Arrival

It was another train ride for us to get to Florence. This time, we took one of the nicer, faster, and more expensive Eurostar lines. Those trains are a bit more comfortable than the regional and intercity ones, but not necessarily worth it unless you're in a crunch for time. In our case, the Eurostar worked best for our schedule and we wanted to give one a try anyway.

Florence's Santa Maria Novella station is a little west of the main attractions; our hotel happened to be about 5 blocks directly south of the station, so it was a nice, short walk to there.

Hotel Pagnini

The short walk to the station is the main draw of Hotel Pagnini. It is, however, a good 15 minute walk to the main draws of the city. So it's a decent location, but not great. For 78 euro a night though, it's a good bargain; a decent breakfast was included, staff were nice, and they allowed us to store our luggage between stays (we stayed on Sunday and Tuesday, with a stay in San Gimignano in between). Overall not a bad choice, but you might be able to get something a little more east for a similar price.

Michelangelo is My Favorite Ninja Turtle

Florence is by and large a city of art - the main tourist attractions are the museums (the Accademia and Uffizi Gallery) and you'll easily find a sculpture or some sort of art piece in the heart of the city. I was wondering beforehand how much I'd like Florence and while it wasn't my favorite Italian city, it does have its charms.

After leaving the hotel, we followed the River Arno to the Uffizi, stopping to get a few pictures of the famous Ponte Vecchino (Old Bridge). If you haven't heard of it, it's a bridge lined with expensive jewelry shops.


We, however, didn't cross the bridge until later - we headed right for the heart of the tourist part of the city. One of the big attractions is the Uffizi Gallery, home to such some famous works of art like Botticelli's Birth of Venus and La Primavera. We didn't go into the gallery; paintings don't necessarily fascinate us and we didn't feel like it was worth the money. However, the nearby square, Piazza della Signoria, is busy and interesting. Copies of sculptures adorn the square (including one of Michelangelo's David) and it's dominated by the Palazzo Vecchio, the town hall of Florence.


The main structure of the city, however, is the cathedral: the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. It's (in)famous for it's huge dome and facade, which some people think is too extravagant. We liked it - we both thought it was impressive.


We went inside the duomo - which was also impressive - and then walked around the area for a while. Florence is actually fairly easy to cover quickly - the main attractions are in close proximity to each other. After hitting a few churches and sights, we decided to head to the Accademia, home of the original David by Michelangelo. When we got there, we realized that we didn't have enough euro to get in (it's 10 per person); we proceeded to spend the next 20 minutes trying to find a working ATM. We finally did, and headed back to the museum.

The Accademia is basically Michelangelo's gallery; David is the main - and frankly, only - attraction. There's some other unfinished works by him along with other sculptures and paintings by other artists, but unless you're an art student, David is the only truly interesting item. But it is definitely amazing, so you be the judge if the cost is worth it; we're still undecided on that one. Pictures aren't allowed inside - Heather sneaked one in, but it turned out kinda blurry. Here's one of the copy in Piazza della Signoria:


Florence was home to our favorite restaurant in Italy - Trattoria la Burrasca. It's small - 10 tables or so - but the food was fantastic and the waiter was extremely good; he was nice, funny, and entertaining. It was so good we went back again for our other night in Florence.
To see all of our Florence pictures, go to our Picasa Web Album.

Arrival (Siena)

After a nice breakfast, we left San Gimignano and took a TRAIN bus directly to Siena. Very nice, and the bus drops you off fairly close to the heart of Siena (Piazza Antonio Gramsci) - I believe the train station is quite a ways away, so taking a bus is considered the best option in and out of Siena.

The Palio

Siena is a beautiful Tuscan city about an hour south of Florence. It's likely most famous for its Palio horse race that takes place twice a year; it's an intense (and sometimes violent) competition that takes place in the town square, Piazza del Campo. The seventeen Contrade (city neighborhoods) compete for bragging rights via this race. You may have seen a glimpse of it in the James Bond movie Quantum of Solace; the first scene after the opening credits take place here. While we weren't there during a race, it's obvious that it's a big part of the city.


