Fabulous Fashionable Florence

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After reading Dan Brown’s Inferno, I really, really wanted to go to Florence. However, I can't stand nemůžu vystát crowds, and I don’t want to spend my vacation waiting in lines, so I had to give up vzdát se on this dream for a long time. And then, the Covid pandemic came and it stopped mass tourism for a while.So,  in June 2021, František and I set off vydat se na cestu on a tour of Italy to visited places such as Florence. When we arrived přijeli jsme from beautiful Venice, I must say that Florence didn’t particularly impress udělat dojem us – tall buildings made of yellowish nažloutlý stone, without ornaments, without frescoes, just a stern-looking přísně vypadající city. But luckily, destiny osud put in our way dát do cesty, nastražit way Filippo whose passion vášeň for Florence, art, and architecture is contagious nakažlivý , and who let us take a peek nakouknout into florentine thinking and temperament. This guide does not just talk. He preaches kázat and makes you think and put things together – what a wonderful experience úžasná zkušenost !!!! It took him just two hours to persuade přesvědčit us not only to change opinion pomlouvat, stěžovat si about this monumental uptight upjatý beauty but to fall in love with her. On top of that navíc , he taught us how to become a Florentine for at least a while and pointed out ukázat, poukázat the best places to eat or have coffee.

So here are some tips for visiting Florence:

1

Watch or read Dan Brown’s Inferno. If you have read it in Czech, why don’t you read it in English now. It will give you a pretty good idea about the main places hlavní místa to visit.

2

Clim the 463 steps of the dome kupole to get a phenomenal view fenomenální výhled of Venice. It is one of the wonders of architecture zázraky architektury . The cathedral was built to show the importance důležitost, význam to Florence. ARNOLFO DI CAMBIO built the almost all téměř celý of it but but  no one thought of how exactly jak přesně to build the largest dome ever největší kupole, jaká kdy byla postavena without any pillars sloupy to support podpírat, podpořit it. It was Filippo Brunelleschi, a former goldsmith zlatník and a sculptor sochař , who came up with an innovative technique inovativní způsob how to do it. No one really trusted věřit him but he succeeded uspět . He also invented vynalézt a lot of machines which helped him during the construction stavba . He became one of the most famous architects and engineers in history. It was then painted by Giorgio Vasari, a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian. His books The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects is a great source skvělý zdroj of information about history as well as gossip drby from the lives of famous Italians. Unfortunately, he did not manage to paint it all, so after his death it was finished by Federico Zuccari.

3

Check out omrknout the Baptistery Křtitelnice , which is just opposite the Duomo. It is the oldest building in Florence and it was originally a Roman temple římský chrám . There are amazing frescos on the ceiling of the dome and the doors, called the Gates of Paradise brána do ráje , are of masterpiece mistrovské dílo made by Lorenzo Ghiberti.

4

Instead of Místo (něčeho) going into the Basilica of Santa Maria di Fiore on the Piazza del Duomo, which is quite boring nudný inside, explore prozkoumejte the Franciscan františkánský church Basilica di Santa Croce. It is known for its stunning úchvatný architecture and serves as slouží jako a burial place pohřebiště for many renowned proslulý, věhlasný Italians.

Filippo: “Here you can find many, many tombs hrobky .The two most important, yes, the two most important ones are the Galileo’s Tomb and the Michelangelo’s Tomb. Michelangelo is burried pohřbený in the first chaple kaple on your right and Galileo just in front of him in the first chapel on the left.”

There are 270 tombs below pod the church and you can see the tomb tops on the floor. Along the walls there are tombs of the greatest people connected with Florence – Michelangelo, Galileo Galilei, and Niccolò Machiavelli. There is even the tomb of Dante Alighieri, but his body is actually in Ravenna as he was exiled byl poslán do exilu, byl vykázán from his beloved milovaný Florence for political reasons z politických důvodů and he never came back.

5

While going to the Basilica of Santa Croce, notice všiměte si the buildings on the square Piazza Santa Croce. The medieval architects used a clever trick how to make the buildings look longer by using an architectural element architektonický prvek called “piano nobile” ( noble floor šlechtické patro ) a  gradual reduction postupné zmenšování in window size. The upper floor horní patro was the home of the nobility šlechta and this design feature designový prvek adds přidat optical importance to the upper part of the house. Today, Piazza Santa Croce remains zůstávat a popular gathering place místo setkání for locals and tourists alike, with its historic buildings, cafes, and vibrant atmosphere pulsující atmosféra .

6

As you stroll toulat se the streets of Florence, notice little doors or rather windows in the walls of the palaces. Do you know what they were for? They are called Buchette del Vino or Wine Windows and noble families could sell wine through them without opening a shop, which means without paying the tax daň . Nowadays v denšní době , you can still find over 150 of them in the center of Florence. Some of them are closed but some of them sell wine, coffee or even ice cream.

7

Visit Piazza della Signoria. It is a kind of an open air museum. You can find the replica of Michelangelo’s David here as well as a lot of other statues. Why is the statue of David a masterpiece? Listen to Filippo’s explanation:

“Where is Goliath Goliáš ? Because you usually can understand that this is David, because of the Goliath’s head but where is Goliath? Michelangelo didn’t forget Goliath. Michelangelo wanted to catch David before. Goliath is still alive. Goliath is coming from here. Look. He’s not like that, he’ s restless neklidný . Look at the leg. He already turned the leg, he already turned the body and he already heard the giant coming. Look at the expression.Come. He’s thoughtful zamyšlený , looking at the giant obr and he feels he’s afraid about that. Who would have bet vsadit si on a small creature such as David against a big monster such as Goliath.”

8

Visit Palazzo Vecchio, the original Medici palace. It is a must. To nesmíte vynechat. It is basically a large museum with a lot of paintings, frescos and information panels about Florence history.

9 

Go over the Ponte Vecchio to the other side of the Arno river and visit the Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens which are a bit like Versailles. Take a lot of water as the gardens are huge obrovský . And don't miss nevynechte the extravagant grottos jeskyně and statues.

10

Enjoy street music and lively night atmosphere. If you go to Ponte Vecchio or Piazza del Duomo in the evening, you will come across bands busking hrající na ulici za peníze in the streets

11 Have an ice cream at one of the best ice cream parlour zmrzlinárna   Venchi Gelato e Chiocolato. How do you recognize rozpoznat good ice cream? It is in shallow containers mělké nádoby , not big heaps kopice and  it doesn’t have unnaturaly bright colours nepřirozeně jasné barvy s.

12

Get a Florentine steak. It is worth it! Stojí to za to! But watch it out pozor , it is big so if you are getting it in a set menu with a ToolTip - word missing předkrm , first course první chod and a dessert, share it podělte se . František refused odmítnout to share his and you can see from his face that after the two previous courses dva předchozí chody he knew that it had been a big mistake.

13

Do NOT sit down when you want to have a cup of coffee. The real Italians drink it standing at the counter u baru . Why? Because once you sit down, you have to pay “coperto”, the money for the service and the things on the table. And that makes coffee and cake unnecessarily zbytečně expensive. If you just stand at the counter, you can go to the fanciest café nejluxusnější kavárna and coffee will cost you just a little over 1 Euro.

14

Just relish vychutnat si Italy and everything it has got to offer. Ignore all those rules pravidla about having to drink red wine when in Tuscany or not drinking cappuccino in the afternoon.Yeah, it’s true. Italians do not drink cappuccino in the afternoon. It’s their breakfast drink.But it’s okay.You’re a tourist, you can do it. Just enjoy yourself, relax and have fun.