Florence

Florencia – Uffizi, trhy

Florence – town square, Uffizi gallery and traditional markets

Florence is a misleading city. It can easily mislead you by tempting you to see absolutely everything. And that can be overwhelming. If you don´t have a plan and know where and when to go, it could happen, that you miss an oportunity to see certain things, such as an Uffizi gallery. It happened to us. If you don´t stand in that long waiting line early enough, there is a great chance you won´t see it, because the gallery will close before it is your turn to get in.

Just like Prague, a large part of the city is commercial. That´s not exactly our cup of tea, since we prefer to see a destination in its authentic form with all the flaws.

However, those who like shopping will be thrilled. You can find a lot of high end brands and shops in Florence (Moschino, Versace, Chanel).

It´s not possible to inter a city garden and park without paying. So, we headed of to a city hill to get some pictures of the Florence from top view.

Part of the exhibition on hill is for free, but we had to "buy" a free ticket anyway, otherwise we wouldn´t be able to see it. There were even guards. We think it is a waste of paper.

It is common in Italy, that laundry is hanging across the street on a rope using a pully.

We made sure to drink enough water and hoped we don´t get heat stroke. It´s not easy to find a supermarket. Especially in a city center, which are flooded by restaurants and bars. We managed to find on in the end. However, there ar many mini markets outside of the main square, away from the frequently visited places. Those mini markets are usually asian.

Florence has a beautiful town square with famous statues (or their replicas), such as statue of David.

The standing line in front of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore was rather long. We noticed there is another entrance from the backside. We used that one, but we had to go through security check. The cathedral is not as impresive from the inside as it is from the outside, but you can still discover a few interesting statues and frescoes, if you look closely.

Florence is a misleading city. It can easily mislead you by tempting you to see absolutely everything. And that can be overwhelming. If you don´t have a plan and know where and when to go, it could happen, that you miss an oportunity to see certain things, such as an Uffizi gallery. It happened to us. If you don´t stand in that long waiting line early enough, there is a great chance you won´t see it, because the gallery will close before it is your turn to get in.

Just like Prague, a large part of the city is commercial. That´s not exactly our cup of tea, since we prefer to see a destination in its authentic form with all the flaws.

However, those who like shopping will be thrilled. You can find a lot of high end brands and shops in Florence (Moschino, Versace, Chanel).

It´s not possible to inter a city garden and park without paying. So, we headed of to a city hill to get some pictures of the Florence from top view.

Part of the exhibition on hill is for free, but we had to "buy" a free ticket anyway, otherwise we wouldn´t be able to see it. There were even guards. We think it is a waste of paper.

It is common in Italy, that laundry is hanging across the street on a rope using a pully.

Celý deň sme veľmi svedomito dbali na pitný režim, aby nás v takmer 40 stupňových horúčavách neporazilo. 

Nájsť supermarket tu vôbec nie je ľahké. Najmä v centre mesta, kde prevažujú iba reštaurácie a bary. Nakoniec sa nám však jeden podarilo nájsť. 

Na okraji mesta je však viacero minimarketov. Tie majú poväčšine ázijský charakter, alebo predávajú iný medzinárodne zmiešaný tovar, ktorý charakterom alebo cenou nie vždy vyhovuje tomu, čo by ste chceli.

Florence has a beautiful town square with famous statues (or their replicas), such as statue of David.

Do dómu Santa del Fiore si bolo treba vystáť dlhý rad. Všimli sme si však, že sa doň dá dostať i zo zadnej strany. Využili sme to, pred vstupom sme však museli absolvovať bezpečnostnú prehliadku. 

Zvnútra nie je dóm taký impozantný ako zvonka, ale predsa tam objavíte niekoľko zaujímavých sôch a fresiek, ak sa zahľadíte poriadne.

We didn´t plan to spend more than one day in Florence, but in the end we stayed for 1 more, to get a chance to see Uffizi gallery.

