Florence - Do they love their naked statues!

The best part of Florence to me was the SHOPPING! Any decent guidebook will tell you that Florence is the place to buy Italian leather - and is it ever! I bought the most beautiful leather jacket with the help of the designer himself, all for way cheaper than I could've got such quality goods in the States.

I also really enjoyed seeing Michelangelo's David, and it had nothing to do with him being naked. When you see the real thing, you look past that and marvel at how talented Michelangelo was. He always maintained he was a sculptor and not a painter (he hated commissions for him to paint) - and you can see that sculpting is what he loved when you see this statue.

Plus, I really enjoyed the tour I took through Walking Tours of Florence called "Beautiful Views of Florence." Essentially, it was a long walk up a large hill, but the views on the way up - and especially at the top - made it seem less strenuous than it was.

Quick Tips:

My best advice to anyone visiting the art galleries in Florence - buy your tickets in advance online, or you'll spend most of your time in this beautiful city standing in line. Even with our advance tickets to the Accadamia, we waited in line for about 30 minutes - those without tickets waited for hours.

Also, when you're visiting the Ponte Vecchio, make sure to walk a bit north and rub the nose of the bronze boar statue in the piazza nearby. His nose is rubbed shiny from those who rubbed it in order to return to Florence. Take a coin and put it in the boar's mouth, then let go. The water from the fountain coming from its mouth will carry it to the grate below. However many times it takes to fall through the grate equals the number of years until you return!

Best Way To Get Around:

You can get anywhere in Florence on foot. If you drive, you need to worry about parking and such, and some of the tourist areas are closed off to vehicles (Ponte Vecchio, the Duomo, etc.) If you want to rest your feet, a taxi is a fairly inexpensive way to get to points outside the main attractions.

Everything in Florence is within walking distance of everything else, so when I tell you that the Adler Cavalieri was convenient, you have a way to judge. Since we arrived by train, it was especially convenient, only a few block’s walk from the train station. I can’t say that the area was the best in town – we heard rumors of drug deals close by, but I can say that I didn’t feel unsafe walking there.

The hotel was rated four stars, but compared to the four-star we’d had in Venice, I wouldn’t rate them the same. The room was pretty – the ceiling was painted ornately, but it was just more plain than I was expecting. The bathroom was laid out funny, I thought, with hardly any room to sit on the toilet – as your knees banged into the shower. The shower was a box, which was designed to keep the water in, but essentially flooded the bathroom whenever you showered. The water drained well afterwards, but you were still wading around for a while after showering.

The front desk staff didn’t speak the best English, and seemed annoyed whenever we stopped by with a question. The most memorable moment was when the power went off in the middle of the night and the emergency spotlight came on. So bright we couldn’t sleep. Try explaining all this in broken Italian at 2 a.m. But we were given another room after about an hour of trying to figure out what was going on. I was a little put off by the second room we were given, only because it was so much nicer than the one we were in originally. The shower didn’t leak, etc. It didn’t look to be much of an upgrade, but apparently it was. Too bad we were only in that room for a couple of hours to sleep.

While part of a package deal, I calculated the stay to be about 110 € per night, but I’d haggle or get an upgraded room to avoid the lake in the bathroom. It was comfortable enough, and I wasn’t in the room that much, so I’d be o.k. with someone’s choice to stay here.

General gelato learnings from Florence:
1. The more complicated the cone (chocolate-covered, nuts, etc.), the more you’re going to pay. Keep it simple, or get it in a cup.
2. Try different flavors, by simply asking for a taste. (Un assagio, per favore). However, don’t be a greedy American tourist. Use the taste test to decide between two flavors that have caught your eye, rather than getting a freebie.

Bar Due Ponte
We were walking from our hotel to the Ponte Vecchio when we passed by the Bar Due Ponte (bar of two bridges.) One of the servers was standing at the entrance and noticed our interest in the gelato counter. For the first time in Italy, I noticed some different flavors in the selection. I asked for a taste of butterscotch, but it was too rich for me. I settled on dark chocolate – but in a nut and chocolate cone. Turns out, one scoop in such a fancy service ran me 5.5 €. Geesh! I discovered that they sold it in cups, but of course, they push the more expensive cones and hide the prices. Hmmmm. Well, that was my American tourist moment.

The gelato itself was very good. Smooth, no ice chips. The cone wasn’t worth the price, it just made me thirsty. I’d give this one 3 cones out of 5 with a note to get it in a cup – skip the fancy cone.

