Florence, Italy

For my latest trip I am travelling north through Italy from Bologna to Venice via Verona.  However, for my first full day there I took the train south for a day trip to Florence.

Getting there was impressively easy.  Bologna is at the centre of Italy’s train network, and there was a high speed line that got you there in 35 minutes.  This rate was achieved (a) by being non-stop between the two points and (b) by mainly being in tunnels!  The majority of the line was in tunnels through the hills, and what wasn’t, was on bridges.  This meant that there wasn’t much of a view, but it was a flat line that got you there quickly.  In standard class there were comfortable seats with plenty of leg room too – a far cry from British trains!

Arriving in Florence my first aim was to get to the Uffizi Gallery.  I knew there would be queues here to get in and so there was.  It took over an hour of waiting to get in – the queue was only moved in “chunks”, so after half an hour I was relatively near the front, but it took another half hour until we were let in!  It was, though, worth the wait.  Whilst I am not necessarily the greatest fan of renaissance art and the suchlike there is no doubting the quality of the pieces and artists that are there, and there were also many more pieces than I expected to see.  What is more interesting through is the gallery itself, primarily set out with rooms off two long corridors which make for an impressive setting. 

From the Uffizi I walked through Florence to the site of the main Cathedral, the Duomo.  This is simply a stunning building, covered in coloured marble tiles that give a beautiful effect.  Whilst visiting the main cathedral is free, you can purchase a ticket which enables you to visit many other associated buildings.  This includes two viewpoints – the tower and the top of the dome itself.  The tower has a number of floors as you make your way up the stairs, so you see the view slowly reveal itself to you.  Going up the dome you get to see both the inside of the dome (getting a closer look at the detailed painting on it, and outside out at the view (which is slightly higher than the tower).  However, to get up there you first have to queue for quite a while (whereas I didn’t have to at the tower).  I think this is partially because the access doesn’t lead to a high throughput of people.  In particular towards the top, stairs get steep and there is only one limited access to get to and from the external viewing platform.  Therefore queues can easily build up!  (What they need is a traffic-light system such as is used in the Belem Tower in Lisbon).  It is worth persevering for the views though which are impressive. 

Also included in the ticket was the opportunity to visit the Baptistery of St John next to the cathedral, the remains of previous building situated under it and also a museum which has recently been redone.  This included many relics from the building and a reconstruction of a previous façade to the Cathedral.  I also had time in Florence to walk about and see a number of the different sites including the Ponte Vecchio (shop-lined bridge), a number of churches, statues and picturesque streets.