The beautiful hills of Tuscany.

Today we visited the Accademia Gallery, principally to visit the statue of Michelangelo’s ‘David’. To do so, we had to queue for forty-five minutes, which is actually quite reasonable, or so they told us. Once inside, the statue pretty much dominates the building, and so it should. It is a most impressive piece of work. The good news for us guys, is that it’s not too impressive (if you know what I mean). Unfortunately, no photography is allowed (although there is a replica at the Piazzale Michelangelo, and you’re free to take as many as you like), so I am not able to include one for you. 

The Tuscan hills from Fiesole

The other highlight of today was a bus trip to the village of Fiesole, which is about ten kilometres from Florence, right up in the Tuscany hills. The bus just keeps climbing ever higher, and when you eventually arrive at the village, it’s time to walk even higher. The reward for all this effort? Well, perhaps the most spectacular views one could ever imagine. On any day, this would be beautiful enough, but we were lucky enough to be there with a thunderstorm brewing over the city below and the distant hills. Now, I’m not an overly religious person, but this sort of stuff can even move the likes of me. It is near impossible to capture these moments on mere digital recording devices, but I’ve tried, nonetheless. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did.

Florence from Fiesole with storm clouds on the horizon.

Greetings from the Medici city of Florence

If it is possible to fall in love with an inanimate object, in this case a city, then we have done so, because we are in love with Florence. It cast its spell on us from the moment we arrived, and doesn’t look like relenting. And what’s not to love about this city, which occupies pride of place in the most beautiful of Italy’s regions, Tuscany. This is our fourth Italian city, and while they all have their unique charms (and some vices), it is Florence that has captured our hearts above all others.

Wonderful Florence - the Basilica Santa Maria del Fiore can be seen towering above the skyline.

Florence is big and busy, but for some reason it feels more relaxed. And without doubt, it is a green city, its parks and gardens and beautiful avenues, many standing guard over the city in the hills which encircle it, providing a perfect contrast to the Tuscan terracotta buildings below. Nowhere is this more striking than at Pizzale Michelangelo, no more than a very large lookout, but frequented by hundreds of people, particularly at dusk, when the setting sun provides the most perfect backdrop for a city transitioning from day to night.

Florence at dusk, with the Ponte Vecchio in the foreground.

View of Florence from San Miniato Church

The views from the Pizzale are, well to be honest, beyond words. With the buildings of Florence below, some medieval, some Renaissance, others more modern, the beautiful river with its many bridges, and the hills of Tuscany seemingly so close you could jump from one to another, it is easy to understand why both locals and visitors alike keep returning to this landmark (we’ve already been twice, and plan to have dinner on the steps one night).

The other thing about Florence is it antiquity; the famous buildings, statues and other famous artefacts of culture which populate this space. To be sure, they almost assault the senses, and can almost become overwhelming at first. We’ve seen many spectacles in our two months of travels, but nowhere have we ‘oohed and ahhed’ quite like we have in Florence. We have already visited quite a few of these monuments to Italian culture, and today we plan to visit even more, including Michelangelo’s ‘David’. 

But for us, yesterday was a day of gardens, namely Boboli and Giardino Bardini. The Boboli gardens were built by a family whose name is synonymous with Florentine wealth and grandeur, the Medici Family. Cosimo Medici had this garden built for his wife in the 15^th century, and all I can say is he must have loved her very much, as the gardens are spectacular in every sense of the word. Much smaller, but equally impressive, are the nearby Giardino Bardini, which provide a more intimate feel. 

Boboli gardens.

Hedges are a feature of these, and other Renaissance gardens.

 

Statues are another feature of these gardens, and we loved them all.

Some of the statues look harmless, but be careful, they can bite.

Both gardens provide spectacular views of the city below and the Tuscan hills. Tuscanites love their gardens, and they have a feel about them quite different to that back home. Of course, hedges are everywhere, but they also features trees and flowers and, that most famous and ubiquitous of Renaissance garden features, water and statues. Walking through these gardens always evokes a sense of peace and harmony, a sense that everything is in balance. They are truly a delight to the senses, and we love each and every one of them.