La Botlega Del Gelato
VPS Maria 33/R
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This was a gelataria recommended in our trusty Rick Steves book, and we were close by so we took a slight detour. The line of people suggested that the gelato would be good, so we first bought our ticket (specifying the size we wanted and paying first) and then took our ticket to the counter to specify flavor. I busted out of the plain jane flavors here (at least in my book) and went for the caramel. There was a caramel ribbon running throughout, which was not as sweet as the gelato itself, but gave it almost a buttery, even butterscotch taste. My small cup was 1.6 €, I had learned my cone lesson before.

I think this gelato was made even better, because we ate it outside as we started talking to another American woman who was traveling the country for three months! We sat on a stoop as it sprinkled rain a bit, and talked of our travels, how good the gelato was, and where we were headed next.

This gelato gets a 4.5 cones out of 5. At the time, I would’ve given it a perfect score, but I didn’t know the pleasure that awaited me in Rome.

When talking with our Walking Tours of Florence guide, I mentioned that I really wanted to try the local specialty, Bisteca Fiorintina (Florentine Steak), but that I was concerned about my picky eater-ness and was afraid I’d spend a lot of money on a meal I didn’t like. You see, in Florence restaurants, the price of your steak is calculated by kilograms. And sometimes, unwittingly, you can order a HUGE steak and then pay out the nose for it. She understood my concerns, and recommended the Osteria Del Cinghialia Bianco (The White Boar).

The best thing for any American tourist who isn’t used to waiting until 8 p.m. to start eating dinner is that it opens at 6:30 p.m. The second best thing (or maybe the best?) is the food itself. My tour guide had helped me learn how to order my Bisteca Fiorintina well done (benne cote, per favore) and I ordered that with a side of roasted potatoes. The food arrived steaming hot in about 25 minutes, and I could just see the juices pouring out of the steak. A taste of the beef made me only want more. It was cooked just the way I liked it and was so flavorful! I’m guessing there was a marinade of rosemary and other spices that I couldn’t recognize. Definitely one of the best meals I had in Italy, though a bit more pricy. For two of us, with house wine, water, the meal and a chocolate cake (also very yummy) for dessert, the meal ran around 65 €. But it was well worth the price of admission.

The service was also very good, and the atmosphere was very Florentine. We sat next to a set of grandparents with their grandchild from America. (It seems we were always seated next to Americans. To keep us together and away from the locals maybe? ;) ) We all talked about how great the food was and how much we were enjoying our trips.

This would be my most highly recommended restaurant in Florence, possibly in Italy.

The Cammillo Trattoria was a few doorsteps away from the a restaurant that had been recommended to us by our Walking Tours of Florence guide. We were trying to avoid another family that had been on our Beautiful Views of Florence tour (I have never met more spoiled, rich, world-revolves-around-me people in my life.) So instead of going to the Osteria Del Cinchiale Bianco on the first evening, we tried the Cammillo Trattoria instead, hoping to escape the annoying people.

I had heard that Florence, in addition to its steak specialty, was quite good at fried chicken. That was an option on this particular menu, so I decided to try it. The menu listed it as fried chicken with mozzarella (pollo fritto), which I thought would be mozzarella on top of the chicken. So, I ordered a side of fried mozzarella balls as well. The waiter must’ve thought me crazy, because the chicken came with a size of mozzarella balls, so I had enough fried mozzarella for about 4 people.

The meal was OK, not bad, not great. The chicken was fried with very little to no flavoring – I expected it to be less dry and with more spices. The mozzarella was ok as well, though some were way saltier than others. Mostly, the food was pretty greasy. Even for me, Ms. Picky Eater, the food was edible.

The atmosphere was like we were in a butcher’s shop, and again we were seated next to an American tourist. (When was I ever going to get to practice my Italian?) I think reservations would have been preferred, as we were asked when we came in. However, they had no problems seating us. The trattoria opened at 7:30, and we were there come opening time, as we were hungry.

The menu was listed in both English and Italian, so I think you’d have no problem figuring out what you were eating. For the two of us, the meal came to nearly 35 €, so it’s fairly affordable. I’d say it’s a safe bet, but lacking a bit in the flavor department. I’d rate it a 6 out of 10.

Probably the best pre-travel decision we made was to purchase our tickets to the Accadmia Gallery in advance. The drawback was that we had to be at a specific place at a specific time (we got our tickets for 9 a.m. on a Tuesday, as the gallery is closed on Mondays). The benefit far outweighed the drawback when we arrived and saw the lines. There were two lines. One for people with tickets, one for people without. Yes, even with ticket reservations, we had to wait in line – but it was filled mostly with groups so it moved quickly. The line for those without reservations crawled by at a snail’s pace. The advance purchase ended up being around 18 €, including the fees. Otherwise, the entrance is 12.5€

Not a patron of the Renaissance arts, I’ve got to say that the only reason for going is to see Michelangelo’s David. There are other unfinished Michelangelo works in the museum, and some other art, but really, it’s David that is the draw, and David that is the highlight.

