Day 92 - Firenze and 3rd month away!

Went to Piazza Santa Maria Novella(named after this church) near our hostel to meet Shiyang. He wanted to see this fortress that's marked on the map near the train station, but I was reluctant was it was not mentioned in Lonely Planet. Turns out it's nothing much there and a private area.

After chomping down the biscuits for breakfast, we went to the Academia to queue up and see the famed Statue of David. We were there an hour before the opening time, but there was a long queue forming already.

Funny boxers and aprons sold near the Academia.

Thankfully, we waited only for 45 mins before it was our turn to go in. It was quite a magnificent art museum, with very good descriptions that helps you appreciate the artwork better. The Statue of David was of course magnificent. It's incredibly detailed and intricate, to the point that every folds on the finger and marks on the fingernails are carved. I don't think any camera is able to capture its details and magnificence. Then again, photography is not allowed within the galleries. To think that the statue that people queue up to see was carved out from an abandoned piece of marble.

The Statue of David has to be seen in person! This picture is from Wikipedia by the way.

Medici Musuem. The Medicis were the family that ruled over Firenze when it was still a city-state.

Basilica di San Lorenzo. The exterior was never finished, but the interiors are beautiful!

Back to the Santa Maria del Fiore, or the Duomo di Firenze - the landmark of Firenze.

I think the green, pink and white marbles used gives it some character.

The huge red-tiled domes of the Duomo. No supporting structure was used to hold it, so it was considered an engineering feat in those times. Too bad we can't go up the dome. It's closed for Easter.

The magnificent interiors of the Duomo

Giotto's Tower

Statue of David replica at Palazzo Vecchio. It's way less detailed as compared to the original one.

There are a few statue replicas at Palazzo Vecchio

Uffizi Gallery, which houses some of the most famous Renaissance works.

The queue was so long, that we figured that by the time it's our turn, we would have at most 1 hour to explore the museum. Since we're not that interested in art pieces anyway, we decided to give it a miss.

Across the river, to the south (and less touristy) side of Firenze.

Hmm.......good point.

We took a break at a fountain. I was so tired from exploring all the churches that I dozed off. Shiyang said that I leaned backwards once while I was asleep!

Pitti Palace, which was residence of the Medici family.

Nature's spotlight. We headed up to Piazza Michelangelo for an overview of Firenze.

Another replica (but made of metal) of the Statue of David. Out of the 3 in Firenze, this is the least detailed one.

View of Firenze from the Piazza

Firenze at sunset.

Am I the only one who thinks that these three legs lamp-post base is freaky?

Firenze at dusk

Oh! It's my third month away from Singapore already!

Day 91 - Rushing Venezia, onward to Firenze

Woke up early for breakfast. The 1 star hotel serve pretty good breakfast - I think it's really a bargain to stay there. Aim today, to clear the most touristy part of Venezia - the attractions around Piazza San Marco.

During my first ever fieldtrip in NUS, Dr Savage brought us to a market and said "If you want to know how people at place live and eat, you must go to their market to see what produce they have". That line got lodged into my mind, and I have a penchant of visiting the markets of everywhere I go to find out more about the local's life. Yes, even when I was in Field Studies! Looks like what they have here is very typical fruits and vegetables - can also be found in UK. Nothing exotic.

That's how Venezia clears its rubbish.

Although the Grand Canal is more beautiful, I still think it's these little canals that has more character (although more septic things as well......)

This is the facade of a hospital. Can you imagine?

Doesn't the hanging laundry reminds you of HDB flats?

We reached Piazza San Marco at about 9.00am. Already, there's a queue to go into Basilica San Marco, which opens only at 9.30am. As the queue started moving, I realise that bags are not allowed, and had to make a quick dash a street away to deposit my bag.

Basilica San Marco houses the relics of Saint Mark the Evangelist, the patron saint of Venezia. It is quite a magnificent basilica.

The lion of St Mark - Venice's emblem. You see it everywhere!

Palazzo Ducale di Venezia, or the Doge's Palace. Doge's were basically the figure head of Venezia when it was still a city state. Not much political power, but nothing is allowed to go on without the presence of the Doge.

Nope, those are not tables or street benches. They are (I suspect) laid out and used as walkways when the Piazza gets flooded.