Giardino Bardini (giardino means garden in Italian).

 

More of these lovely gardens.

The exhausted merchants of Venice.

Today we visited Venice, the city of canals. It was an early start to the day, and a ninety minute train journey both ways, but well worth the effort. The promised rain even held off for us. Venice is certainly a lovely place, but I think you can tell when you’re approaching saturation point as a tourist – things just don’t seem to have the same impact as they did a few weeks ago. Of course, it may also have something to do with the relentless crowds, the sheer rudeness of the locals, and their propensity to charge you to see and do absolutely everything.

A busy Venetian street, very wide by their standards.

 

Needless to say, there is no vehicular traffic on Venice, and everything moves via the canals.

Some gondolas tied up ready for the next cashed up tourist.

We had been warned on Trip Advisor (which has become a bit of a bible for us) to be aware of the gondola scams which operate at Venice. The going rate is 80 euros for around forty minutes (that’s around A$130), but many end up being less than thirty minutes long, due to ‘congestion’ on the canals. Alison and I ummed and arred, debated and discussed, and then concluded that we could not see the value in it – and so we didn’t. However, we did walk around most of the streets, which are really just full of shops selling tacky souvenirs and expensive Venetian glassware and jewellery. The other things the shops stock by the truckload are Venetian masks. I must admit, many of them are beautifully made, but they certainly don’t come cheap (around 75 euro for a full-sized one). 

This is the Piazza San Marco, which houses the Basilica di San Marco (that is not the Basilica in the photo).

More of the piazza.

Part of the Grande Canal, Venice.

 

Santa Maria della Salute

Tomorrow, we leave Verona for Florence, which is in Tuscany. Verona has been really lovely, and I think we managed to explore parts many tourists would never find. Last night we walked in the rain for over an hour towards the hills which backdrop our little village of Avesa. With the mist covering the terraced hillsides of olive groves, hundreds of years old, and vineyards and citrus orchards coming right down to the road, we could have walked forever (the sign said something about Austria, but I doubt the Number 23 bus goes that far). Living out of the main city has meant we feel as if we have experienced village life, to some extent; we’ve even started greeting the locals with, ‘Buongiorno’, on our walks through the back streets. To our surprise, many have started to converse back with us, in Italian of course. We haven’t had the heart to tell them we couldn’t understand a word they said, so we just keep nodding and saying, ‘Si, si, grazie’.

The streets of our village, Avesa.

A lovely garden, and a magical lake.

Yesterday we visited beautiful Lake Garda, about a one hour bus trip from Verona. The temperature was about 29 degrees, it was a Sunday, and just about all of Verona decided to visit as well. Not much you can do about this I guess, after all, it is their country. We decided to spend most of the day at the little peninsula known as Sirmione, and from there took a boat trip across to Desanzano. The lake is absolutely beautiful, extending right up towards the Alps. It is what us geographers would call a finger lake, being quite long but narrow. Actually, I’m sure it is a glacial lake, and if Italy was actually in Norway, it would be called a fjord. Anyway, enough of the lessons, I have included some photos for you to enjoy.

The little village of Sirmione

Today was a bit of a rest day; we seem to get very tired very quickly so need more days where we try to limit the walking (to a miserly 20 kms). We decided to visit Verona’s famous Giardino Giusti gardens. These gardens date back to the 15^th century. Although not the best gardens we’ve seen in eight weeks, they certainly were lovely, as you can see by the photos. Now, if I could just have a garden back home like this!

 

It has just started raining outside our little villa, and the thunder can be heard in the distance. It is about as idyllic as one could ever imagine. Tomorrow it’s off to Venice, and Wednesday we move to Florence for five days. We are just hoping we can find enough stamina to see out the remaining week or so. 

The courtyard at our villa.