2016

Florence - August 2016

By Ojrza - 04:27

Ah, Florence! The last stop on our Tuscan tour. We couldn't miss it, as it is an unquestionable must-see for every architecture student out there. Homeship of the renaissance, Bruneleschi, right?

However our stay at Florence was very short, it lasted only approximately 5 hours, as we were on our way back after Volterra workshops had ended and had a bus to Vienna from Florence in the afternoon. I have visited Florence before with my parents when I was 16 years old and had no idea what should I appreciate most. It was good to refresh some old experiences and add some more knowledge to them. Now, let me show you how much of Florence have we seen in less than 5 hours.

First of all - we left Volterra around 8 am by a bus that would transfer us to La Specia where we changed to a train that took us to Florence. This time I was smart and took out my camera on the bus. To get to Volterra there is only an insanely curved and steep road (I am full of admiration for the bus driver for handling a big vechicle there). Just have a look how good the views from the road are.

Eventually we arrived on the Santa Maria Novella train station, left our luggages in a deposit and headed in the direction of the city centre.

It wasn't hard knowing the way to the centre in the maze of narrow streets, as you see.

The cathedral is obviously the main attraction, summoning the tourists like a magnet. It is hard not to lose your travel companion there, it is so cramped. For a good reason, though, it is really impressive and monumental as you stand if front of it and look up high. Impossible to capture without a super-wide-angle lens. The sacral complex consists of the cathedral (with the famous dome constructed by Bruneleschi - considered the first renaissance building in the world), the tower and the baptistry. Unlike the complex in Pisa - it stands in the heart of the city, not on an open space, so it looks even more monumental as you can't really see it from any bigger distance.

Next - the main city square Piazza della Signoria. Lots of statues. The one that was receiving the most attention was a replica of famous David by Michelangelo. I found photographing the sculptures quite entertaining.

We also visited the best viewpoint in Florence. Crossed the Arno river on Ponte Veccio and walked up and up until we reached the top. The view sure was rewarding.