Eurotrip 2023: Day 6 – Day Trip in Firenze

While we spent most of our time in Rome, we decided to dedicate just one day trip for Florence.

Nothing against those spend one day trying to cover as many cities in a week in one country let alone across Europe, but I am personally not a fan of doing it. Heck we already spent 4 full days in Rome and still missed out on a lot of things.

Also, that would be impossible to do with my parents, and the many bags we’d have to carry around.

Thus, in our minds, Florence was the most feasible day trip from Rome given it won’t take us more than 2 hours to reach this Tuscan city.

While our train from Termini to Santa Maria Novella won’t leave until 8:10 am, we were already at the station at 7:30 am. We thought that it would be better to be early and figure out how to go about getting on the correct train, than run and be left.

We were a bit early, and it wasn’t until around 8:00 am until the platform number appeared on screen. We immediately went inside, but not without a small mishap.

A man was rushing to a different direction pulling his luggage directly in front of Mama that she lost her balance. The man did not even bother to look back. That was almost an accident and the Termini staff had to check on Mama to make sure she was okay.

We barely started the trip and that almost happened.

We had a seat with a table that allowed the four of us to be together. We spent most of our time looking at the view outside, admiring the sights between Rome and Florence.

At 10:00 am, we finally arrived at Santa Maria Novella station, excited to finally go around Florence.

I, however, misread the map again. Instead of going directly to the left after exiting the station, we went a hard right before realizing that the dot in the Google Maps was going the opposite direction.

We should have remembered by now that we should just follow where the other tourists are headed, like water eventually finding where it should flow.

By the time we reached Via degli Avelli, we knew we were headed to the right direction.

Our first stop was at the Duomo di Firenze, which, at 10:30 am, was already filled with visitors. I have no idea why I thought its exterior was painted, where in fact it was made from various shades of marbles.

It was magnificent, from the details of its bronze doors and the carving, the Duomo was indeed something else.

I have not booked any tickets for these, as we’d only thought of just admiring the cathedral from the outside. I also didn’t think that Mama and Papa would be pleased to walk all the way up Brunelleschi’s dome.

From the Duomo, we then walked to Piazza della Signoria to have our photos taken with the Palazzo Vecchio.

It was a stuff of dreams, especially I usually just see this area prominently featured in documentaries regarding the Renaissance.

Aside from the Fontana nel Nettuno and a copy of David (where the original used to stand before eventually finding its way to the Galleria dell’Accademia), I recall a vintage Gucci Bamboo print ad prominently showing the palazzo in the background.

From Palazzo Vecchio, we then walked all the way to Ponte Vecchion, not to cross but only look as we were supposed to get our tickets for the Uffizi.

I had no idea why we went all the way there, as we basically could have just turned right of the Palazzo Vecchio right by the U-shaped courtyard of the Uffizi. The tour office was there, who eventually handed us our timed-entry tickets.

After getting this, we had a quick early lunch at a bar near Ponte Vecchio.

The line to enter Uffizi was not very long. While there were several groups outside, they also appeared to be part of tour groups waiting either for their tour leaders to return with their tickets or members of their group to be back.

After having our bags X-rayed, we didn’t realize how much further down we’d have to go just to enter the museum proper.

The corridors were impressive, but not impressive enough for Papa who was already complaining over his aching feet and the pair of shoes he was wearing. He then spent the whole time sitting on benches outside the galleries, as we we visit one hall to another.

The Ufffizi corridors were very long. We had to be very strategic with what we should see given the many rooms it had. While the marble statues mostly line the corridors, the paintings would have to be inside the rooms.

It did not help that the internet connection was also spotty, which made it difficult for us to look for information online.

The first paintings I wished to see where 2 Leonardo Da Vinci works: The Annunciation and the Adoration of  the Magi.

The Adoration of the Magi was something else. It looked ‘haunting’? Perhaps because it was an unfinished work, void of colors compared to the Annunciation.

It was also reportedly restored for 5 years until 2017, and we were lucky too it in a better state.

Another Leonardo Da Vinci artwork was the Doni Tondo, depicting the Holy Family. It was one of the last paintings done by Leonardo in his more mature years, and it was still in its original frame.

This painting was done in 1507, 14 years before Spain colonized the Philippine. Mindb blowing how old it was.

For some reason, we also got lost looking for the Botticelli paintings. We have mistakenly took our time falling in line one room thinking it was the gallery where the ‘Birth of Venus’ and ‘Primavera’ were, only to see that, well, it was just a room.

On the other hand, it was no other room as it was the Tribuna of the Uffizi, an octagonal and closed off room housing priceless collections of the Medici family.

Right at the middle was the Medici Venus, one of the most famous Venus Pudica or modest Venus.

After the Tribuna, we finally managed to locate Hall 10/14 where the famed Botticelli artworks are.

First was the ‘Primavera’, depicting Venus with others characters from mythology. It was easily captivating to look at it closely, especially the details on the dress worn by Flora.

Yes, Venus was the star here, but I was transfixed with the details of Flora’s dress. The same awe could be said on the diaphanous quality of the Three Graces’dresses. These were floating.

As for the ‘Birth of Venus’, there was even a bigger crowd in front of it. It is after all an integral part of pop culture, most notable of which was Ursula Andress emerging from the sea in 1962’s ‘Dr. No’.

