Day 72 - Discovering Florence by Myself
Tuesday, September 11, 2018.
Today we got up at 7:30am. We are trying to make the habit of starting school between 8:00 and 8:30. After our family meeting yesterday, we decided to take the day off and let everyone do whatever they wanted. Everyone stayed home except for me.
I went to downtown with Andrea at 8:40. He dropped me very near the Piazza di Santa Croce and I walked to the church. The piazza was almost empty and I watched as the Italians opened their businesses while I waited for the church-museum to open at 9:30. I visited the church and the tombs of famous people buried there like Galileo, Michelangelo, Dante, and more. Then I went to the museum next door to see what they had.
I was going to rush out to the next church but then I realized that I was really enjoying myself and didn't need to go where every tourist go. Art is everywhere in this city and it's just so amazing. I easily spent another hour admiring close-up many of the frescos and paintings rescued after the many floods Florence has had.
After I finished, I walked to the Duomo, also known as the Basilica Santa Maria delle Fiore. I was determined to go in but when I got there and saw the line, mamma mia! I almost fainted. I waited more than an hour in the sun to go inside. There were people outside trying to sell you the package to visit the Duomo, Campanile, and Baptistery for 40 euros. They were trying to convince people not to stay in line. I texted Gregory to ask for his advice and he told me that it should only be 18 euros at the door. Warning: do not fall for these tricks! Buy tickets online before you come if you don't like lines. Yes, you will pay a premium to buy the ticket online for anywhere in Italy -- the "convenience fee".
I still didn't buy the ticket because I was tired and satisfied with what I had seen. I went inside the church, admired the Duomo, went downstairs to peek at the crypts and visit the store where I read about the fresco painted in the Duomo and the other frescos you see at the entrance. I felt a little guilty so I bought the postcard for my collection. I may have mentioned that I planned to buy a postcard from each place as a souvenir since we can't carry much and I will post them on a wall when we come back home.
When I finished seeing the Duomo, Gregory and Sunshine came to meet me for lunch. Daniel stayed home because he was feeling under the weather. We treated ourselves and went to have a nice lunch at a restaurant called MammaMia. We love our picnics and paninis but from time to time is nice to sit down in a restaurant and have a nice meal. What a different day and mood than yesterday!
After lunch, we went to visit the Church San Salvatore di Ognissanti which our friend Andrea had recommended us to visit. What a neat church it was! There is a fresco paid for abd featuring the family of Amerigo Vespucci (Columbus's mapmaker) whose tomb is next to it. Then we walked to an altar where we saw a painting of the Virgen de Guadalupe and what a surprise to find the tomb of the famoBotticellilli, which was his nickname. The tomb actually has his real name which was Alessandro Filipepi. I was wondering why wasn't he buried in Santa Croce with all the other famous people and well, I found out that he asked to be buried in the same place of Simonetta Vespucci, whom he loved.
Fernando, our nephew, met us there and also got a chance to discover this church that he hadn't seen. Also very interesting was the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte's sister Caroline, one-time queen of Italy, which is hidden in the back due to the fact that she had been officially exiled and would not have been allowed to be buried in Italy.
After a little while, we went outside to sit down with Fer for 15 minutes because he had to go home to study for tests. I could tell that he was very anxious. We gave him a hug and saw him take his bike. We walked to the train station with a happy heart.
Daniel seemed happier and rested. We had a nice dinner with our Italian friends and planned to go back to Florence tomorrow morning to see the David!
Traveling tip: Visit the store and find a book about the place you are visiting. Read as much as you want or can for free. Read the information on Wikipedia.
Today we got up at 7:30am. We are trying to make the habit of starting school between 8:00 and 8:30. After our family meeting yesterday, we decided to take the day off and let everyone do whatever they wanted. Everyone stayed home except for me.
I went to downtown with Andrea at 8:40. He dropped me very near the Piazza di Santa Croce and I walked to the church. The piazza was almost empty and I watched as the Italians opened their businesses while I waited for the church-museum to open at 9:30. I visited the church and the tombs of famous people buried there like Galileo, Michelangelo, Dante, and more. Then I went to the museum next door to see what they had.
I was going to rush out to the next church but then I realized that I was really enjoying myself and didn't need to go where every tourist go. Art is everywhere in this city and it's just so amazing. I easily spent another hour admiring close-up many of the frescos and paintings rescued after the many floods Florence has had.
After I finished, I walked to the Duomo, also known as the Basilica Santa Maria delle Fiore. I was determined to go in but when I got there and saw the line, mamma mia! I almost fainted. I waited more than an hour in the sun to go inside. There were people outside trying to sell you the package to visit the Duomo, Campanile, and Baptistery for 40 euros. They were trying to convince people not to stay in line. I texted Gregory to ask for his advice and he told me that it should only be 18 euros at the door. Warning: do not fall for these tricks! Buy tickets online before you come if you don't like lines. Yes, you will pay a premium to buy the ticket online for anywhere in Italy -- the "convenience fee".
I still didn't buy the ticket because I was tired and satisfied with what I had seen. I went inside the church, admired the Duomo, went downstairs to peek at the crypts and visit the store where I read about the fresco painted in the Duomo and the other frescos you see at the entrance. I felt a little guilty so I bought the postcard for my collection. I may have mentioned that I planned to buy a postcard from each place as a souvenir since we can't carry much and I will post them on a wall when we come back home.
When I finished seeing the Duomo, Gregory and Sunshine came to meet me for lunch. Daniel stayed home because he was feeling under the weather. We treated ourselves and went to have a nice lunch at a restaurant called MammaMia. We love our picnics and paninis but from time to time is nice to sit down in a restaurant and have a nice meal. What a different day and mood than yesterday!
After lunch, we went to visit the Church San Salvatore di Ognissanti which our friend Andrea had recommended us to visit. What a neat church it was! There is a fresco paid for abd featuring the family of Amerigo Vespucci (Columbus's mapmaker) whose tomb is next to it. Then we walked to an altar where we saw a painting of the Virgen de Guadalupe and what a surprise to find the tomb of the famoBotticellilli, which was his nickname. The tomb actually has his real name which was Alessandro Filipepi. I was wondering why wasn't he buried in Santa Croce with all the other famous people and well, I found out that he asked to be buried in the same place of Simonetta Vespucci, whom he loved.
Fernando, our nephew, met us there and also got a chance to discover this church that he hadn't seen. Also very interesting was the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte's sister Caroline, one-time queen of Italy, which is hidden in the back due to the fact that she had been officially exiled and would not have been allowed to be buried in Italy.
After a little while, we went outside to sit down with Fer for 15 minutes because he had to go home to study for tests. I could tell that he was very anxious. We gave him a hug and saw him take his bike. We walked to the train station with a happy heart.
Daniel seemed happier and rested. We had a nice dinner with our Italian friends and planned to go back to Florence tomorrow morning to see the David!
Traveling tip: Visit the store and find a book about the place you are visiting. Read as much as you want or can for free. Read the information on Wikipedia.
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| Michelangelo's tomb. They were restoring a painting that should go on top of his tomb. |
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| Pala Bardi. Saint Francis and twenty stories by Coppo Di Marcovaldo (circa 1225- 1276) |
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| Museum at the Santa Croce |
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| The last supper, not by Leonardo |
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| One of my favorite frescoes because of the theme! |
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| Interior Basilica Santa Maria delle Fiore |
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| The Last Judgment by Vasari inside the Duomo |
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| Il porcellino, touch his nose and you will get good luck |
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| Amerigo Vespucci's tomb |
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| Botticelli's tomb |
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