As soon as you enter the gallery, you can tell which direction you need to go based on the crowds of people. The first glimpse of David does not disappoint. And it’s not even his nakedness that I noticed first – the statue is just awe-inspiring as a whole. As a matter of fact, I spent more time looking at the back of the statue – how his slingshot hangs down the muscular back, how his muscles are formed from the marble (a piece of marble that everyone else thought inferior.) There’s seating around behind the statue. Rest your feet, sit down, take it all in. Listen to the tour guides as they lead their groups through. Listen to your fellow tourists’ reactions to the statue.

David was meant to be viewed from below – he was to be lifted high above the city and displayed. So if you’re thinking to yourself how out-of-proportion his hands are, or his head, you’d be correct. However, the Florentines were so in love with this statue that they couldn’t bear to part with him. As a matter of fact, they were so in love with this statue that there are replicas everywhere. One at the Piazzelle Michelangelo outside of the city proper, and one in the Piazza Signora.

We were very lucky. Just two weeks before our visit the restoration work that had been going on for years on the statue was completed, and the scaffolding removed. However, that didn’t mean we could take any photos – they’re strictly prohibited, though I suppose you could get away with a surreptitious snapshot sans flash. So just stop in the gift shop on the way out and grab a few postcards – you wouldn’t be able to get a good shot anyway.

On my way out of the Accademia, a leather jacket in a store window caught my eye. I had heard tell that Florence was THE place for Italian leather, and I just wanted to live in a fantasy world for a bit, so we walked inside. Big mistake for my credit card, but I got the best leather jacket ever!

The name of the shop is Sarti, and the staff is willing to help you pick out a size and style. I found a black leather jacket with a white collar and white piping trim, for a total cost of about 240 €. Still way cheaper than you could find such quality in the states, plus, 40 € of that was duty free, if I took the time to fill out the paperwork and get my customs stamp at the airport (purchases over 150 € qualify for the refund, and worth the effort, I felt.) They also featured fine leather purses, shoes, wallets, etc.

My friend was disappointed that they didn’t have the jacket she wanted in her size, but the staff said there was another store down the street that might have it. We found the second store easily and had quite a blast. We met the owner of the stores and the designer of many of the jackets. His name was Riccardo, and he was close personal friends with American designer Kenneth Cole. He kept telling us about their friendship, and how much Kenneth would charge for these jackets in New York. He explained to us how the jackets should fit us, (though I think much of it was that he just enjoyed the flirting) and how people buy his jackets and get home and call him to order more! (Yes, they’ll ship anywhere in the world duty free.) I tried on the jacket I had bought for him and he agreed that it was an excellent fit, and a jacket he, himself, had designed.

If you want Italian leather, I’d say this is definitely the place to go for both personal attention and great leather goods. Plus, make sure to talk with Riccardo and hear his stories!

After a visit to the Duomo, we passed by this wine shop on the Piazza Duomo and stopped in for a while. I wanted to get some wine to take home as a gift for some friends, and also to get a bit for myself.

The staff spoke reasonable English (almost everyone in Florence would rather practice their English, it seems) and allowed me to ask questions and learn a bit about Italian wine. I’m not much of a connoisseur, so I didn’t know that Chianti was a more dry, bitter wine, or that dessert wines were mostly white – so the young lady at the counter was very helpful in assisting me. She found out I liked more fruity wines, so she found a few with different price ranges so I wouldn’t embarrass myself by going into sticker shock. My choice was Avignonesi Rosso di Montepulciano – an Italian rosso (red) for about 14 €. I also bought some Italian extra virgin olive oil for 4 €, and some white dessert wine for 6€.

In addition to helping me choose, the staff helped me wrap all my goods so that I’d be able to get them all home in one piece. They also ship around the world, should you want to pay extra and not have to carry the bottles around with you. You could buy Italian wine at the airport, but I wanted to add the extra touch of having bought it in Florence and having the experience and story to accompany my purchase.

Knowing nothing about Renaissance art, I thought perhaps it would be a better idea to take a guided tour through the Uffizzi rather than just wander along myself and try to understand what I was looking at. I do want to note that Rick Steves has a good follow-along tour in his book, but I liked hearing more of the stories and having the more interactive look at the artwork.

We booked the tour through Walking Tours of Florence, (we also booked Beautiful Views of Florence) for 45 €. The price included entrance to the museum and the guide. We chose the same guide that we’d had for the Beautiful Views tour, as she’d been very good. Plus, she was an art-history major who moved to Florence to study, so who better to take us through?

