The Ponte Vecchio by bike and at sunrise
1. BICYCLE RIDE ALONG THE ARNO
Imagining the city in another time is not difficult. Cobblestones, medieval towers and a army of statues they speak of the trecento, the quattrocento and the cinquecento with the same fluency as of yesterday. rent one bike and follow the course of arno , crossing the bridges and rioni (neighbourhoods) of the city. Among them, the one they say is the oldest in Europe, the Ponte Vecchio , where before the goldsmiths cornered its nooks and crannies, were the butchers and butchers those who sold their goods in what is the narrowest point of the river, until one of the Medici decided in the 16th century that it was better to feed on gold than meat, not to mention the smell.
Another of the most significant bridges, and it is said that the most beautiful in Florence, is that of the Santa Trinita , with its decorations and sculptures, which although they look Renaissance, are from the 20th century, at least in their materials, since it is an exact reconstruction of it, which was demolished, like all the city's bridges, by the German army in his withdrawal during the Second World War . only saved the Ponte Vecchio . And if you move a little away from the center, from the Ponte San Niccolò , just as the sun has just set, Florence is multiplied by two reflected in the calm waters of the Arno.
two. VECCHIO PALACE
When you get to the Piazza della Signoria , despite being the giant of the place, the Palazzo Vecchio is diluted between both biblical hero and pagan god. Normal if one believes that Neptune wanders through the square on full moon nights or how the enormous Perseus de Cellini came out in one piece at his foundry after taking the escurtor's house in a major fire. Thus, the fountain and the loggia divert the gaze from this 'small' fortress built by Arnolfo di Cambio and converted into a palazzo by the Medici and that even today keeps the political power of Florence. Through one of its doors, the one that guards the copy of the David , you enter without going through the box to the magnificent vasari's courtyard , with stuccoes and maps of the Habsburg domains.
Already with the ticket in hand, the tour begins at the call Hall of Five Hundred , where, among others, stands with a somewhat theatrical lighting The genius of victory by Michelangelo. It was Cosme I, Duke of Tuscany, who commissioned Vasari, again he, the total remodeling of the fortress. Halls and more halls follow one another wrapped in vaults and grotesques along several floors, in which the saturn lookout and a room where the authentic Judith by Donatello. Special mention deserves the stays of Eleanor of Toledo and her private chapel, painted by Agnolo Bronzino , and the minuscule and out of series Study of Francis I . To top it off, climb the tower to see the 'little ants' that walk around and take photos of every corner of Piazza della Signoria, as well as perfect views of the city.
The Palazzo Vecchio above Florence
3. CELEBRITY GRAVES TOUR
Groupies of art and literature, in Florence rest some of the stars brightest of the Renaissance and co. Michelangelo Buonarroti , the genius, waits for the day of the resurrection in the basilica of Santa Croce, a worthy Florence Pantheon, because he himself wanted to be buried here so that when he opened his eyes again the first thing he would see would be Brunelleschi's Dome. Other geniuses of the arts and humanism, such as the composer Rossini or the astrologer Galileo Galilei.
At the other end of the city, the tour continues in the Medici Chapels, in the basilica of san lorenzo , where in addition to many of the members of the dynasty, including the Dukes of Urbino and Nemours that he portrayed Miguel Angel in the New Sacristy and that according to his contemporaries they did not look much alike, to which the genius replied that after a century no one would pay attention to that detail, rest the sculptor's challenges Donatello in a deeper crypt. And in the English cemetery, the great fans of shakespeare they can meet the last descendants of the Great Bard, Beatrice and Edward Claude Shakespeare.
Four. FILL YOUR STOMACH FLORENTINE
Tuscan 'bocadillacos' , of cured meats, mozzarella and spicy preserves in focaccinas fresh from the oven, this is the little piece of heaven that they put at your disposal at All´Antico Vinaio , where you will subscribe to Tuscan fast food to go. For foodies, wine cellars water the city with the best bottles of Tuscany and its most outstanding antipasti, crostini, pizza Y carpaccios . Reserve in the Cantinetta Da Verrazzano (via dei Tavolini, 18). And if the sweet can with you, Sienese panfortes, marzipan and the almond catuccini , among others, await you in the shop windows of Gilli , a legendary that sweetens the city since 1733.
Tuscany on the table at Cantinetta Da Verrazzano
5. GIOTTO'S CAMPANILE
In the Duomo among so much colored marble, our eye couples the campanile to Santa Maria del Flor , but, although in spirit they are one, a separate door gives access to this medieval lookout tower . Count your 441 steps to its terrace, a small 360-degree panoramic viewpoint from where you will get the best views of the heart of Florence. And as in New York, where it is better to admire the city from the terrace of Rockefeller Center to enjoy the Empire State Building , here it is better to do it from the campanile to admire closely, almost at your fingertips, the tile-colored dome that Brunelleschi raised for the cathedral at the dawn of the Renaissance.
