A must-see pin
Florence was one of our biggest must-see pins. At least for Malthe. Personally, I only knew the city from the movie “Eat, Pray, Love” with Julia Roberts and had, to begin with, had a hard time understanding Malthe’s zeal and joy. Until it dawned on me that he was playing “Assassin’s Creed” on Playstation and therefore has been climbing around the rooftops of Florence for hours, as an assassin. In the game, that is. It was fantastic to see his eyes light up every time he recognized a place from the game and I must also admit that Florence is an incredibly beautiful city.
Florence is said to be the birthplace of the Renaissance and during Medieval times, the city was the center of finance and one of the wealthiest cities in Europe. These days Florence is mostly known for its amazing architecture and monuments. I bet one could spend weeks in Florence and still find new things to see. It truly is an amazing city.
A hidden museum
Inside a small courtyard, we discovered the entrance to a museum advertised by an insignificant sign. It was an astronomy, biology, zoology, and crystal museum and since the entrance fee was cheap and we were in the mood for it, we decided to go inside. Museum La Specola was so much more than we expected.
Oh boy! Never before have we seen such large collections of crystals and stuffed animals. Not teddybears, but real animals stuffed by taxidermists We ended up spending several hours there. There were hundreds of beautiful crystals and almost every animal in the world represented in what turned out to be a huge museum on several floors.
Architecture like no other
When we got out of the museum we strolled through the amazingly beautiful city. Architecture like the one in Florence is unfortunately passé in present design and it’s great to be able to walk around and enjoy something that’s so well preserved. During our walk, stories from the Playstation game were told and Malthe very theatrically performed entire scenes about the assassin’s heroic deeds.
The jewelers and the butchers
We also walked on the Ponte Vecchio which is Florence’s oldest bridge. It’s also the street where all the jewelers have their shops, with an incredible selection of jewelry. Gold, diamonds, and other gemstones. All glittering in the sun and talking loudly to all women (and men) walking by.
In the old days, it was actually the butchers who had their shops in the street. Back then it was a little less glamorous since they threw entrails and leftovers directly into the river. What a stench there must have been!
So much to see in Florence
We also walked on Piazza della Signoria, with all the naked men carved in stone. Most of them were standing inside the Loggia dei Lanzi that consists of beautiful wide arches open to the street. Among the most famous ones is of course the copy of Michelangelo’s David at the entrance of the Palazzo Vecchio.
And we couldn’t visit Florence without seeing the pompous cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore too. This Gothic-style church (also called Duomo di Firenze) is now a part of the UNESCO World Heritage and is one of Tuscany’s major tourist attractions. If you have been reading our other blog posts, you will know that we normally don’t want to pay an entrance fee to get into churches. The same applied to this one. But from the outside, it’s also an amazing piece of art. The marble panels in green, pink and white make the cathedral stand out from any other church we have ever seen.
City of romance
Florence is said to be one of the most romantic cities in the world, and we can’t argue with that. It’s like there is a carpet of warmth, love, and passion covering the city. It’s so beautiful and so cozy. Definitely a place we would like to return to again.
E&M
– Text and photos: Eva // Adding, photos and photo editing: Malthe
