Flo-rida I mean Flo-rence

Florence is one of the places I’ve been most excited about to visit. I wanted to see all of it. The Duomo. The Uffizi Gallery. All of Michaelangelo’s sculptures. Just all of the art. All of it. And boy did I see a lot, but I also just sucked at being a tourist in Florence. The reason? All those other tourists.

We came to Florence the week before Easter. It was spring break for most of the student population of the world and from what I could tell they all go to Florence. Not Florida like MTV has led me to believe or maybe I’ve misheard them all these years Florida… Florence… same/similar?

So, the bad timing is totally on us, we just didn’t think about it. It’s cool.

I’m not sure why I was so put off by these particular student tourist hordes. Maybe because Americans are extra crass on holiday or at least they seem extra crass within this foreign setting. Maybe it was the aggressive panhandling that tourists attract. Maybe I just wasn’t in the mood for people, any of them, tourist or otherwise. Whatever it was caused me to withdraw more than usual and not go to some top sights.

With that said I did get to see some really cool things and I really enjoyed our five days in Florence. I would happily go back with a bolder attack plan.

Day 1: I wandered around the old part of Florence on my own. Explored many of the streets and made my way down to the Arno River to see all the cool bridges.

Look! It’s me trying to get around tourists!

(click here for the panorama if the embedded one doesn’t work, or to see it full screen)

Day 2: I explored more of the central area including the Duomo.

Day # whatever: We climbed all the things. We climbed inside Brunelleschi’s Dome and up Giotto’s Campanile (bell tower). We got to see over the entirety of Florence. It was incredible and even worth my panic attack inside the claustrophobic staircases. After climbing all the things I decided I would not make a very good assassin, ya know, since I’m afraid of heights, claustrophobic, not particularly stealth, and not even a little bit agile. Oh well, that’s why video games exist!

(click here for the panorama if the embedded one doesn’t work, or to see it full screen)

(click here for the panorama if the embedded one doesn’t work, or to see it full screen)

Day others: I enjoyed exploring the city and finding cool shops and quiet places to sit.

I would like to end with my favourite sculpture. A sculpture that made every annoying tourist experience worth it. A sculpture that made me stop and breathe. Being able to see and be in the presence of Donatello’s Mary Magdalen gave me unexpected strength and calm. I’ve admired this sculpture in art books and textbooks and I understand its significance academically/historically. That aside, this carving of a woman has power. It has presence. It is incredibly rare to see art that feels so human. She could be any one of us.

That was my Florence. Equally frustrating and breathtaking. I’m happy we came and I’ll happily visit again. After Florence we head down the boot to Naples the pizza capital and we look forward to visiting Pompeii.

~B~

Bonus: Our personalized map of Florence.