I got here early to be able to do some stuff outside Florence, but it turns out it is not comfy as there are not many direct trains to anywhere except Pisa or Rome… and the ticket is expensive… if you go somewhere for just one day… so basically only for a few hours.
That’s why I decided to stay in Florence all the month, which was good because I got to walk all over the city and beyond. I went on foot, why not, to Arcetri, just to see Florence from above, and Fiesole, to see the Roman Theatre, although the public baths were more interesting, and draw.
I also took a few days just to draw which was amazing and really relaxing.
I got the chance to return to places I loved so much so that they became habits of which, one will hurt to lose. But more on this in a dedicated post.
I decided to take a Firenze card and be a tipical tourist for 72 hours. It wasn’t the worst experience and I actually got to discover some artists I really liked and some places I wouldn’t have went to otherwise.
On the first day, I started by going to Uffizi Gallery just to get it out of the way. Only when I saw the building the first time, on my third walk/day through the city, I realized where I actually am and that there are some places here I need to see. I knew the galleries were big so I started with them and although I loved what I saw, the whole experience was bad for my legs, back and neck.
Omg! So much to see and everything so worth while.
I could have spent there an entire day, but I had to keep going.
I also saw Galileo Museum and Dante’s house, so the day had everything: art, science and history. 😵 I retained almost no information of course.😅
Galileo Museum is fun. It has interactive rooms where you can try the devices. Really cool! 🤓
On the second day of Christmas… wait… wrong month 😅 … of the tourist visit of Florence I went to the Dome of the Cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore. I do not recommend. Unless you have all the time in the world. You have to get a ticket, book a day… usually in two or three days since you got the ticket and then you still have to wait in line for half an hour and it takes about half an hour to get on top and then … there are a lot of tourists 😆 and stairs… ofc 😊
I prefer Fort Belvedere to see Florence from above. It’s a peaceful place and the climb is less annoying and nicer with all the pittoresque streets. 💞
The second day wasn’t that great to my memory since I have a hard time remembering what I saw. 😅
I did a fast tour of the National Archeology Museum. It is quite great if you are into mummies and dusty, damaged stuff. Very well explained if you have the time or energy to read. None apply to me. I think I saw one too many mummies in my lifetime. 😅
I also went to Palazzo Vecchio. I love the building because of its tower that is like the best guide in Florence. Because of it one cannot get lost. 😁
However inside is well… Amazing… But after Uffizi… 🙄 At this point, I was still into celling paintings so I was looking mostly up.
Also, climbed the tower… Another waiting line… Lovely 🙃
Oh, and Palazzo Storzzi, my love. Always a pleasure to visit you. Last year it was Marina, this year it was Natalia Goncharova. I did not know her until now. It was a welcomed discovery. However, I had a realization right after seeing this exhibition but maybe I will rant about it some other time not to ruin the good vibe now. Or maybe it will go away. 😄
If for Marina’s exhibition I spent the whole day in the museum, now I spent only 40 minutes, but even if the exhibition was smaller it was still inspiring and worth seeing.
On the third day… Oh! 😍 This was the day!
I went to Franco Zeffirelly Museum. What an experience! Such a pleasure! The feeling to be there surrounded by so much inspiration, color, feelings and the way the exhibition was curated… Brilliant. 🤩 ( I have no idea when I started appreciating the way an exhibition is curated, but it gives (or takes 😬) more then half of its charm, in most cases).
I also went to Medici’s Chapel. The church and chapel… nice… Really nice, the church to be honest, but…
…the interior courtyard… Omg! I had an image in my head when I came to Florence and I wanted to find and photgraph or draw interior courtyards to be able to draw what I saw in my head. But the interior courtyard at San Lorenzo Church is it! It even has a tree in the middle! 😁
Actually, what I had in mind is a combination between the interior courtyard and the backyard, but still… So perfect! 😍
I also saw Bargello Museum, Davanzati Palace and Pitti Palace.
Am I the only one amused by the name Pitti? … I mean it is just so… “Piți”😂 anyway, very lavish… I was like “I do not care about celling paintings at this point”, but this palace is…
so …
so…
so…
too much 😅
And it has a modern art gallery… The celling paintings are still the most interesting… for the most part… I did find some nice art there. 🙂
The costume gallery was closed… Several things were closed this time of the year including the Science Museum, I feel that would have been intersting to see…
I saw some other stuff too, but this is just about all worth mentioning. 🙂
If you want to know who are the artists in any of the photos let me know. 🙂
The joy of creating 