A Travel Day to Firenze

At this very moment, I am sitting at the end of the dining room table in our apartment in Firenze, staring out of the window in front of me at the cupola of the Duomo lit up under floodlight at night. It is at once both extraordinary and surreal. And also, very interrupting. I am trying to write, but I keep looking at it.

Today has been a day of travel. From Sorrento to Napoli, from Napoli to Firenze. The extra money we paid for the Campania Express to avoid the dreaded Circumvesuviana was a waste. It was exactly the same rolling stock and the only difference was that it stopped at fewer stops. At least we had a seat this time, although there was no storage facility for luggage, a fault I would have thought for a tourist-based railway. Still. We got to Napoli and hopped on our sleek Italo fast train to Firenze that would do the job in three hours. It was cool, comfortable, they fed us drinks and snacks, and both Chris and I settled back to read and snooze. Oh for trains like this in Australia.

Arriving at Firenze just after 3pm when it was 33° was something of a shock and we had to learn the hard way that you cannot hail a taxi in Firenze, but must walk to a taxi stand. Although, I am not certain this is hard and fast rule. The deal done, our driver was good to us and took us to Palazzo Santa Trinita where our top floor apartment is situated. This building has a tiny lift, a floor to ceiling mirrored thing, that takes you to the floor below us and we take the stairs for the last bit. Compared to Trastevere, this was a walk in the park.

Our host Susanna gave us a full and very informative induction to the place and offered some helpful advice too. First thing to do was find a local lavanderia to take our washing. We did this easily enough and walking there was our introduction to walking through the medievalisms of Firenze. Nothing prepared me for it. More on this later. Once the laundry was organised, we stopped at a local bar and had a beer for we were much parched after our long journey. Then home for a shower and a quick rest.

We went out for dinner tonight and ended up in Piazza della Republica, a giant historic square that had restaurants surrounding and a merry go round in the middle. It was lovely. We shared a pizza, so good, and both had a drink, and then headed off toward the Duomo. Nothing prepared me for seeing this cathedral. It was a genuine jaw-dropping experience. Its architecture and art work makes the Duomo an objet d’art itself. We will take a guided tour through it on Monday. We stayed until the light faded and saw its floodlights come on, and tired as we are, slowly walked back to Piazza Santa Trinita where there were two buskers playing very expertly. We took a quick peek at the River Arne from our local bridge and saw the moonlight and streetlights reflected.

On our way back to our external door to the street, we commented that every turn, every direction, everywhere you look, there is something extraordinary to see. We’ve only ben a few hours and we are completely blown away. Lots to come, I am sure.Read more