Our next stop was San Lorenzo and the market surrounding it. We had another run-in with theft, but luckily we weren't the victims this time. As we were perusing the outdoor market stands, we heard a woman scream, then witnessed a man running by with a hand full of purses. Police were there in a hurry, but since everyone was speaking in Italian, we didn’t know exactly what had happened. We pieced together that the woman who screamed was actually an accomplice who faked the injury so that the man could run off with the purses from one of the nearby stands. The unsettling thing (to me at least) was that as the thief ran through the crowded market, no one tried to stop him, almost like it was an every day occurrence (even the police didn’t seem to care much when they arrived).
After lunch, we visited the Duomo. And would you believe it? We witnessed another theft while in line to get inside the Duomo. Long story short: We see three guys running away, some parents chasing them, and a few minutes later the parents come back carrying their young son who is balling. Don’t know what they took (maybe something from the kid), but it wasn’t a good situation.
Kim: Inside, we listened to another Rick Steves podcast that told us about the history of the Duomo and the Baptistery. The inside of the Duomo is fairly empty, with very little artistic decoration. The main draw is the dome itself. An engineering marvel of its time, the dome is really two domes, a smaller inner dome supporting the larger outer one. Once outside again, we took a closer look at the famous Baptistery doors. The bronze doors are covered with reliefs by Ghiberti (he won a contest in 1401 to get the privilege to design the doors) with one set showing the Old Testament and the other the New Testament. Technically, the original doors are in the Duomo museum and the ones you see on the Baptistery are copies. Close enough.
We continued to walk down Florence’s main pedestrian street to Orsanmichele, a church with several Donatello sculptures displayed prominently on the outside. We spilled out onto Piazza della Signoria and stopped to take a couple of pics with David (this one’s a copy, standing in the place where the original David stood until the 1850s) since no pictures were allowed inside Accademia.
On our way by the Uffizi, we stumbled upon a courtyard full of statues of famous Florentines. Brian took pics with Donatello, Leonardo, Michelangelo . . . but no Raphael. Apparently he’s from Urbino. Brian’s ninja turtle dreams were once again dashed. He had to settle for a pic with Galileo instead.
We finished up at the Ponte Vecchio, the oldest bridge in Florence. Since the 1300s it’s survived multiple floods and was the only bridge spared by the Nazis in WWII. Above the shops and walkway is the private passage of the Medici that allowed them to cross between the Pitti Palace on one side of the river and the Palazzo Vecchio on the other without having to mingle with the commoners.
After some rest and a bottle of wine on our terrace, we ventured back out to try the regional specialty Bistecca Fiorentina (Brian’s came with the best little cippolini onions ever), 
and then we hit the most famed gelateria in Florence, Vivoli. The gelato was awesome. Because of our exuberance (and potentially aided by the second bottle of wine we just drank), we took a flurry of pictures.
Additional thoughts/notes:
- Brian: Before the trip, we were led to believe Rome would be the worst place for theft and pick-pocketing. Thankfully, we did not have any run-ins or witness any theft in Rome. Unfortunately, our experience so far in northern Italy has been different. For us, it could just be wrong place at the wrong time (thefts happen everywhere). But Italy has gotten this rep for a reason, and I now think it is truly warranted. In contrast, when we were in Vienna there was absolutely no worry of being robbed (thefts aren’t common there, though we were still smart about our belongings). Oh well. We will have just tighten our money belts and be careful!
No comments:
Post a Comment