6. BARGELLO MUSEUM
There is 'museum' life beyond the essential and requested Ufizzi and Galleria dell'Academia, which you have to enjoy at least once in your life. However, somewhat quieter, the Bargello Museum is another unavoidable appointment in the florentine artistic circuit , with an incomparable sample of sculpture and applied arts of the Renaissance. If the day is clear, add a few more minutes to the calculated time to enjoy it, because in its patio, one of the most beautiful in Italy for connoisseurs, a small sundeck of folding chairs bounded by walls full of plaques and medieval shields.
Gianbologna, Miguel Angel Y Cellini they are the stars of the museum, with more mythological and biblical heroes and allegories of Florence in marble, bronze and terracotta. Here coexist the Bacchus of Michelangelo, the Mercury of Gianbologna, the Saint George of Donatello, the David of Verrocchio and panels of Brunelleschi and Ghiberti of the mythical contest for the doors of the Baptistery. Rebirth in body and soul.
Bargello Museum: Renaissance in Body and Spirit
7. CASTILIAN PURCHASES
If you leave the exclusivity of via Calimala Y via Rome , Florentine commerce returns to its medieval habits in the vicinity of the Piazza San Lorenzo . With the brick façade of the Medici church, which would one day have the most bombastic and Roman façade in the city thanks to Michelangelo, it extends in most traditional street market in Florence in a succession of stalls where you can find designer bags, leather jackets and leather goods. And if you have a gourmet spirit enter the nearby Central Market , where Tuscany is displayed on the counters of the market.
8. PIAZZA DELLA SANTISSIMA ANNUNZIATA
The charm of Florence lies in its limited and artistic map. Always busy, only luck will make you see the city with 1,000 or 10,000 more people. Thus, if fortune does not smile on you and the Piazza della Signoria does not fit a pin, and we are not talking about sitting in the Loggia, go north and settle in the square of the Santissima Annunziata , perhaps one of the most beautiful urban expressions of the Renaissance that the city has.
Choose a ladder, a book and a snack to watch life go by from one of its corners in the square, centered by an equestrian statue of Cosme I of Gianbologna and flanked by the ospedale degli innocenti, the church that gives its name to the enclosure and the entrance to the Archeological Museum , storage room of the old archaeological collection of the Medici.
Panoramic view of Florence from Piazzale Michelangelo
9. GIARDINI DI BOBOLI
Symmetry and greenery would be the two adjectives that would best define the Boboli Gardens, a full-fledged remedy for Stendhal's syndrome . And not because they are not beautiful, because they are, but because they are on the other side of the river, in Oltrarno, where only its flower beds and the Palazzo Pitti , the palace that left the one in Piazza della Signoria old, will make up a large part of the order of the day. Lavish residence of the Medici and final point of the Vasari corridor, in the Palazzo Pitti Three museums are hidden that, if the force is still with you, are well worth a visit.
Our advice is that you bring something to eat and that after visiting the palace you let yourself be carried away by the narrative of the park, going through its artificial fountains and its famous grotto , where once the slaves of Miguel Angel and where tradition says that Bernardo Buontalenti invented the first 'gelato' modern, by mixing some of the cold-preserved foods in it, namely milk, eggs, sugar, cardamom, lemon and honey, with the ice. The perfect fuel, which you can buy with some variation in one of the many ice cream parlors in the surroundings, to start the ascent to the great viewpoint of Florence.
10. THE BEST VIEWS OF FLORENCE
It is difficult to climb, there are many steps that lead from Oltrarno to the Piazzale Michelangelo , but the reward is sensed with each step and, when crowning the finish line, the panorama is unbeatable. From the villages on this side of the river to the Santa Croce , going through the Ponte Vecchio , Y Palazzo Vecchio wave dome of the Duomo , Florence is yours. If you arrive in the evening, take a place on the stairs that connect the square with a small side viewpoint, and if you haven't brought refreshments, pull your savings and invest the five euros that a third costs right now, because it's worth it.
The sun descends little by little over the city, with just enough time to imagine the 'war stories' that have taken place in it. Nothing can crush that moment, not even the shy applause with which the staff starts when the sun goes down, what's more, you may even be clapping your hands. And if you go up one more flight of stairs, to the beautiful basilica of San Miniato al Monte , the show will be somewhat more private, but the views are a little less perfect, higher yes and more lateral, too. Our advice is that you enjoy both, in the order you want.
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The Boboli Gardens, peace on the other side of the Arno