When in Europe the UK and Beyond: Getting Lost in Florence

I woke up this morning around 7am and headed down for breakfast. Shortly thereafter I made my way to the Roma Termi Station to catch my train to Florence.

The train ride to Florence was far more picturesque than going from the airport to Rome. There were rolling hills for miles on end with many small villages on top of these hills. The region that I went through was also very mountainous and offered some very impressive views of the mountains.

11am rolled around and my train made its way into the Florence Santa Maria Train station.  I then walked into the city center to try and find a place to eat.

I ended up finding a small quaint restaurant on a side street off the main square. I ended up getting pasta with four cheeses. The cheese melted in your mouth with each and every bite and was well made.

Next I wandered over to the main city square to go and check out the Duomo a gothic styled cathedral. The inside was exquisite, nothing compared to the St. Peter's Basilica, but still impressive none the less. Similar to St. Peter's the aisles were lined with various paintings and marble statues. The ceiling was also made of a golden leaf texture. The main difference between the domes of the Duomo and St. Peter's Basilica was that there was one continuous scene that was being depicted on the Duomo. As opposed to St. Peter's Basilica which was segmented more to the individual characters. Personally I liked the dome of the Duomo than St. Peter's because there was more of a story being told. However, in terms of overall interior St. Peter's was far superior.

I went and located a tourist information center nearby to get information on how the bus system worked and also to find out which attractions I should visit. However, the tourist information center did not speak English very well and was of very little help to me what so ever. The only thing that they were able to tell me was that I needed to go to a Tobacco Shop to get a bus ticket.

I found a Tobacco Shop nearby and asked if I could get a single bus ticket. However, the shopkeeper also did not speak any English and kept trying to sell me a monthly pass, when I only wanted to get a single ticket. After spending several minutes and getting nowhere, I decided to go and get a taxi to my hotel, because at this point I just wanted to go and get settled in.

The taxi driver ended up dropping me off nowhere near my hotel. The area that my hotel was in was relatively far away from the city center and was an only Italian speaking area. I tried pulling out my phone for GPS but the service was not working for whatever reason.

With no map in hand and no real clue which way to go I just started wandering in a random direction. Along the way I asked random people every few minutes whether I was heading in the right direction. After about a half hour or so I finally found my hotel.

When I was checking in I told the front desk about my whole experience of getting lost and finding my way there. He apologized for having such a rough experience getting to the hotel and then offered me some information about Florence. Heck he even printed out step by step directions off the internet of how get to the various sites from the hotel. He even went as far as to walk me up to my room. Overall, this really brightened up my day as the past few hours had been very stressful. He provided excellent customer service and I was very happy to be at this hotel.

Once getting settled into my hotel, I made my way to the Academy Museum. While in the queue I struck up a conversation with the gals in front of me.  As it turned out they were all from the State of MA from the city of Salem! One of them was a study abroad student studying in Florence and the other two were friends of the study abroad student on their spring break. The mere likelihood of running into someone from your home state halfway around the world is pretty unlikely!

Inside the museum itself there were various oil paintings lining the walls. You could very distinctly smell the oils from each of the paintings.

The main hallway that housed the main attraction "David" created by Michelangelo was lined with various unfinished sculptures of Michelangelo. Each sculpture was at a different stage with some more complete than others. If you were visionary enough you could sit there and sculpt the rest of the marble stone with your mind.

"David" himself was massive in size to the extent of almost being god like. His eyes were eerie and no matter which way you looked at him, it felt like he was looking back at you. The amount of detail put into the body was extraordinary. The muscles on "David" were clearly defined, not to add the fact that his face portrayed such realism.

In the room next door, there were a series of various marble statues. All of these statues were very impressive, but did not compare to the beauty of "David". These statues played along the theme of celebrating the human body, however, each statue had an emotional element to them that "David" did not have.

There was one statue in particular that really stood out to me. It was of a woman leaning forward and peering into your eyes. Her facial expression was one of sadness and sorrow. Apart of me wanted to talk to her and ask her if there was anything I could do to make her feel better, but then I remember that she was just a statue.

Another statue that was in this room that really stood out to me was of a young boy and his dog. The boy's expression is filled with happiness and joy as the dog rests upon his legs and looks up at the boy. This reminded me of the good old days with my own dog and the relationship in which we had.

If anything this museum gave me a whole new appreciation when it comes to art. I never really spend much time in art galleries, but the Academy had some very interesting sculptures that played off the theme of facial expressions and celebrating the human body. It was time well spent.

I did not know what else I wanted to do after I finished the Academy. So I just decided to start roaming around the city of Florence to see what I could find. I ended up going into three cathedrals. Two of which were anything noteworthy.

The first cathedral I went into was extraordinarily dark, as it was only lit by candle light. Alongside the aisles there were various paintings that were barely distinguishable to the naked eye sense it was so dark. However, if you got close enough you could relish at some very impressive artwork, depicting various scenes from the bible.   

The dome itself was very ominous and played off of a very dark gothic tone. The picture in which I got of it does not quite do the dome its justice it well deserves, but you can get the idea.

The second cathedral in which I visited had to be the smallest cathedral I had been in since being in Europe. Its altar mantle was by far one of the most impressive altars I have ever seen. At the center was the crucified Christ, being illuminated by lights in which cast a shadowy reflection of him. I like to think that it was a metaphor that even though he is gone physically, his spirit still remains with us.

I made my way back to my hotel and then with the printed out directions of how to get to the restaurant thanks to my lovely hotel. I found the restaurant and felt very excited that I was able to locate it.  However, to my misfortune in an authentic Italian area as I was in restaurants do not open until 8pm. I went back to my hotel and waited it out until 8pm rolled around.

As soon as 8pm rolled around absolutely starving I walked back to the restaurant in which I had been at before. I ordered a calzone stuffed with mozzarella cheese and ham with a Corona, which turned out to be an excellent combination.

Being at this restaurant was different from any place I had eaten at in Italy before, as the other one where in touristy areas. As opposed to this one which was strictly an Italian speaking area with only Italian menus.

For dessert I ordered a chocolate gelato. This was the best chocolate gelato I had ever had in my life. Never before have I tasted such a burst and delightful flavor of chocolate.

As for tomorrow's plans I will be heading to the Piazza Michelangelo. Aside from that I do not have any specific plans. I'll just make it up as I go and see where life takes me...