Italy Trip 2011 - Day 8 and 9 (End)

This was our last morning in Florence of our Italy trip. We woke up early, had our breakfast. With our luggage packed. We took a walk nearby. Actually, our B&B is near to the food market building. But we missed the opening time previously. We talked with a Chinese shop keeper, a day before, in the market which sells clothes, bags and other souvenirs, knew that the food market would be opened in the morning till 4:00 pm. Thus, this morning would be our last chance to visit there.

Visiting food market is a very interesting experience. You could know the life styles and habits of the people in that place. Inside the market, there were many people buying meat and vegetables. There are some shops that sell herbs and ingredients. You could find many kinds of pasta with different colors there. We bought some, of course, as you could not find it easily in Hong Kong.

We took train at noon and reached Milan around 2:00 pm. Our return flight would be took off from Milan. Thus, we decided to stay in Milan for one night so that we could catch up the morning flight.

Got off the train, we walked to our hotel and checked in. It was not far from the station. We dropped down our luggage in the room and went for a walk nearby.

Milan is also an old city. But obviously, it is more modern than Florence. In the main street, we could see a lot of branded name shops and lots of people were hanging around. I could not remember the name of the street but it is a long one. I think 1-2 km long. Buildings are old, transportation is old, but shops are grand and stylish. A very interesting contrast, indeed.

We had our afternoon coffee there and rest a bit as the long street made us very exhausted, really. Just windows shopping would tired you, definitely.

Afterwards, walked for a longer while. Dinned in a quite nice restaurant. Went back to our hotel and took a good rest. 

The other morning, we checked out the hotel and went to train station for the train to bring us to airport.  We ended our Italy trip at the airport with beautiful memories, and returned to our real world.

Italy Trip 2011 - Day 7

This was the 3rd day using Firenze card. We visited some more museums and tourism visiting places.

The plan was to visit Cappelle Medicee, Museo di Santa Maria Novella, Galleria dell\'Accademia, Museo di San Marco, and Duomo di Firenze. Actually, we went all over the city on foot. But believe me, it is very amazing. Walking through this historical city is really enjoyable. Beautiful statues, houses and churches everywhere. It's not necessarily to go inside the buildings to have a glance. Just feel the environment, eye-candying is pretty good.

This six-balls sign, you gotta be remembered. Most of the buildings and  art collections of  Medici family are with this sign. The sign of Medici family. 

Actually, most of the streets are passed by the day before. And this day, we went to visit Galleria dell\'Accademia. A very nice building next to the Ufizzi Gallery. On that day, there was an orchestra doing rehearsal. The environment is really good for the play but just the area was not that modern to setup those required equipment. But the fusion between modern and historical things was still a harmony.

Of course, we would not miss the last chance to walk through the famous bridge over the river. The scene was magnificent under the sun setting down.

We went for a nice dinner and spent our last night in Florence. We would be leaving Florence the other day's afternoon.

Italy trip 2011 - Day 6

Day 6 was also a Florence visit. Using Florence Card for the 2nd day. The core visiting place was Galleria degli Uffizi. This place would definitely take you a day if you are a fan of Renaissance.

We got up early because we planned to finish it in half day. Give some information of Galleria degli Uffizi (Uffizi Gallery). It was built by a very famous person Cosimo I de' Medici in 15th century. He was a member of Medici dynasty, which was very famous in Florence. He collected a lot of art masterpieces. This gallery displayed all the collections of paintings and sculptures. And his family, the Medici family built a lot of museums and churches all over Tuscany area. For details, you may find relevant information from wiki.

At the time we reached, a long queue was formed already. As we had Florence Card, we could skip the ticket buying process.

This gallery is surrounding by several museums. Outside is a large square with lots of sculptures. Those are magnificent masterpieces. You will find how amazing they were built.

The gallery is a 3 floor building which was in a "U" shape. The gallery is on 2nd floor. The path is definitely a "U" shape as you will pass along way from start to the end. But sorry that visitors cannot take photo inside the gallery. I could give you an idea of what are displaying inside.

As mentioned before, the gallery is related to Renaissance. To be more precise, the gallery is a journey to Renaissance. It displays a collection of art works and masterpieces which covered almost the whole period of Renaissance. Starting from paintings on wood of churches in 12 century. You can see the evolution progress. Paintings and art changes no matter from technical perspective to topics and purposes. In each period, there are representable art works. In 12th - 14th century, topics are mostly holy related stories as they are mainly for putting up on walls of churches. Later, artists wanted to present their own thoughts and feelings. Art works were more realistic which reflects real life images. This is really an interesting journey and you should not miss it when you are in Florence.

