Searching for the Real Florence
October 1-5, 2024
I dreamed of visiting Florence in my 20’s. I was interning in Paris at the time, when I heard and read about a city that was a museum for Renaissance art. I don’t remember why I didn’t go at the time. Most likely, I didn’t want to ride the train for 12 hours from Paris. Back then, lightweight laptops and smartphones didn’t exist in a poor college student’s world and I didn’t want to read a boring book for hours on end. Perhaps I enjoyed the notion of a dream rather than to live it. Over the years, I would continue to hear from friends how much they enjoyed Florence. I began to envy them for visiting but I somehow ended up traveling to other cities instead.
If there was one area of Italy that I would like to see the most, it would be the countryside of Tuscany. The movie, ‘Under the Tuscan Sun’ with Diane Lane sealed that thought for me. Staying in the villa, eating outdoors in cool to warm weather while drinking a glass of Chianti. Finally, a perfect time to visit Florence and it would be the base for our travel. But Tuscany is a big area, and most of the time, these picturesque wine valleys need a car. Initially, I planned to rent a car, but after our trip to Provence, we received two speeding tickets and I didn’t feel comfortable renting in Italy.
I decided that we would go to Florence this year, and book a side trip to a medieval town instead. I think the wine valley wasn’t in our cards and I made peace with it. It seemed that the only way to visit the small wine purveyors without a car was through a tour. It could be fun, but since Paul and I don’t drink a lot of wine, we weren’t thrilled with the idea of getting on and off a bus and taste testing different wines. My dream of staying in a hillside villa will have to be saved for another day.
As the time came closer, I was getting more excited. We were visiting after summer and I thought it meant less crowds. When October 1st arrived, we hopped on the train from Bologna to Florence. Once we disembarked, a sea of tourists with an occasional Florentine, were all trying to go in the same direction. My vision of Florence as a gorgeous Renaissance city faced the reality of mass tourism and rolling suitcase sounds coming from all directions.
Different travel guides and bloggers suggested going to Mercato Centrale for fresh produce, meats, fish, as well as food stands. It was packed like sardines in a can, that we had to squeeze in between two spots to eat our food. My annoyance heightens when people don’t clean after themselves, especially the table. It wasn’t the most comfortable way of eating but the food was good and enough to get us to our Airbnb. We were located right next to the Duomo, and although it was convenient, we were navigating around crowds every time we opened the front door. When we went to the Uffizi Gallery the following day, we stood in the 10:00 AM line while others were in the 10:15 AM line. I thought we were early, but there were already around 100 people ahead of us. Once allowed in, we went through security like we do in an airport. After we collected our things, we followed the crowd up the stairs to a majestic, sunlit hall lined with gigantic windows and Renaissance sculptures scattered throughout. A maze of rooms were located on the left side with more art. The most crowded ones were the ‘Greats’ such as Boticelli, where it was challenging for me to stand near the paintings. Smartphones were covering my view while admiring the ‘Birth of Venus’. After a few hours, my interest of the Renaissance arts faded, and the artwork began to look like one another. The amount of artwork in the Uffizi is incredible but despite this and the crowds, it is still worth visiting. Just once.
The next day, it was pouring down rain and Paul got sick. We were supposed to leave for Lucca, an ancient town close to Florence. We planned to rent bikes and ride along the medieval wall. All in due time.
The Uffizi, the Ponte Vecchio and the extraordinary Duomo are all worth visiting once. Staying in the UNESCO World Heritage historic center of Florence, made it a convenient base to venture out to other neighborhoods and highlights. ‘36 Hours in Florence’ from the New York Times was my trusted source because it hasn’t let me down. The writer, who lives in Europe, showed a different side of Florence, that supported small businesses and less crowded museums. Our long walks on the other side of the Arno river also served as a spontaneous guide that introduced us to the local life of Florentines. We met a couple of local artisans which is one reason why I would return to Florence. I read another New York Times article about a 2-week jewelry class that sounded like an enriching experience. To learn jewelry design by local Florentine master artisans reprogrammed my mind on how travel could be like. Let’s see what the world brings us but first, let me tell you about our favorite moments in Florence.