I intentionally tried to end this trip to Italy with one of it’s bigger and more significant cities and Florence turned out to be perfect for just that. Along with the size and significance came an awful lot of people. This last several days has been a chaotic mix of pedestrian traffic jams, waiting in lines to see sights that a month ago I could just walk right into, and having to buy advance tickets for things wondering if I would get to see them at all. Despite all that, I did see everything I intended to and ended this trip with a bang, in a good way.

I arrived in the early afternoon and so started my exploring close to my hostel. First, a quick stop into Cenacolo di Sant’Apollonia to see the remarkable Last Supper painted by Andrea del Castagno, a nun, in the 15th century.

Not too far from that is the Chiesa di San Marco, now a museum housing a ton of works from the famous monk/painter, Fra’ Angelico. The monastic complex was apparently lucky to have this guy living there because every monks cell was decorated with artwork by him.

This first day was a quick run around and get oriented kind of day. Just down from Chiesa San Marco, I saw the entrance to the university’s archeological museum. I hadn’t planned on going in there, but you know me, I couldn’t resist.

The statue of an Etruscan turned Roman senator below was pretty interesting. The Etruscans populated this peninsula long before the Romans were the Romans and later integrated into Roman society. The statue below subtly illustrates that. He’s clearly in Roman clothes that identify him as a senator, but he also has Etruscan writing and markings on the bottom of his toga identifying him as an Etruscan. I don’t know why, but I just find that fascinating.

You can’t discuss Florentine history without including the powerful Medici family. They ruled the area for hundreds of years, several members of the family became pope, and they’re also responsible for the majority of the amazing art in this city, more on that later. The Palazzo Medici-Riccardi was just the start for me. It was built in 1444 for Cosimo the Elder and contains the Capella dei Magi with stunning frescoes by a student of Fra’ Angelico, Benozzo Gozzoli.

There was also a decent sized collection of marble busts.

After seeing that the hordes of people were now descending upon Italy at my last few stops, I planned ahead and booked tickets online for the big attractions in Florence. I’m glad I did too, because the crowds were insane! My first official morning in Florence I got up early for my reservation at one of the world’s greatest art museums, the Galleria degli Uffizi. I could not wait to be turned loose in this place! Probably the biggest highlight was the Botticelli rooms.

In the Spring painting below, Botticelli included hundreds of separately identifiable plants in the work. That level of attention to detail is pretty astonishing!

The Uffizi was mostly about painting, but the halls were also lined with marble sculptures. My eyes were buggin’ out the whole time. All of this beautiful art, by the way, was once the Medici family’s private collection. It was bequeathed to the city of Florence on the condition that it never leave Florence.

Here’s an interesting fact about Leonardo Davinci, it seems for every finished painting of his I’ve seen in a museum, I’ve seen probably two or three unfinished paintings of his in other museums. I’m not sure what that means, but here’s one of the unfinished ones.

Caravaggio’s Medusa, below, is believed to be a self portrait. An interesting way to portray yourself if you ask me.

Some other favorites of mine were the Rembrandts.

And history and astronomy nerd that I am, I especially liked the portrait of Galileo, who lived and died in Florence and was a major beneficiary of the Medici family. It was kind of in a side room that no one seemed to notice and that I almost missed myself. Glad I didn’t.

The views from Uffizi were pretty great too. That’s the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore out the window. That dome pretty much dominates every view around Florence. As incredible as the Uffizi Gallery was, I was surprised at how small it was. I was planning on five to six hours in there, but after only two hours, I found myself at the exit. I even went back in to make sure I didn’t miss anything. Ok then.

Like the Uffizi, Florence as a whole is a lot more compact than I was expecting. Not having to walk as much meant all that gelato caught up to me that much quicker. I think this is the only trip I’ve taken where I gained weight instead of lost. Anyway, below is Ponte Vecchio across the Arno River. It’s basically a shopping mall now, but back in the day, the Medici would walk through the passage on top so they could cross the river without having to mix with the common folk.

The main palace where the Medici ruled Tuscany is Palazzo Vecchio, but before checking that out, you can’t help but be taken away by the free, outdoor museum right next to it, Loggia dei Lanzi. Most of the sculptures are from the 16th century, but Loggia dei Lanzi has been here since the 14th century. Beautiful, ancient sculptures out in the open for all to enjoy, no tickets, no advanced reservations. Awesome!

The Palazzo Vecchio was built around the turn of the 14th century and has been the seat of the city’s government ever since. No joke, guess where the mayor’s office and city council are located?

