The weather is hot. Not regular hot, but hot hot. But this is Florence.. let me pick up where I ended previously in Dolciano.
For the last night, after our hot, 3hr project presentation session, we cooked up whatever food we still had in preparation for the drive in the morning. Most then went down to the park beside the palazzo, while I walked down the entry road to find a good spot to watch the stars. Near the end of the road, I found a place to get through the trees into the corn field, where I was greeted with an amazing view of the full moon, stars, corn and tuscan hillsides, with a perfectly built tree right in the middle. Everything glowed from the light of the moon, and birds, crickets, and frogs were singing the nightly symphony. I sat, and I enjoyed it for a good 20 minutes before going to find the others near the fireflies and packing up for the night.
After about an hour of sleep, I was up again to wait for the sunrise. I woke up Brad and Derek so they could film it, and out we went to that same spot (which didn’t turn out to as great for the sunrise – too south-facing). But time was short, so they set up anyway, and I walked off to see if I couldn’t find a spot… and I did. It required a bit of running down a narrow country road, but I was greeted with a beautiful view of the sun rising behind a misty field lined with trees. What a way to end my stay in southern Tuscany (the region better referred to as Chianti)
We loaded up the vehicles and hit the highway, making the obligatory Autogrill stop along the way. To be honest, I wasn’t looking forward to Florence. It seemed like a big museum town, and after hearing comparisons to Siena, I really didn’t feel the need to stay here. We found our apartments, walked into the center to climb Brunelleschi’s Duomo, and get our first big glimpse of the city. Afterwards we visited the Santissima Annunziata piazza where a couple childrens choirs were singing on the steps outside the Ospedale. Ok, Florence, you get a few points for that.
Then after viewing the renaissance frescos within the forecourt of the church, we headed for the bike rental place before riding around the ring road and back into the centro for dinner. Biking works much better in Florence than Rome, and these bikes are even fun to ride. After another expensive dinner, and some gelato we went to get our passegiata on.
Walking through the Piazza della Signoria and enjoying the sculptures in the Loggia di Lanzi, I started to understand this city. I was surprised at the amount of english-speaking tourists, but most of them blend in very well (usually due to the clothing, but also the lack of obnoxious colours or speech). We continued past the Uffizi, and along the Arno to the Ponte Vecchio before going back for the bikes…
At that point, most followed the prof back to our apartments 15min east of the centro, but Morgan, Derek and myself were ready to take advantage of our first taste of real freedom, thanks to the bikes. We headed over the Arno and up the hill past the Piazzale Michelangelo, to enjoy a cold beverage on the steps of the Chiesa di San Miniato al Monte. And there we were. A few friends, shirtless, sweating buckets, at 12am on the steps of a church overlooking the city of Florence.. Duomo and Torre di Palazzo Vecchio in full line of sight. Life experience +1, followed quickly by a well-deserved coast back down the mountain and a soft, comfortable, single bed. Finally.
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Comments ( 1 Comment )
Sounds like you are having the time of your life over there. The pictures I have seen look awesome… can’t wait to meet up and talk about all your overseas craziness when you get back!
Jason added these pithy words on
Jun 25 08 at
9:55 am
