Rules of tourism not in the lonely planet
Everyone has a favourite city in the world and so I have to declare up front that Florence has taken out that position in my heart, so my posts will probably be clouded by that.
Previously Vancouver held the title, and Paris gave it a fair nudge, but none the less Florence is still holding firm.
Part of the reason for my enormous love of Florence came down to the fact that it was the easiest city in which I landed, again with absolutely no plan, and having not read the guide. So when I disembarked at the train station and was trying to find my way to the tourist information office to find a place to stay, I was spruiked at the station by Geramo, owner of a small bed and breakfast about 15 mins walk from Duomo, L'Academia, the Uffizi and Santa Maria Novelle traing station, but not in the overly touristy part of Firenze, so close but still quiet.
Cristina's house, their bed and breakfast, was perfect and not only did they speak English and let my try out my woeful italian on them, but they also furnished me with maps and recommendations for superb local restaurants: specifically Palle D'oro, which is vaguely near the markets and well worth staying with Geroma and Cristina just to get accurate directions!
My first day in any place invariably involves the general reckie walk, just to get bearings and generally see where things are, and from that I'll plan my activities for the rest of the time I'm there.
My reckie walk in Florence was hilarious, as I knew one of the big ticket attractions was Duomo, but given my lack of reading of said guide, I really had no idea what the Duomo looked like, but figured it was a big church and probably in the centre of town.
So, I wandered down town, through the horrendously touristy markets to 'Duomo', and past the Uffizi gallery (the line up curled around the piazza, so mornings starts are recommended, or at least pre-purchase of tickets). So I arrived at 'Duomo', paid to get in, and was startled by the incredible lack of line up (could it be I had jagged the best time in the wolrd to enter, could I possibly have been that lucky?) and wandered in. In terms of the being the most oppulent renaissance church outside of Vatican City it wasn't that flash quite frankly, and then I wandered into the court yard and could see Duomo in the distance. Ahhh, that would be the problem. Wandering into the first church in Florence and expecting it to be the one you're looking for probably isn't the brightest thing to do!
For future travellers, this is Duomo:
This, as you can see, is impressive! As well it should be having taken 6 centuries to create. For the history of the cathedral go here: http://www.mega.it/eng/egui/monu/buq.htm
I also wandered down to Ponte Vecchio, Europe's oldest segment bridge, which now housing hundreds of amazing gold jewellers, where I scandalised a few americans who had offered to take a photo of me in front of the bridge. Given I know what I look like, I'm not a big one for having photos of me standing in front of something. When I tried to explain this to them, they genuinely asked me what I took photos of and then looked vaguely disturbed when I said "just the building/ bridge/site".
It was also in Florence that my normal calm was thoroughly tested. While I thought Venice was filled with spring breakers, Florence seemed to be in constant peak hour. I could not get away from people, which given I don't really like people was beginning to make me a bit antsy.
So, from that I developed the rules that all tourists need to read and learn. And obey.
1) Your father was not a glazier. Seriously, either there are enormous amounts of people in need of glasses, or they just don't understand that when they stand a foot away from the description of whatever and then do not move that no one else can read it.
2) Footpaths are not for convos. Italy was filled with narrow footpaths that also seemed to serve as conversation points for locals and tourists alike. It didn't seem to matter what side of the foot path I was on, I always had to give way. And to the tosser couples that must walk hand in hand - you will not lose each other if you walk single file and you do not need to be in constant touch to be in love. You are just irritating the rest of us, who are barely resisting the urge to drop the shoulder and barge through you.
3) It's a digital camera, it takes no more than 30 seconds to take the pic. Honestly, everyone becomes Man Ray with their holiday snaps! Some people were even doing light readings, with digital cameras. I gave everyone 30 seconds and then I walked into shot. They wouldn't have read the manual any more than I did, so probably still had it set to the auto settings from purchase, so there was simply no need for a holiday snap to take any longer than 30 seconds.
I developed a number of other ones mostly relating to how talking in a bad italian accent and moving your hands a lot does not make you bilingual.
Florence, like much of Italy, is a work of art in itself, galleries and churches aside. The piazzas are all filled with amazing marbles (not stolen by the Brits), frescoes and mosaics that just wandering around and taking it in is at times is enough. In between Duomo and the Uffizi is a plaster replica of the David, for those who can be bothered with the line up to L'Academia, although he is more beautiful in marble.