Another uber famous Florence resident and Medici beneficiary was Michelangelo. He’s responsible for a lot of the artwork and architecture around Florence, including this little bit of graffiti on the side of Palazzo Vecchio in the pic below. I read about it online and made a point to find it while hundreds of people just walked by it without even a glance.

Inside Palazzo Vecchio were lots of rooms with really cool frescoes all over. The best in my opinion was the room of the elements. On the ceiling was Air, while Earth, Fire, and Water got the three walls.

In front of Palazzo Vecchio, to the left of the door you can see a replica of Michelangelo’s David. We’ll get to the real statue in a bit, but it was originally placed there in 1504. It was replaced by this replica after nearly 400 years of guarding the palace entrance.

Here’s a quick backtrack to Galileo. There is a Galileo museum, however, it’s more of a science museum than a Galileo museum.

Just because it’s not really a “Galileo” museum, though, doesn’t mean Galileo isn’t present, literally. They do have some of his telescopes and his middle finger (yes, really). At some point in history, I forget when exactly, they had to move his body and in the process they decided to take three of his fingers, a vertebrae, and a tooth. I don’t know where the other parts ended up, but the middle finger is here in Florence. So much for respecting the dead.

Also, just across the river is his house. I passed by it on my way up to Piazzale Michelangelo.

On a small hill at the south end of town is Piazzale Michelangelo where they have a monument to one of Florence’s favorite sons, topped with a bronze reproduction of his greatest work.

And if you turn around, there’s also this amazing view over all of Florence. The red dome of Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore in the center is obvious. The tower to the far left is Palazzo Vecchio and the church far right is Basilica di Santa Croce, which we’ll get to soon.

Florence is actually home to two of the world’s most famous museums. The first was Galleria degli Uffizi. The other is Galleria dell’Accademia. I had to make an advanced reservation for this one as well. The main attraction is a sextuple of statues by Michelangelo. The first five are some “prisoner” statues intended for the tomb of Pope Julius II, but were never finished. The sixth is arguably the most famous statue ever created.

As I mentioned before, David, stood at the entrance to Palazzo Vecchio for nearly 400 years before it was moved here to Galleria dell’Accademia. There are so many copies of this statue as well as pictures of it everywhere that I was starting think maybe there’s no need to see the real one, but no. The real one is different. The fact that it was carved from a single piece of flawed marble and that it’s in such great condition after 400 years exposed to the elements and the populace is astonishing!

I call it the other red dome of Florence, Basilica di San Lorenzo. If it looks unfinished, that’s because it is. Michelangelo was commissioned to design the marble facade, but for some reason, it never happened. So instead we get this.

Basilica di San Lorenzo was the Medici parish church and mausoleum. In the Capelle Medicee are entombed 49 Medeci family members. Elaborate? Ornate? Ostentatious? All these words seem inadequate. It’s quite a place and the sarcophagi are massive.

Also, in a separate room where Lorenzo the Magnificent is buried are a few Michelangelo statues. The room itself was actually Michelangelo’s first architectural work. Below, the two figures are personifications of night and day. Day on the right is unfinished (on purpose) or rather not yet begun, while Night on the left is polished to make her look as if she’s bathed in moonlight. It’s much more dramatic to see in person.

On the other side of the room are Dusk and Dawn. The sarcophagi, by the way, are Lorenzo’s brother and a cousin if I remember correctly.

Right next to the train station and my hostel was the Basilica di Santa Maria Novella. It’s a primarily 15th century monastic complex and it’s bursting at the seams with incredible 15th century frescoes by Domenico Ghirlandaio.

Even the giant cloister is covered end to end with frescoes. I underestimated this place. I was here for quite a while.

Finally, I made it to Florence’s cathedral, Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore. Even with my advanced ticket, I wasn’t able to climb the dome because it was sold out. I got to do everything else, though there were a lot of lines that had to be waited in first and that was over a couple of days. It was a zoo, but overall worth it. Starting with the Battistero di San Giovanni out front, it’s the oldest part, built in the 11th century. Unfortunately, the incredible mosaic ceiling was covered up for renovation so there wasn’t a lot to see, except for the mosaic above the door of course.

The outside of the cathedral is mesmerizing. Different colored marble in geometric designs, marble statues, gargoyles, mosaics, this place has it all. It was started in 1296 and took 150 years to complete. And there’s of course that red brick, 15th century dome built by Filippo Brunelleschi, which was an unheard of architectural wonder at the time.

There’s also a really great cathedral museum. Inside are the original bronze doors of the Battistero di San Giovanni. They brought them inside and put copies in their place for protection.

