I’ve been to Florence before and I have to say two things – 1. I love Florence – it’s one of my favorite cities in the whole world and 2. it’s WAY better in October when the crowds of tourists aren’t there. We arrived to the craziness of summer tourism in Florence at the train station and decided to walk the 20 minutes to our Airbnb. After a little confusion about the store front numbers verses the residence numbers and a miscommunication issue with the Airbnb owner we got up to our top story apartment and it was beautiful.
We took it easy the first day and after lunch in our palazzo spent the afternoon writing Airbnb reviews and booking some travel stuff. In the evening we went to grab some cash from the ATM and walked back along the river to see the Ponte Vecchio – completely picturesque.
The next day however we took fully advantage of Florence. We woke up early for a booked tour. After some history we went into the Accademia to see the David. In the 10 years since my last visit even the entrance to the museum changed but it was still amazing to see the David.
After the Accademia we walked by the Medici fortress and then to view the Duomo of Florence. We stood in line for about 20 minutes and then we got to go into the cathedral. The nave of the cathedral definitely isn’t the most beautiful but the inner dome is absolutely amazing.
After the Duomo our tour guide took us strolling through the medieval streets of Florence and we walked right by our apartment and into the Piazza della Signoria where the open-air statue museum, former seat of the Florence government and former home of the Medici’s is. This was also the home of the David until it was moved to the Accademia for preservation. The David was a symbol of the Republic government that chased the Medici family out of Florence. However, when the Medici family came back with great armies and reconquered the city they left the David in place but added a defiant Hercules in response.
Our tour guide took us from the palace to the Uffizi and showed us the walkway that was installed so that the ruling family could travel from this fortress across the Ponte Vecchio and arrive at Pitti Palace.
In the afternoon Drew and Ace went to the Uffizi. I chose to stay back since I have seen more than my fair share of Madonnas and Child (probably enough for a whole life time) and I had visited the last time I was in Florence. While I booked more of our trip, they saw all the museum had to offer at rapid speed and were surprised to see Venus was born from a shell an adult woman.
The final activity of the day was a trek up to Piazzale Michelangelo to watch the sunset. The views of Florence were stunning and splitting a bottle of Prosseco while taking in the views was the perfect way to end our busy day!
Clapp Radical Sabbatical 