Summer 2019 in Italy: Day 2, Florence
By: Claire Liu
Tags: Culture, Summer, Italy, Travel, Europe

Florence: a city in which I had only spent two days on my previous trip here was definitely on my to-do list this time around! As such, I eagerly took the early 6:28AM train out of Ravenna to Bologna, and then connected to Florence via a high-speed Frecciarossa train (only a ~30 minute ride!). I almost missed the high-speed train because there was a last-second platform switch (which, to be quite honest, wasn’t communicated very clearly over the PA system), and so I was practically sprinting from one part of the station to the other in an effort not to miss the train…luckily, I managed to catch the train by the very last seconds and made it to Florence smoothly from that point on.

Just before I left the US, I managed to catch up and have lunch with a former junior high teacher of mine. As she is now recently retired, she’s gotten the opportunity to do a lot more traveling, and has also recently visited Florence. One of the points she brought up about Florence, which I think is so very true, is the fact that one minute, you can be walking down these narrow streets/corridors, fully surrounded by the characteristic, warm-colored houses, and then the next minute, a hugely impressive land mark with a vast plaza just suddenly pops up into full view, such as the Palazzo Vecchio/Piazza della Signoria or the Duomo Santa Maria del Fiore. And that is probably one of the most surreal experiences walking through the streets of Florence (and mind you, it is a “walking” experience…you can get to pretty much all of the main sights and attractions via walking, and similar to last time, I trekked for around 10 miles on foot during the entire day trip).

So where’d I end up visiting this time? After arriving at Santa Maria Novella (the train station), I grabbed a quick breakfast at the McDonald’s across the street (which basically houses a full patisserie for the McCafe portion of the shop). I still can’t get over why the US McDonald’s don’t also provide strawberry cheesecakes, Nutella-filled muffins, custard croissants, etc. (*sighs*) Then, as I started walking east, I immediately came across the magnificent Duomo Santa Maria del Fiore, which I didn’t get a chance to explore all too much last time. Unfortunately, I still didn’t enter the inside this time, but I did walk around the entire exterior this time (which is a relatively long path considering the immense size of the building), and there really is nothing like the beautiful green/white/pink patterning of the marble exterior. Then, after making my way through Palazzo della Signoria and a short stop to the Palazzo Vecchio, I headed to the famous Ponte Vecchio, which I, for some reason or the other, managed to completely miss the last time I was in Florence. Probably the best thing about the Ponte Vecchio is the stunning views of the Arno River you get from standing on it, but you can also see those views from the other bridges that span the river. Most people (tourists tbh) visit the Ponte Vecchio to peruse the myriad of high-end jewelry boutiques/shops that adorn the sides of the bridge, including Rolex, Vacheron Constantin, etc., but besides that, I think there isn’t really all that much to the bridge…as I said before though, the views definitely are incredible.

After crossing the Ponte Vecchio, I made my way to Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli Gardens, which were two places that I did not get to visit last time around. The Gardens are an extraordinary setting, allowing one to see panoramic views of the city, in addition to its beautifully designed paths, greenery, fountains, statues, etc. There is a porcelain museum located in the gardens as well, reminiscient of the Augarten Park and similar porcelain museum in Vienna. Also, a lucky coincidence, but it just so happened that I wandered in on history in the making as I visited the site that morning. It turns out that the famous painting by van Huysum, “Vaso di Fiori”, was finally being returned to the city of Florence after being stolen by the Germans in WWII (1943). There was a huge gathering of government officials (the cultural minister, mayor of the city, etc.), television reporters, armed guards and police (carabinieri), and a formal, ornately-dressed marching band which played (what I imagine to be some sort of formal state anthem) upon the arrival of the distinguished guests. Who knew that this would happen on my very first visit to the palace/gardens? 🙂

The gardens are a huge area (the walk around the site took around 2 hours…), and so it was already in the afternoon when I finished exploring the area. I headed back through the Ponte Vecchio and made my way to the main part of the city to do some shopping (can’t leave Florence without getting some leather!) and eating (gelato, anyone?). I also made it to Dischi Fenice, a nice record shop near the Mercato Centrale, where they’ve been partnering with the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and Maestro Muti to release some of his live recordings from his tenure as principal conductor of the Maggio Musicale. I happened to get three CDs, including: 1) Verdi’s Attila, 2) Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, and 3) Bellini’s i Puritani, including a nice discount 🙂 After one last gelato at the Mercato Centrale, I headed back to Santa Maria Novella and headed back on the train to Bologna, and then to Ravenna. There are still so many places I haven’t been to yet in Florence (inside the Uffizi, for example), but I think I’ve at least managed to cover the most popular destinations. Until next time!

I’m currently a graduate student at Northwestern University, working on developing bio-integrated electronics and microfluidics for health monitoring and pain therapeutic applications. I’m also an avid listener of classical music and am particularly interested in the musicology of 19th century Italian opera, especially those of Giuseppe Verdi. View all posts by Claire Liu