october but very enjoyable and loving every minute here.
Ciao from the road
arrival was pretty smooth walked to the hotel from the train station. Bus stops actually right in front of the hotel (no. 14 i think) Im staying at the Tourist House Ghiberti. Welcome was very warm and the hotel is very nice, with all the modern conveniences (fax, computer in room, sauna, whirlpool)Decoration is modern but rustic and nice high ceilings. Claudio and Christelle are very sweet, they reserved museum spots for me and have made recommendations on places to eat, sightseeing.
sighseeing in florence, god, where to start. well i started with the cathedral complex, the duomo, giottos belltower, the duomo museum. this american girl, who must have been an art history student, was having ecstacy attacks, but was describing everything in detail, was just like having aguided tour,,very cool.
The Accademia, well David is the star attraction and with good reason. one has to find oneself gazing..its just so perfect down to to the last detail. (IMO his hands are too big, anyone thought that?)no lines at the accademia, could easily have gotten in without a reservation. the uffizi, on the other hand, is presently saying no more reservations until wednesday. Getting in is a bit of a chore, having to cross the street and buy the tickets and then coming back to stand on line to get inside. I saw plenty of people come to stand in line, get near the front and then find out that they had to go across the street to buy tickets first,,it was not well clarified. Anyhow, once inside the museum was a renaissance ecstacy...of course the Boticelli, Titian, Michelangelos sagrada familia...just an incredible collection.
florence itself is gorgeous and a joy to walk around. Even with three days here i may only get to see half of what i would like, tommorow the medici chapel, the pitti palace and a few others. thinking of taking a later train to rome in order to see a few more things in florence before i leave.
Any museum lovers wishing to come to florence had better allocate at least 4 days or more if possible. Still packed with tourists late in october but very enjoyable and loving every minute here.
Ciao from the road
Oct 24th, 2004, 02:20 PM
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Sounds like you're haveing a great trip and it's fun to hear from you. David's hands are big on purpose and I can't remember the reason. I know there was some discussion of the figures that you see way high up in the niches in many of the churches and that was to make all the figures look the same size no matter how high up they were. I could be mistaken..( what? me? NO!) but I think I was told that originally David was to go into one of the niches in one of the churches, hence the scale of his hands. Anyone else know?
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Oct 25th, 2004, 10:13 AM
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ssachida...meant to say thanks for the info. Wasn't sure why, but I did remember that the hands were NOT made big by any mistake etc. Makes sense.
LoveItaly: Top of the week to ya'. I'm still tee heein'...well, I'll just keep it to myself..seems safer somehow.
LoveItaly: Top of the week to ya'. I'm still tee heein'...well, I'll just keep it to myself..seems safer somehow.
Oct 25th, 2004, 12:45 PM
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just an update...major restoration at the medici chapel,michelangelos chapel is untouched, just the medici crypts..were it not for michelangelos sculptures there it wouldnt be worth it.
Substantial renovation work at the Piazza Signoria, the building, not the statues.
Scaffolding at San Marco.
-Favorite museum-the uffizi by far
-favorite church-Santissima Annunziata and Santa Croce.
-favorite gelato-the raspberry is awesome but its all good.
will be going to the pitti palace which was closed today before i leave town tommorow,,,on to Rome. Ciao from Florence
Substantial renovation work at the Piazza Signoria, the building, not the statues.
Scaffolding at San Marco.
-Favorite museum-the uffizi by far
-favorite church-Santissima Annunziata and Santa Croce.
-favorite gelato-the raspberry is awesome but its all good.
will be going to the pitti palace which was closed today before i leave town tommorow,,,on to Rome. Ciao from Florence
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