There are statues of great men of our history in front of Uffizi – Dante Alligieri, Boccacio, Petrarca, Donattello, Leonardo da Vinci, Giotto, Vespucci, Machiavelli and others.

The tour itself is a bit chaotic. It´s not entirely clear where one historical period ends and another one starts. You can walk freely between rooms. Ancient statues (or their replicas) and busts make up a large portion of the exhibition.

Religious themes, characters and scenes from Bible and icons are among most common. Granted, you can also find portraits of rich people and significant historical figures here and there.

The biggest atraction was (at least for us) seeing Botticelli´s famous paintings, such as Primavera and Birth of Venus. Many of the most famous works of art were protected by glass.

If you find the right window and the right angle, you can see a bridge Vecchio very well.

Be sure not to miss paintings by Leonardo Da Vinci. We loved one of his unfinished ones. The museum has a separate exhibition room for selfportraits. Works of Carravagio can´t be mistaken for anything else. It plays with darkness, shadows and light in a very dramatic way (it´s called chiaroscuro in art). And, of course, then there is Rembrandt, another unforgetable painter.

We had plenty of time to see traditional markets after. One must be careful around crooks and cons, who sell fake leader belts and handbags (but you can totally get a real ones from certified skin, if that´s your goal). This can look like there is no other market, other than this "fake one". But there is, it is located in a separate building.

You can get whatever you want and desire in here – from vegetables and fruit, spices and meat products, until pastry and candy. Most shoppers looked very happy. We bought fresh figs, a slice of artichoke pizza and pistachio buns.

We didn´t plan to spend more than one day in Florence, but in the end we stayed for 1 more, to get a chance to see Uffizi gallery.

There are statues of great men of our history in front of Uffizi – Dante Alligieri, Boccacio, Petrarca, Donattello, Leonardo da Vinci, Giotto, Vespucci, Machiavelli and others.

Samotná prehliadka je trochu chaotická. Medzi jednotlivými historickými obdobiami nie sú jednoznačné predely, medzi sálami sa prechádza plynulo. 

Ancient statues (or their replicas) and busts make up a large portion of the exhibition.

Religious themes, characters and scenes from Bible and icons are among most common. Granted, you can also find portraits of rich people and significant historical figures here and there.

Najväčším zážitkom je však vidieť Botticceliho svetoznáme diela, ako Primavera a Zrodenie Venuše. 

Tie najvýznamnejšie diela boli za sklom.

If you find the right window and the right angle, you can see a bridge Vecchio very well.

Be sure not to miss paintings by Leonardo Da Vinci. We loved one of his unfinished ones. 

The museum has a separate exhibition room for selfportraits. Works of Carravagio can´t be mistaken for anything else. It plays with darkness, shadows and light in a very dramatic way (it´s called chiaroscuro in art). And, of course, then there is Rembrandt, another unforgetable painter.

Po prehliadke múzea sme ešte mali dostatok času na návštevu známych miestnych trhov. 

Tu treba dávať pozor na všelijakých podvodníkov, ktorí ešte pred samotným trhom predávali falošné kožené opasky (i keď vo Florencii zoženiete aj tie z pravej certifikovanej kože). 

Môže to budiť dojem, že iný trh tam ani nie je, než tento „blšiakový“. Ale je, len sa nachádza ďalej v samostatnej budove.

Predávajú tu všetko možné – od zeleniny a ovocia, cez rôzne koreninové zmesi a mäsové výrobky až po pečivo a cukrovinky. Väčšina nakupujúcich vyzerala veľmi spokojne. 

My sme si tu kúpili figy, plátok artičokovej pizze a pistáciovú buchtičku.

author of the text and photographs: Miroslava Pavlinská
www.miragrafik.sk | webdesign, graphic design and photography

author of the text and photographs: Miroslava Pavlinská
www.miragrafik.sk | webdesign, graphic design and photography

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