I also recall an ANTM shoot from Cycle 5 where they deliberately put the openly lesbian Kim on a ‘Birth of Venus’ inspired shoot, which eventually sent her home.🤷🏽‍♂️

Before we headed out of the Uffizi, we checked up on Papa. He was really having difficulties walking with his shoes, thus we eventually decided to find some sandals.

We were already in Florence after all.

He felt relieved that he’d eventually got rid of the sneakers.

But before the sandals, we cannot leave Firenze without any gelato.

They had mentioned there was a leather store near Ponte Vecchio where we could potentially buy a pair of sandals. They only had bags.

The good thing was there a a gelateria near it, that we just had our fix before walking some more.

We were eating gelato, yet the sky also looked it was about to rain. The wind was also blowing a bit hard, and for the first time, I felt a windburn on my lips. Damn, this gelato.

While walking and eating, I was also searching for a place we could buy Papa’s sandals. I eventually gave up and suggested we go to the Geox store in Via Calimala instead and call it a day.

But as we approach the Geox store, it began to rain. We were forced to take shelter at Mercato Nuovo where, unfortunately there were no sandals for sale.

We were still busy eating our gelato standing up. There were no chairs nor benches for Mama and Papa.

As soon as the rain mellowed down a bit, we immediately crossed the street to where Geox was.

Mama was joking that Papa waited to be in Florence to buy a pair of sandals, where we could have gotten other options in Rome.

While an unintended expense, I just considered it a souvenir of our day trip in Florence for Papa.

He ended up buying a pair of these adjustable velcro sandals, where he could freely move his toes while wearing a pair of sock. He wore the sandals right there and then, as the the staff cut the tag and stored his sneakers inside the box instead.

He could walk much better after.

After Geox, we also went back to the tour office to get our last tickets for the day: the Galleria dell’Accademia.

The rain also stopped, and we just rested at the benches by the Arno river, as we had a video call with our family back home. Mama was teasing Papa again about his Geox purchase.

Mon and I also managed to get a photo with Ponte Vecchio by the background by the Ponte Alle Grazie.

After Ponte Vecchio, we decided that it was better for us to be near Galleria dell’Accademia. We also had our coffee in one of the bars there.

Fifteen minutes before our timed entry at the Galleria dell’Accademia, we started walking again to make sure we enter just in time.

Unfortunately for us while we were in the line, it did not only rained, it also hailed. Our umbrellas were shaking very hard with the pebble-sized hail pelting its thin fabric. The rain also was strong enough that I was afraid my feet could get wet.

Fortunately, it did not. Papa, on the other hand, was squeaking. It was a blessing over his brand new sandals.

As we entered the Accademia, we had to momentarily sit down and dry ourselves around the statue of the ‘Ratto delle Sabine‘.

I had to also explain to Mama and Papa what exactly the statue was depicting from what I recall reading leading up to the trip.

After we were dry enough, I immediately asked them to walk to the next room: David was waiting for us.

The Accademia, albeit small compared to the Uffizi, is famous for housing Michelangelo’s David. He was so beautiful that I spent my time staring at him for five minutes, before going around him, admiring the fantastic work that Michelangelo did with this rejected marble block.

At more than 5 meters, it was an imposing figure in that side of the Accademia. I think it was the very first time that I experienced something close to a Stendhal syndrome, where I got disoriented a bit thinking: Is this for real? Am I really in Florence? How could such a beautiful thing made out of marble exist?

It was hilarious.

On the other hand, Papa getting up of his seat just to stand up in front of David and verbalize how magnificent David was, was a testament of visually arresting it was.

Funny, though, as I had my photo taken with it, I’ve heard a woman telling her kid: “It’s just another naked man.”

I’ve clutched my imaginary pearls. How could someone say such a blasphemous thing? HAHAHA

We bought some souvenirs before exiting Accademia (I needed a David ref magnet!), as we waited some more for the rain to subside.

We then left the gallery at 5:30 pm, as we still had to eat dinner at Mercato Centrale before our 7:45 pm trip back to Rome.

Mercato Centrale was bustling with people and options, which meant Papa would have the rice he wanted here.

We bought some roasted chicken at a stall where one of the staff was a Pinoy, who was happy to talk to us in Filipino. We also chatted a bit regarding our trip, and he added some extra potatoes in our plate.

You could really find Filipinos everywhere in the world!

As for Mon, he got some pizza al taglio. He maintained that we’d have food on the trip back to Rome, as our tickets for the business class seat mentioned ‘meals’.

I told him don’t be too sure, as it could be just some bread and a cup of drink. I also egged him to eat on the plate of chicken I had.

Good thing he did.

Our train to Rome was delayed for about 10 minutes. Five minutes after we sat down, we were handed with a box of snacks, and a cold cup of coffee.

“I told you so!”, I said to Mon. That was hardly a meal. It was just a snack. As all of us were still full with our dinner from Mercato Centrale, we just stuffed the 4 boxes in our small Ikea bag, so we can have an additional breakfast for the morning.

At almost 9:00 pm, we arrived tired but happy at Termini.

Florence, I think, was more laid back than Rome. It felt less frantic despite having lots of tourists. Perhaps in the future if we were to come back, we could stay there much longer. I bet the Florentine evenings were stunning.

The next day would be our last full day in Rome. The days just flew by.

Steps: 18,552