2 Day Itinerary to Florence, Italy

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“Discovery consists not in seeking new lands but in seeing with new eyes.” – Marcel Proust

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Florence is one of those cities I just couldn’t help but love. If you love art, like I do, you will love Florence. It has all the things you could want in an art mecca, the Statue of David, the Duomo, and the Uffizzi Gallery. I confess that part of the reason I loved this city so much is because the Uffizzi Gallery holds some of Botticelli’s best and most famous works. And I am a huge fan of Botticelli.  I cannot put into words the feeling I had when I entered the room dedicated to Botticelli’s work. As I walked around the room in complete awe at the shear size of his paintings a nice Australian couple offered me their audio headset so that I could listen to the background on each of his paintings. They waited patiently as I became absorbed in Botticelli’s world. My all-time favorite painting? The Birth of Venus, how could there be any other?

This painting made my heart skip a beat and I just could not get over the shear size of this painting. I was expecting your typical art gallery sized painting, but no, this painting is 5’8″ x 9’2″!!!!! It took up an entire wall! I just couldn’t fathom someone taking the time to create such an immense piece of work, and creating it in 1484-1486 no less. It still blows me away when I think about it. The Uffizzi Gallery is worth the price of admission, just for that room alone, but there are many incredible works in the Gallery. There are also some incredible sculptures outside the gallery in a small square, which are fun to wander around while you take in the city.

We spent the night in Florence, at a small hotel that could probably pass as a hostel, where we discovered that you need to provide hotels with your passport whenever you check in and they hold onto it until you leave. We left our passports at our hotel in Grado for safety reasons but it resulted in a serious headache. We ended up having to go to the police station for what reason I now cannot recall. While waiting an American couple told us how they were robbed while eating at McDonald’s (yeah, I know, who eat’s at McDonald’s when you are in a country like Italy? I thought it was absurd too). The lady had put her wallet on the table next to her and someone came up with a sign begging for some change and in that time placed the sign over her wallet and took off with it. Lesson learned: watch your stuff!!! This beautiful city is not without it’s pick pockets. Irregardless we got the whole passport situation figured out and stayed at this super cheap hotel.

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We then took off to explore the city. The Duomo became an instant favorite. It is an immaculate building inside and out and you can climb several hundred stairs and get a view of the city from the top. Though you have to pay extra to climb those several hundred stairs for that view. It was the perfect perspective of Florence. Walking around this city was a first taste of what getting comfortable in one spot felt like. We casually wandered the city (all on foot of course), stopping a various restaurants, gelaterias and museums and art galleries as we saw fit. There was a sense of relaxation as there was no rush to make a train or a bus back to your hotel, you could wander all night if you saw fit. This is how I like to experience places. I no longer want to travel to places and only spend one or two days there. In order to really gain a feel for a place and to really experience the culture you need to spend the time.

My biggest must sees in Florence (and yes I realize they are touristy things but I always have a plan of my must sees of a place irregardless of what others think of them) included the Statue of David, all 17 feet of him, the Uffizzi Gallery (though it is closed on Sundays so try to get there on another day) and the Duomo. I would probably have a more complete list and some local hideaways worth exploring but as I said at the start of this Wandering through Italy series this was my first time in Europe and I was not travel savvy at the time. I now wish I had of spent more time exploring, been more adventurous and more open with my food choices at the time. Irregardless, this was an unforgettable experience and I still smile when I think back on our time in Florence.