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| Michelangelo & Donatella worked on this one |
We jumped on the train and Rod had to remove an Italian from our seat in the carriage as our compartment was full. Six seats all together and once we were settled one of the other passengers asked if we were Australian. We found out that all four others were Australian. One of the couples asked what part of NZ and it turned out that they had just left a tour group that had a friend of mine and his wife on the same tour. Small world huh! It was a 3 hour journey and by the end of it we had the compartment to ourselves. It was lovely watching the Italian countryside slip by as the sun was setting. One area we passed by was full of huge blocks of marble. The site went for quite some way and the marble big enough for one slab to fit on a railway wagon. They had all sorts of colours of marble as well. Another area we saw lots of olives and grapes. The olive trees looked very old and were quite harshly pruned. The grapes were free standing and seemed to be very healthy. The ground was quite hard looking and looked as if they needed to feed it with lots of hummus. We arrived at Florence and turned on Navi. 2.8km to our hotel. Huh?? I thought we booked all of our hotels close to the stations. Oh well, off we went up the hill, down the hill, across the motorway, under the railway lines, back up another hill and then into very narrow streets with very tall buildings so Navi got all upset and confused. Beverley got hot and bothered, Rod got quite determined to keep going and eventually we went into a shop and asked for guidance. We were about 150m round the corner to our hotel. We then had a job to find it because it was just a door in the wall with a small sign saying Hotel San Marco, ring the bell. We rang the bell. We rang the bell again then pushed the door open to find a dark dingy, dirty corridor. We walked in found and elevator that said Hotel San Marco 3th floor. We opend the 2 foot wide door and squeezed ourselves in with our bags. The inside elevator door wouldn’t shut. Rod had to push me back into the wall and breathe in so the door would close. We got the giggles and couldn’t reach the button for the 3rd floor. Finally managed to get the thing moving and practically fell out at the top. A lady was standing at a door and said welcome. It turned out to be a very welcoming place and the room was one of the best we have had. The hosts were very accommodating and it was kind of like being in somebody’s home. The dining room was furnished like someone’s lounge and the staff full of great advice. We dumped our gear and decided to have a wander. We stepped back out into the street (fitted much better in the elevator this time) to find we were right in one of the main piazzas (squares). We had Galleria deli Academia on the other side of the block (Statue of David there), Duomo (Santa Maria del Fiore) just down the road (largest cathedral in Florence) and Galleria degli Ufizzi two blocks away (where copy of David and open air gallery of statues are). Also, we found out that we had gone to the wrong train station.
The one we should have gone to was only 4 blocks away. Bah!! As we walked past Academia the queue was right down the block and around the corner. We decided that we would get up nice and early and try and minimize the wait. We wandered on to see queues for most things. There wasn’t much of a queue at the St Maria so we decided to have a look at that one first.
As soon as we lined up they let us all in in one group. What good luck. What an amazing building. They are all so high and comprise of only one floor. Up to the dome at the back is equivalent to a 30 story building. This cathedral was built in 1346 and is the largest masonry dome in the world. Beside it is the site of the workshop where Michelangelo worked and created “David”. There is a museum there and it is home to many of his creations as well as Donatello and Brunelleschi. Another day done. Time to find some dinner.
We were not that hungry so decided that a waffle which ice cream would be enough for tea. We were asked what flavours of ice cream. I chose Pistachio and Kinder chocolate and Rod chose caramel and a nutty flavoured one. They were huge and the waffle was hot so by the time we had eaten it all we had chocolate all over our faces and hands. Everywhere. We cleaned ourselves up best we could and went to the hotel to relax.
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| Inside the dome of the Santa Maria Duomo |
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| Santa Maria Duomo Largest cathedral in Florence |
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| Some of Michelangelo's work on the site of his workshop |
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| The Elevator |
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