Campanile, or bell tower. One of the landmarks of Venezia. It collapsed in 1902, and was rebuilt brick for brick. We went up to take a look.

Looking Eastwards, with the domes of Basilica San Marco

Looking Northwards

Looking Westwards

Looking Southwards at the Venetian Lagoon. Think you can see the column of St Mark and St Theodore in front.

Here's a paranomic view that I've stitched (painstakingly). Due to perspective differences and blindspots, some buildings might appear bend when it is actually straight

The same thing, just that I crop out most of the blindspots.

One of the "Moor" bells of the Campanile. It's not a bell tower without bells, right?

Making sure the memories are captured.

The crowd.

Interesting clock. The circular thing is not the clock, it shows the astrological signs. It's the "X" and "25" that's the clock. Spotted the lion of St Mark yet?

Piazza San Marco

Basilica San Marco

Representations of St Mark

Saint Theodore of Amasea, represented treading upon the sacred crocodile of Egypt. The first patron saint of Venezia. However, they decided that it's unsuitable due to his Greek origin. The Venetians thought that having Saint Theodore would suggest that they are under the Byzantine Empire. So they started searching for another patron saint.

St Peter wasn't a suitable patron saint either, as it would imply that Venezia is under the Catholic Church. Hence to keep themselves distinct, they chose St Mark as the patron saint.

With one hour and a half to spare, we decided to go ahead and view the Palazzo Ducale di Venezia. After half an hour of queueing, it was our turn at last.

Inner courtyard of the Palazzo Ducale di Venezia

Guilded staircases to the apartments and chambers of Palazzo Ducale di Venezia

We rushed around most of the places, especially the prison. I think we crossed the famed Bridge of Sighs without knowing, cause it was unmarked! Anyway, although no photography was allowed in the apartments, it was quite a sight to behold, seeing all the Senate rooms and stuff.

We hurried to take the ferry back to our hotel, so as to make it for the train to Firenze.

Piazza San Marco from the boat

Grand Canal. The ferry was crowded by the way.

Gondolas - the number one tourist trap in Venezia. I heard it costs about €80 just to sit in one. It's not relevant to the local's life, but probably kept just to maintain the tourist's romantic imaginations of Venezia. I didn't see any of the boatmen singing arias or operas, but there were people on the boat singing to the tourists. Nope, I didn't hear the stereotyped "Osolo Mio...."

How to enter this building when the entrance is facing the Grand Canal?

We rushed and made it to our train on time. But there were some screw ups. The cabins were not labelled even though the seats were reserved. So we had to give up our seats as people claim their reserved seats in subsequent stations. One old man refused to give up until the conductor was called in.

Sitting at the corridor.

We hit Firenze Rifredi station. Changed train to get to the one nearer to the city centre, Firenze Santa Maria Novella.

Double-decked train. That's a first for me.

Sat at the plaza near our hostel, as we cannot check in between 4pm and 7pm. After we checked in, the hostel is more like someone converted his apartment and rent out the rooms. The owner just drops by in the morning and leave in the afternoon, comes back in the evening to handle check in and stuff. Then we continued exploring Firenze

No idea what this arch is called man.

Giotto's Tower

The replica Statue of David was unfortunately under restoration. You can't take photos of the original one.

At the famed Uffizi gallery, where many renaissance works are housed. The street hawkers in the pictures are selling replicated paintings, and are playing hide and seek with the police. When the police came, they collected their paintings. When the police left, the paintings are laid out again. I think the police are closing one of their eyes.

Rio Arno

One of the few buskers we came across on the streets of Firenze. Shiyang was saying "Wah lao, this is what I imagined Vienna to be lah. People playing music on the streets everywhere. Yet, the capital of music has no one busking!"

Another group of baskers. A string ensemble, with one weird instrument that looks like a cross between a opened piano and Yang Qing (or Khim)

Key landmark of Firenze - The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (or Duomo). The red tiled dome was an engineering feet at the time of its construction, as there are no supporting structures to hold such an enormous dome!

Another side of Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore

A open air sculpture gallery at Uffizi. Everyone listening attentively to a busker playing the flute. Shiyang was intoxicated by the culture exulted by the city.

What do you expect? It's the birthplace of the Renaissance leh!