This is a photo from Gilli, the oldest cafe in Florence. I ordered in Italian, and they spoke back to me in Italian. It was a little conversation. Points for being a baller – that’s right. It might have been my most exciting moment, so I had to put it first.

I came to Florence my first time when I was 13. That visit changed the course of my life. Florence is why I minored in Italian in college, and why I chose to study abroad in Italy. This city very well might be my first true love. The streets of Florence alone awe me. They are so unchanged from their original renaissance days. Many buildings still provide horse parking, in the form of metal rings. It’s hard not to imagine the centuries of Florentines that have lived, worked, played, loved and molded this town.

My first day in Florence I took a really informative walking tour. Here are some cool things I learned. (History nerd alert for the following few paragraphs).

The Duomo – This is the Cathedral di Santa Maria del Fiore, commonly known as the Duomo. It took over 500 years to fully create. They started construction in 1296, and finished in 1436, with the completion of the dome. Then they started to decorate it, which lasted into the 1800s. Unlike many other churches, which are built of wood and stone with a marble facade only in front, the Duomo was constructed with marble on all sides. The Florentines of the time wanted to show how rich they were, as marble isn’t cheap. The colors of the marble are significant. The white stands for faith, green for sacrifice (I think) , and the pink is for charity.

 

The dome itself was an engineering marvel. At the time, scaffolding was made of wood and was unable to be built high enough to be used when creating a dome of this size. Instead, using 16 masonry crews, the bricks were placed in just the right way to create the dome without support, unlike any others of the time. Brunelleschi, the architect behind the dome, was a pretty smart dude I guess.

The inside of the cathedral pretty much just looks like a big church, though a beautiful one.

Once inside, you can go downstairs and see the ruins of the 7th century church that it was built on top of. I love places like this, where you can sense the people that lived here before, and feel the timelessness of the human experience.

My favorite part, though, was climbing to the top of the dome itself. You climb up like 400 something narrow stone steps to the top. From here you can see everything, a gorgeous 360 degree view of Florence.

On the way back down you get to walk around the inside, right next to the paintings on the internal side of the dome. It’s rare that I’ve ever been so close to that type of painting. I spent some time marveling at all the different scenes and characters represented, and the intricacy that went in to creating the design.

The climb down. The stairs run in between the outer dome and the internal dome.

I do have to note that I appreciate my time at catholic school when I’m in cathedrals like this. It’s nice to understand the symbolism and ritual behind everything that went into creating such a magnificent space. I feel like I have a different appreciation than if I would if I didn’t have that context. It’s truly very beautiful.

I also climbed to the top of the bell tower – more stunning views! (Also like 480 more stairs…)

Palazzo Vecchio – this was the parliament building in Florence before the Medici family took over in the 1400s. In 1540 Duke Cosimo of the Medici family made it his residence. However, he still let parliament meet here so as not to disturb Florentine society. So suave.

Santa Croce – Originally built by the Franciscans to serve the poor degenerate that lived outside of the city walls. Then the wall expanded, and the church got fancier. It became one of the ritziest neighborhoods in Florence. Some seriously famous people are buried here, like Michelangelo and Galileo Galilei.

Ponte Vecchio – The oldest bridge in Florence, and the only one not destroyed during WWII by the Germans to stop the allies after they took Naples. The windows across the top are part of a passageway built by the Medici family after the moved into Palazzo Pitti across the Arno River. They built these sky passages all over the city so that they wouldn’t have to walk in the streets with common people.

Originally the booths along the Ponte Vecchio were used by butchers. But after the Medici family began to use the passage above to move from the city to Palazzo Pitti in 1549, they decided these booths should be used for the sale of gold, silver, and expensive jewelry. Gold, silver and expensive jewelry are still sold there today.

Palzzo Pitti and the Boboli Gardens – The Palazzo Pitti was originally built on the other side of the Arno River from the Medici family residences by a rival wealthy family, the Pitti family. However, when the last member of the Pitti family died out, the Medici’s purchased this magnificent residence. They lived here until the family died out in the 1700s. The palace and the gardens are both a testament to the fact that the Medici family was not afraid of extravagance. Bonus this place was right by my airbnb apartment!

The gardens were expansive and absolutely stunning. How amazing it would be to have lived in this palace and been able to stroll through them every day.

 

Of course, one of the most important parts of Florence – Gelato! I learned that you have to go to the ‘artigianale’ shops, which are the ones that make their gelato daily, in house. Delicious!

That’s all for now – Ciao da Firenze!

Bonus Photos!