Also in the cathedral museum is one of Michelangelo’s last works, Pietà. The face of Nicodemus, the one in the back wearing the cloak, is a self portrait. It was supposed to be for his own tomb, but he was not happy with his work and so in a fit of rage, he destroyed it. It was later repaired after his death by one of his students, but never made it to the tomb.

Despite all the mesmerizing wonder on the outside of the cathedral, the inside is rather plain.

The Last Judgement painted on the inside of the dome is definitely the best part.

When you’re not looking up at that dome, the things that stand out the most are these two frescoes memorializing two mercenaries, Sir John Hawkwood and Niccolò da Tolentino. Not sure what the story is with these two exactly, but it’s definitely unusual.

Inside Florence’s oldest public building, Palazzo del Bargello, is another museum, with a couple of Michelangelo’s early works. To be honest, they didn’t blow my mind, but there were some others that impressed me.

The last church I visited in Florence was the 14th century Basilica di Santa Croce. The Piazza di Santa Croce in front was one of the great spots I had gelato before seeing the fantastic Giotto frescoes and famous tombs inside.

The frescoes inside by Giotto are really well preserved. It still amazes me that paintings on walls that are that old can still be around for people to enjoy hundreds of years later.

And two of the famous dudes that we’ve been talking a lot about happen to be buried here as well, Michelangelo and Galileo.

The last thing to do to fully get my money’s worth out of that Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore combined multi day ticket, was to climb up the Campanile di Giotto, the cathedral bell tower. The views speak for themselves.

On the way down I spotted this cool view of the dome out a window and stopped traffic behind me to take a picture. I could feel everyone’s impatience behind me, then they saw it and proceeded to copycat my amazing pic. Ha!

For my last official day of sightseeing in Italy, I headed west to Pisa. Growing up I heard about the super famous leaning tower of Pisa, then I started traveling and saw leaning towers all over the globe. So by the time I actually made it to Pisa I figured it would be somewhat of a let down. Wrong! That stark white marble tower is just beautiful and the lean just gives it character.

It’s been leaning like that since they built the third tier in the 12th century. Turns out, building an insanely heavy marble bell tower on a foundation of sand and clay isn’t such a good idea. Work continued on the tower off and on for about the next 200 years, though, until it was finally complete. It continued to lean further by about a millimeter per year for the next 600 or so years until finally, in 1993, they decided to do something about it.

They ended up holding the tower in place with giant steel cables while they fixed the foundation and straightened the tower enough to be safe, but not enough to ruin it’s iconic crookedness. Inside you can see some of the equipment used to stabilize and monitor the tower. It sounds somewhat comical, but fixing it really was an engineering marvel.

Just climbing up the Tower was an experience in itself that I’m surprised I’ve never heard anyone mention before. As you’re walking up the spiral stairs to the top, you can’t quite figure out why you keep falling into the outer wall, then after twenty or thirty steps you’re suddenly falling into the inner wall, and on and on like that until you remember, oh yeah, this thing is leaning. It’s really disorienting. The worn out steps from centuries of foot shuffling don’t help either.

I overheard a few people at my hostel talking about how Pisa was really small and you could see everything in about an hour or so… What?! Are they crazy?! Yes, it’s small, but there’s a lot going on in that place. I was there all day! For example, the Camposanto, I spent at least an hour there alone.

Camposanto is essentially a cemetery around a beautiful garden cloister. But the frescoes inside were mind boggling. Maybe it was just the detailed explanations of what they meant and what was happening in them, but I was really impressed by them.

I’ve seen this depiction of the universe before, but never had it explained to me before. The middle circle is earth, then moving outward are water, air, and fire. After that are the seven other planets, followed by the heavens with the zodiac signs in it. After that is the realm of intellectual knowledge and love, where God resides. And the outermost circles are the hierarchy of the different types of angels. That might be too much information for this blog, but I find it fascinating.

And for all you math and science nerds like me, Leonardo Fibonacci, of Fibonacci wave theory fame, was apparently from Pisa. Cool!

Florence’s cathedral may have been austere, but Pisa’s cathedral was a very different story. It was built from the 11th to 12th centuries and had the first elliptical dome in Europe. It also contains the tomb of Pisa’s patron saint, Rainerius.

The cathedral museum gave the best view of Pisa from the garden in my opinion, though. That wall perfectly masked out all the people. Ha!

Pisa turned out to be a really great way to end my Italian adventure. I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. I hopped on a train back to Florence for a well deserved meal and rest, and tomorrow I’ll head back to Rome for one night before flying back to the States and reality first thing in the morning. What a busy and fun trip this has been! I’m absolutely exhausted!