Italy from South to North – Day 7: Florence

I planned today’s itinerary around my teleworking obligations: I had to attend an online session at 10 o’clock, with my working day beginning at nine. That being the case, Aron and I still had some time in the morning to spend walking around Florence. We decided to cross the river and hike up the southern hill, where the Piazzale Michelangelo offered us a lovely view of the city, especially Florence’s massive dome.

Having eaten a fresh croissant for breakfast, I hurried back to our hotel, where I managed to connect in time and worked for a few hours. Luckily, my session ended very early, and Aron finished his tour of the Galileo Museum in the meantime. We met again on the Piazza del Duomo, where we joined a queue to enter the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. Although we found it less ornate than the other churches we saw on our trip, we thought the ceiling of the cathedral’s dome was beautiful. It depicts the Last Judgement, with Jesus facing the viewer and the 24 Elders of the Apocalypse lining the uppermost level. 

After leaving the Cathedral, we continued to the Basilica di San Lorenzo. Somewhat austere for the burial place of the Medici (and Donatello), it does have a very striking exterior, which would perhaps have been more impressive if it were not so totally eclipsed by the dome of the Santa Maria del Fiore. The basilica was just a short walk away from the central market we had picked out for lunch: I had some pasta with gorgonzola sauce, and although I tried the tiramisu and the buontalenti ice cream flavours, I found them a bit too sweet and settled for chestnut and stracciatella.

Our final stop for the day was the Pitti Palace complex, which includes the Gardens of Boboli in addition to its sprawling art collection. The gardens were quite pleasant, though it is a shame that the neighbouring trees obstruct the otherwise perfect view of the cathedral. We found the palace itself less lavish than the royal palace of Caserta, but its beautiful ceiling paintings impressed us (as well as jogging our memory on mythological symbology).

Ponte Vecchio
Ponte Vecchio as seen from Piazzale Michelangelo
The view from Piazzale Michelangelo
Palazzo Vecchio
Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore
Another view of the Old Bridge
Dante's Purgatorio
The ceiling of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore
Jesus presiding over the ceiling
A clock at the cathedral
The Basilica of San Lorenzo
A painting at the basilica
An elevated tomb
Another view of the basilica
A heron in the Gardens of Boboli
A statue in Boboli
The view from Boboli of the Church of San Salvatore al Monte
Another view from Boboli
The view from Boboli of the cathedral
A hall at San Salvatore al Monte
A painting of a religious procession at the palace
An allegorical painting of a fallen soldier
The Old Bridge

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