Dear Reader, this post will my thoughts and impressions of Florence, Italy. There is a back story as to why my trip began in Venice. I was supposed to spend a week in Orvieto taking a class related to creating a travel journal; however, I could not afford the cost of an 18 day trip in Europe and so I sadly send an email to the teacher stating that I would not be able to join them. She replied and suggested that I consider joining the group in Florence and take that part of the journey. That was something I could save for and afford so that is what I did.
I would meet the group of friends on Sept. 20th. I was able to get a really good deal on my plane fare, the caveat was that had to travel on Sept 18th by myself. Hmm I thought this will be interesting spending a day in Florence by myself. There were days when I was extremely nervous about this solitary adventure. I have traveled alone before, but only to places where English was the main language. I worried if I would be able to handle everything. I have a translator on my phone so I could always look up words (that was comforting). So with my Smart Phone I took off. There were some changes as my connecting flight through Paris was cancelled due to a strike by the Pilots of Air France. I flew Air Berlin to make connections through Dusseldorf, Germany.
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| Dusseldorf Airport |
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| Sitting in the Dusseldorf Airport waiting for my connecting flight |
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Watching TV in German at the Airport
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The flight from Dusseldorf was on a plane that is called a Hopper, it is a Propeller Jet. Since I had never been on a propeller plane before, I was a little taken aback when I saw it. The ride was pretty nice until we neared Florence. There was an unexpected hail storm and we could not land. The pilot came on and said that he had been advised that it was too dangerous to land so we had to fly around for awhile. What??????? It was truly interesting. We landed after about 30 minutes and I made my way through immigration, got a stamp from Germany in my passport, and found a cab. So far so good.
Arrived at the hotel, left my luggage in the room and went out to explore.
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| Remnants of Hail Storm in Florence - Sept. 19th |
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| Candy Store in Florence |
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| Tower connected to the Duomo (Cathedral) in Florence |
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| Duomo in the Public Square in Florence |
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| Out side of the Academia Galleria in Florence |
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| Mother with Child in Museum |
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| Beautiful depiction of Jesus on the Cross |
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| Carousel on the way to the Uffizi Museum so quaint and beautiful |
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| Arno River in Florence |
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| Uffizi Museum - Botticelli painting |
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| Another take your breath away painting |
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| First paintings I saw when I entered the Uffizi, unexpected, simple and touching |
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| I was so touched by the art |
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| Ceiling in hallway on the 2nd floor of the Uffizi |
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Mesmerizing, it is amazing that many painters were also sculptors
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| I think this is the gift shop door, but not sure Just liked the decal |
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| Items from Church |
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| A portion of the stole of the Bishop |
There are times when pictures tell that story and there is no need for additional words. I had the opportunity to visit paper stores and buy wonderful paper, Purchased art from a street artist that made me smile, and enjoyed the beauty of the city. One thing I have learned is that at this point of my travel journey I want to not do touristy things, but get an apartment for a week or two and immerse myself in the actual life of the place.
Next week - Venice, Murano and Burano. Until then.....pilgrim