View of Florence from Michaelangelo Piazza
Previously Vancouver held the title, and Paris gave it a fair nudge, but none the less Florence is still holding firm.
Part of the reason for my enormous love of Florence came down to the fact that it was the easiest city in which I landed, again with absolutely no plan, and having not read the guide. So when I disembarked at the train station and was trying to find my way to the tourist information office to find a place to stay, I was spruiked at the station by Geramo, owner of a small bed and breakfast about 15 mins walk from Duomo, L'Academia, the Uffizi and Santa Maria Novelle traing station, but not in the overly touristy part of Firenze, so close but still quiet.
Cristina's house, their bed and breakfast, was perfect and not only did they speak English and let my try out my woeful italian on them, but they also furnished me with maps and recommendations for superb local restaurants: specifically Palle D'oro, which is vaguely near the markets and well worth staying with Geroma and Cristina just to get accurate directions!
My first day in any place invariably involves the general reckie walk, just to get bearings and generally see where things are, and from that I'll plan my activities for the rest of the time I'm there.
My reckie walk in Florence was hilarious, as I knew one of the big ticket attractions was Duomo, but given my lack of reading of said guide, I really had no idea what the Duomo looked like, but figured it was a big church and probably in the centre of town.
So, I wandered down town, through the horrendously touristy markets to 'Duomo', and past the Uffizi gallery (the line up curled around the piazza, so mornings starts are recommended, or at least pre-purchase of tickets). So I arrived at 'Duomo', paid to get in, and was startled by the incredible lack of line up (could it be I had jagged the best time in the wolrd to enter, could I possibly have been that lucky?) and wandered in. In terms of the being the most oppulent renaissance church outside of Vatican City it wasn't that flash quite frankly, and then I wandered into the court yard and could see Duomo in the distance. Ahhh, that would be the problem. Wandering into the first church in Florence and expecting it to be the one you're looking for probably isn't the brightest thing to do!
For future travellers, this is Duomo:
Florence, Duomo
This, as you can see, is impressive! As well it should be having taken 6 centuries to create. For the history of the cathedral go here: http://www.mega.it/eng/egui/monu/buq.htm
I also wandered down to Ponte Vecchio, Europe's oldest segment bridge, which now housing hundreds of amazing gold jewellers, where I scandalised a few americans who had offered to take a photo of me in front of the bridge. Given I know what I look like, I'm not a big one for having photos of me standing in front of something. When I tried to explain this to them, they genuinely asked me what I took photos of and then looked vaguely disturbed when I said "just the building/ bridge/site".
It was also in Florence that my normal calm was thoroughly tested. While I thought Venice was filled with spring breakers, Florence seemed to be in constant peak hour. I could not get away from people, which given I don't really like people was beginning to make me a bit antsy.
So, from that I developed the rules that all tourists need to read and learn. And obey.
1) Your father was not a glazier. Seriously, either there are enormous amounts of people in need of glasses, or they just don't understand that when they stand a foot away from the description of whatever and then do not move that no one else can read it.
2) Footpaths are not for convos. Italy was filled with narrow footpaths that also seemed to serve as conversation points for locals and tourists alike. It didn't seem to matter what side of the foot path I was on, I always had to give way. And to the tosser couples that must walk hand in hand - you will not lose each other if you walk single file and you do not need to be in constant touch to be in love. You are just irritating the rest of us, who are barely resisting the urge to drop the shoulder and barge through you.
3) It's a digital camera, it takes no more than 30 seconds to take the pic. Honestly, everyone becomes Man Ray with their holiday snaps! Some people were even doing light readings, with digital cameras. I gave everyone 30 seconds and then I walked into shot. They wouldn't have read the manual any more than I did, so probably still had it set to the auto settings from purchase, so there was simply no need for a holiday snap to take any longer than 30 seconds.
I developed a number of other ones mostly relating to how talking in a bad italian accent and moving your hands a lot does not make you bilingual.
Florence, like much of Italy, is a work of art in itself, galleries and churches aside. The piazzas are all filled with amazing marbles (not stolen by the Brits), frescoes and mosaics that just wandering around and taking it in is at times is enough. In between Duomo and the Uffizi is a plaster replica of the David, for those who can be bothered with the line up to L'Academia, although he is more beautiful in marble.
Plaster copy of the David
