Honeymoon Blog: Italy --Firenze

We arrived in Florence by train at about 1pm in the afternoon. Our driver then took us to our hotel -- Lugarno Suites. It was the most spacious accommodations we've had in Europe. There was even a little kitchenette with a dining table and a living room area. Furthermore, it was right on the river, providing a great view.

Since our time in Florence was limited, we then headed out to explore the city -- do some shopping and see the historic district including the Duomo -- Santa Maria del Fiore, Europe's 4th largest church. Before we started all this, we stopped at a little cafe for lunch -- focaccia sandwiches and some chianti wine (typical red wine of the tuscan region). The architecture of Florence is very typical of the renaissance style-- simple and symmetric. The church was anything but simple -- it was very beautifully and intricately decorated along with the campanile and the baptistery. The baptistery doors are covered wit 12 different scenes from the bible (below is a picture of Joseph being sold into slavery), and the ceiling of the dome is painted in scenes from the last judgment.



Ben was needing a nap at this point, so we headed back in the direction of the hotel and we went to bed while I went to the Palazzo Pitti (originally built for the banker, Luca Pitti who wanted to the rival the Medici family, who ironically, ended up buying the palace). Instead of exploring the inside of the palace, I spent my time in the Boboli Gardens attached the palace. It was a true tuscan villa -- so beautiful! The gardens ascended uphill and provided some magnificent views of Florence. There were statues, fountains, and cypress trees all throughout the garden and all the way at the top was a beautiful pink rose garden attached to a porcelain museum. Spending time in the gardens was one of my favorite things I've done in Italy -- it was so relaxing and beautiful, and made me feel like I was truly living in a Tuscan villa.


That night, Ben and I were originally planning to get to the piazza Michelangelo which overlooks the city and a drink some wine while watching the sun set over the city. Romantic right? Unfortunately, we needed to take the bus to get there, and we couldn't find a place to buy bus tickets. I suppose it's something we can put on the list for next time we come to Italy. When our sunset plan failed, we decided to head out to dinner to one of the restaurants recommended by my guide book, 4 Leoni. We had one of our favorite meals of Italy here, and I think this is also the friendliest staff we encountered. We shared an appetizer of shark lasagna (a little weird...but the pasta part was very good). We also shared the main meal of bistecca alla florentine (a classic florentine dish)...which was basically a 1kg steak prepared with beef from a specific brand of cow in Italy. It was delicious! We finished it off with a cheesecake covered with fruit and chocolate -- very tasty.

The next morning, I got up early to go to the Uffizi museum of art (known as Italy's greatest art gallery). Since I hadn't thought to get tickets in advance (I didn't know quite how popular the museum was), I ended up waiting and hour and a half to get in. I would say it was mostly worth it. One of the rooms I was most looking forward to seeing (the room containing all of the Medici family's favorite pieces) was closed for refurbishment. However, Botticelli's works were beautiful, and I'm really glad I got to see his work as well as some of Leonardo da Vinci's earlier pieces as well.