Il Campo is a unique place - it's a shell-shaped square defined by the huge Torre del Mangia:


You can climb the tower, but I'm not sure it's worth it; we found a good viewpoint in another place for cheaper (if you're hitting the cathedral too) - more on that later. The square is also the home to the Fonte Gaia, or Fountain of Joy:


Moving on from the square, Siena's biggest attraction is its Duomo. It's very impressive - definitely one of the more interesting churches that we looked at in Italy.


The stripped facade is also integrated on the inside, making it very unique. There are also plenty of important works of art here; the Carrara marble pulpit:


The stained-glass window of the Last Supper:


The 56-panel mosiac floor representing scenes from the Old Testament:


A statue of St. John the Baptist by Donatello:


The hexagonal dome of the cathedral is also quite impressive. Overall, if you're going to be in Siena, make sure you get here.

To get in, there is a combination ticket for 10 euro that gets you in the Duomo, Baptistery, Crypt, and the Museo dell'Opera. Frankly, the Duomo itself is almost worth the cost, but the museum also has something worth seeing.

We hit the Baptistery and Crypt next. The Baptistery is small but impressive, containing a beautiful font with sculptures by Donatello (among others).

The Crypt is okay, but nothing amazing. If you're short on time, skip it. But don't skip the Museo dell'Opera. The museum itself is okay; there are some good pieces (some stuff that used to be in the Duomo but are now in the museum - including the original Last Supper window). The real draw for us, however, was the Facciatone, a climbable panoramic terrace that gives a fantastic view of the city:


While the Torre del Mangia might give you a good view, the view from here is great, it's less of a climb, and it's part of the Duomo combination ticket. Those factors make it a great experience for the price.

We grabbed some pizza from a fast food-ish place in Il Campo, then walked up to the Basilica of San Domenico. This gothic church is popular for being the home of St. Catherine's head and thumb (she's the saint who received stigmata). That doesn't make it a must-see site by any means, but it does contain a few other notable works and is worth a stop.

After the basilica, we made our way up to La Lizza, a public garden near the fortress of Santa Barbara. There are some good views along the way, and the garden is pretty and peaceful, seemingly far away from the touristy areas (even though it's also very near the bus station). We walked through the park on our way to the catch the bus back to Florence.

Arrival (Florence)

We left Siena by bus in mid-afternoon; it's about an hour ride back into Florence. One note: while I'm sure you can get bus tickets other places, the seemingly official ticket office is underground, close to where the bus stop is (in Piazza Antonio Gramsci).

Another View of Florence

We didn't really have any plans for the rest of the day in Florence. We knew we didn't want to do any more museums and we didn't have the urge to see anything more in the duomo area. After checking out our map, we decided to head to Piazzale Michelangelo, which, unknown to us at the time, is a famous square among tourists for its beautiful panoramic views of the city.


We took a rather uncommon route to the square (since we didn't know what the normal route was): we walked up a long pedestrian staircase (Google calls it Via di San Salvatore al Monte) that takes you directly to San Miniato. We didn't visit the church, but it's apparently a decent stop, especially if you're at Piazzale Michelangelo. It was a long walk, but you do get some nice views and it's a decidedly non-touristy way to get there.


The square is easily recognized by another copy of Michelangelo's David, but the draw is definitely the view. We got there around 18:00 or so, which was absolutely perfect since the sun was setting at that time. It made for some remarkable pictures.


Once we were done there, we headed back to the hotel and then on to dinner, once again at Trattoria la Burrasca (highly recommend!). It was a great way to end our day and our time in Florence.

To see all of our Siena pictures, go to our Picasa Web Album.
To see all of our Florence pictures, go to our Picasa Web Album.