Day 12 (Mon 15 September) - walking tour of Firenze. A leisurely day, we thought; a slow walking tour for 1.5 hours, lunch, and a free afternoon. Not quite correct. Our tour guide, Annamaria, found herself with 15 eager students and enthusiastically extended the walk for an additional hour. We started off visiting the Basilica di Santa Maria Novella which is located adjacent to our hotel. Then we wound our way through narrow streets and narrower laneways (are there any other sorts in Firenze?) until we arrived at the major attraction - the Duomo Santa Maria del Fiore. This time we went inside to marvel at its simplicity relative to its detailed external structure. We then visited a loggia - an impressive 2-3 storeys in height with massive columns supporting a roof. This was the citys main wheat and grain market place in the olden days but now serves as the usual trap for unsuspecting tourists in an essentially outdoor setting. I suspect that some unscrupulous traders sell cheap Chinese copies of leather goods where an inventive aerosol spray of leather aroma covers the man-made material underneath. Caveat emptor! We then travelled via a cute fountain that featured a bronze piglet - il Porcellino - where folklore has it that rubbing its snout guarantees a return visit to Firenze. There is a copy of this bronze piglet outside Sydney Hospital in Macquarie Street, Sydney, so many of you may be quite familiar with the statue and the folklore. Then it was on to the Piazza della Signoria (Firenzes old Town Square) which features many imposing buildings, none more so than the Palazzo Vecchio that still functions as the current Town Hall. Finally, we made it to the bank of the Fiume Arno where we had a great view of the Ponte Vecchio and the river. The last leg of our long haul was to the Piazza di Santa Croce which features a Basilica of the same name. It is here that many Illustrious Italians are entombed including Michelangelo, Macchiavelli, Fermi, Galileo, Marconi and Rossini to name just a few. After a well-earned rest, we did our own private tour of the Mercato Centrale, a huge indoor and outdoor complex of markets where you can buy leather goods, many (Made in China) trinkets, fresh fruit and vegetables, delicatessen items, lunch, coffee, gelati, ............ We had lunch, coffee and a gelato here before we returned for a more thorough look at the Ponte Vecchio. Of all the crossings of the Fiume Arno, this was the bridge that the retreating Germans did not completely destroy in 1944. Finally, we dragged ourselves to the Officina Profumo - Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella, a very interesting museum/apothecary/perfumery/herbal medicine peddler. We rested again before dinner at the hotels Baglioni Restaurant with our fellow travellers. Tomorrow we are off to Roma via a stop in Chianti wine country at the Castello Verrazano Estate winery.
Posted on: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 22:31:40 +0000
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