We learned the evolution of art from the Byzantine era into the Renaissance, how things changed from flat and two-dimensional to three dimensional. How artists started to notice the world around them and paint what they saw. Florentine painters especially were noticeable by the colors they used – they came from what they had around them, like flowers mixed with egg. The painters would often “sign” their art by painting in their own face.

Some interesting tidbits.
1. Botticcelli’s “The Birth of Venus” is one of the first paintings to show movement – the wind blowing Venus to shore. Plus, since painting nude female models was illegal, he used a male model for Venus, which is why she seems a bit “butch” – she has no hips and her breasts are a bit out of place. The painting was commissioned by the Medici family as a conversation starter.
2. Michelangelo’s Sacra famiglia con san Giovannino lends itself to a great story. Michelangelo never wanted to be a painter. He maintained that he was a sculptor. He was commissioned to paint the holy family by a groom who wanted to give it to his bride as a wedding present for 70 docants. Michelangelo agreed, but painted it his way – with some nudes in the background. The man, through his servent, tried to pay less than the agreed upon price because he disliked the painting. Michelangelo then told the servant that his price had gone up. The groom, now agreed to pay the original price, but Michelangelo upped the price again. He finally got 210 docants – 3x the original price because the commissioner wanted to short-change him!

The tour was excellent, well worth the price!

You could climb up to the top of both the Duomo and the Tower to get good views of Florence, but we chose to only climb one and save our legs. We chose the 417 steps of the tower, since the view would include the Dome (versus climbing up the Dome, where the view would include the tower).

And it was quite the climb. The good news, I suppose, is that every 100 steps or so there is a place to stop, rest your legs, and take in the view. The best view is from the tippy top, but at any level you could stop and go back down if you wanted. We were following some very energetic British teenagers, who kept count of the stairs for us, while their teacher decided to wait for them at the first level. The best advice we got were from the people on the way down, telling us to stop and rest as much as we could, and also giving us encouragement, such as “you're halfway there” or “the view is worth it.”

The view was worth it. Seeing Brunelli’s magnificent orange dome up-close-and-personal was a treat. Despite the fact that it was raining on and off, and the sky was grey, the color and architecture really stood out. We got some excellent pictures and took in the Tuscan countryside. We even waved to those who had climbed the Dome and stood at the top across from us.

After traipsing up the tower, we stood in line to go into the church (note, it’s a separate line from the one waiting to climb up the dome.) As we stood in line, we passed by the Baptistry – with its famous “Gates of Paradise” Bronze doors. Created by an artist named Ghiberti, who won a competition to create his doors – to mark the city’s deliverance from the Black Death. Michelangelo is the one that first called them the “Gates of Paradise” as he said they could be the doors of heaven themselves. Inside, it was a typical Renaissance church, with the exception of the painting on the dome itself. That’s the only reason I could think of to climb the dome, would be to see that artwork up close. There was very little natural light – as at that time architects thought more windows would compromise the structure.

If you have one day, I recommend going up the tower for the view of Florence and the Duomo. If you are limited in time, the inside of the church was a take-it-or-leave-it kind of thing in my opinion – it was nice, but no biggie if you missed it.

We booked a tour through Walking Tours of Florence called the Beautiful Views tour. Essentially, it’s a walk from the tour offices just north of the PonteVecchio across the Arno River and up a very large hill to the Piazelle Michelangelo and then to San Minneato al Monte church. At each stop along the way, there are different panoramic views of the Florence skyline and the Tuscan countryside in the distance. I also understand it’s the best place to catch a sunset, and though we started our tour in the sunshine, by sunset the haze and clouds kept us from seeing the sky change colors.

On the walk to the top of the hill, our guide would point out different types of architecture and historical oddities about the city. Case in point -- the Ponte Vecchio. Above the bridge is a walkway build by the Medici family, so they wouldn’t have to cross the bridge with the peasants, but rather walk above them. We were also treated to a special surprise. On the way up the hill, we passed through a beautiful garden – it was only open one month out of the year. We could view the skyline through rose gardens, hydrangea plants and even lemon trees!

We stopped at the Piazelle Michelangelo to take some photos and take in the view, but we weren’t done yet. We walked up a bit farther to San Minneato al Monte. This church sits at the highest point, and offers the most unobstructed views of Florence. In addition, every day at 5:30 p.m. the monks gather at the bones of Saint Minneus and sing Gregorian chants for all who will listen.

This is not a tour for those who don’t want to walk, but even if you can’t take the guided tour, you could catch a cab to the top. We decided to save our feet and cab it down the hill, and it cost us about 8.5 €. However, I highly recommend the tour, unless you’re a Florence expert and know all about the history and the city. Plus, half the fun of seeing the beautiful views is getting to them! The tour, through Walking Tours of Florence, cost 25€.