We finished the journey after 1:00 pm. We got something to eat to regain energy. We then walk back to the Cathedral of Florence. This big church is open for public. But the tower and baptistery, entrance fee is needed. And Florence Card could let you in. 

We got into the main building first, that is the cathedral. The walls and ceilings are well painted. Magnificent indeed. We walked around and headed to the tower afterward. We decided to pick the tower rather than the top of dome because the dome is a lot higher. With our experience in St. Paul's church in London, we should better take a shorter one. Though we picked the tower, it was exhausting to us. The interesting sign board that I could remember that says "No Lift". A really good warn for visitors. Still, it is worth to go up there. The view over there is so nice.

After that, we went to the baptistery which just several steps to go. The baptistery is really a nice place. The whole environment inside is peaceful. Painting on the ceiling is amazing. All are holy stories, but in a summary. Interesting.

Leaving the baptistery, we went to another small museum. In which, there is a masterpiece of Michelangelo. That is Pietà. There are 3 sculptures of Pietà by Michelangelo. Here you can find one.

Leaving this museum, we went back to the landmark bridge and hung around there. I really love that area. When it was getting dark, we walked to find a restaurant for dinner and back to our accommodation.

Italy trip 2011 - Day 5

We woke up early, ate the nice breakfast, took some caffeine and started our core visiting. That was to hang around in Florence.

The first thing was to collect the 'Firenze Card' from information center. This card is kinda fast pass or tickets for entering a bunch of museums. Which is a good tool for us to walk through those interesting museums. And this card could also be a bus ticket within the city. Of course it is a 3 days pass. I am not sure whether it is still existing. But if you are going to visit museums there, and such program is still there, you'd better get one.

So after collecting that card, our 3 days visit started. The first place that we went is Piazzale Michelangelo. It is a plaza on the hill side. From there, you can have an overview of the whole Florence.

We took a bus to there from the train station using 'Firenze Card'. The card is a 'touch and go' type. Something like our HK Octopus Card, but in different technologies (my NFC phone cannot read that card, thus I think it should be in different technologies).

Piazzale Michelangelo is a plaza where a replica of the statue 'David' is standing in the middle. It is a famous visiting place for tourists. You can have a really magnificent 180 degrees view of the city.

In the plaza, we met a lady who was selling her handcrafts there. Those are lady's accessories like bracelets, necklaces, and which are made of colorful glass strips. Really pretty. We chatted for a while. That lady told us that there are not much artists doing such kind of handcraft nowadays which is a traditional art in Florence. Even her daughters are not going to learn it. But still, she hopes this kind of art could be advocated somehow so that it could sustain. We bought some from her before we left.

 That lady is a really nice person. She told us to go up the hill a little bit to see a white church. She said that church is quite nice. So we went up the hill and visit that church. It is free go in and take a look. That church is very old. It is not as that grand as those inside the city. But it is quite nice. You can feel it kinda church in a village. Simple but peaceful.

We hanged around for a while and left the hill. There is a path which is leading back to the city. Scenes along the path is nice. If you are not in a hurry, you could enjoy it very much.

Our next destination is Palazzo Pitti and all museums around there. Including follows:
Galleria del Costume
Giardino di boboli
Museo degli Argenti
Museo delle Porcellane
Galleria Palatina e Appartamenti Monumentali
Galleria d'Arte Moderna

But, only one Palazzo Pitti could take you hours there. I couldn't remember whether I had visit all of the above listed. I think at least 3 or 4. As some would not allow people to take photos, I really could hardly remember all.

Inside that Palace, there are lots of paintings and statues which was collected by the owner for many years. Of course not in this century. What impressed me was the huge garden at the back of the palace. It is kinda maze in bushes. Nice one.

After that, we left and walked across the famous bridge, Ponte Vecchio. That bridge is full of shops which are selling gold. And there are lots of people there. I think it is one of the most crowded area in Florence. That bridge is really pretty. And I remembered we passed by there many times, and was coincidently near sunset. That scene was absolutely stunning.

Across the bridge, we were heading back to our accommodation. Before reaching, we passed by the most famous church at Piazza del Duomo. We went in the main building and take a look. That part is free of charge. And other parts which may need our Firenze Card, well it's ok, but they were closed at that time.

That main building is really large. But I would say, the outlook is much more attractive then the interior. Still, you can feel the grand environment in those days.

Just the high-reliefs outside the walk of the church, could let your neck a little bit painful. All reliefs on walls and doors are amazing. I could not imagine how those artists could work out such incredible things.

Sitting there for a while, we walked back to our accommodation area and found something to eat.