Nicole schreibt...

Florence 2005

Once an independent state in Italy, ruled by the infamous Medici clan and heart of the Renaissance movement where legendary artists thrived, the Tuscan town of Florence is now every culture vulture's wet dream. Having heard for years just how incredible Florence is and with a fresh interest in the Renaissance period, it was time for me to check it out for myself. What no Florence lover tells you is that he is not the only one. In fact I've never seen such tourist hordes anywhere before. See the bustle on the Piazza della Signoria to the right, once the heart of the Florentine Republic where proclamations were held, parties celebrated and heretics burned at the stake. It also leads to a phenomenon I dubbed The Florentine Queue& for no matter what you want to see, you first have to queue. The worst queues are in front of the Uffizi Galleries where you may wait up to 3-4 hours until you can enter (luckily I was early and had to wait for one hour only). Two other nice examples for the Floretine Queue are those for the Duomo, the other for the Accademia, that one-trick pony showcasing Michelangelo's David.

Below the entrance of Palazzo Vecchio on Piazza della Signoria with a copy of David. This was once the seat of the Florentine rulers and the current Mayors still use it. To the right is the Cellini's statue of Perseus (yes, he's holding up a severed head, that of Medusa, by the way), part of the amazing display in the Loggia della Signoria, where you can just sit and relax amid some of the most beautiful work of art in the world. Just don't try to eat or drink or dare to look messy - they do have actual guards mercilessly chasing off anyone who might drop a crumb into the Loggia!

The Uffizi Galleries are one of the art lovers' greatest wet dreams in the world, stuffed to the brim with some of the world's greatest paintings, though admittedly I didn't really know all that much about them, so I just wandered through to enjoy the art for what it was. On the ground floor, where the endless queues wind towards the entrance are columns lined with statues of Florence's Greatest, so here's a selection from left to right: Leonardo DaVinci (invented the first flying machine and the world's most annoying grin), Michelangelo Buenarotti (spent several years hanging under a chapel ceiling in Rome), Niccolo Machiavelli (wrote The Prince, a guide to conniving politicians still popular today), Dante Alighieri (wrote such uplifting epics as Purgatory and Inferno)

The Duomo (Cathedral) with its pink-green-white marble facade is truly a breath-takingly beautiful sight. At least from the outside. Inside it's empty. Just completely empty. Yes, I was stunned, too. You can also climb up the campanile - via 414 steps! With the weather way over 30 C and very muggy, I really didn't feel like it.

I know I am hopelessly biased towards my beloved Venice, but frankly, I found the Ponte Vecchio a disappointment and far from the splendor of the Rialto Bridge spanning the Grand Canal of Venice. There are goldsmiths and jewellers all along the bridge - having been ordered to set up shop there a few centuries ago to replace the less savoury butchers and their descendants just stay on, thriving on the tourist dollar.

The next day took me to the Palazzo Pitti on the other side of the river, once the residence of the Medici, now anothertreasure trove of the arts with more paintings and sculptures but also gorgeously furnished rooms. Bordering on the Palazzo Pitti are the Boboli Gardens, a lovely quiet park in Renaissance style with statues and pieces of art strewn across the grounds. The little fella below is proof that not all Renaissance Art must automatically be beautiful ;)

The last museum I visited was the gorgeous Palazzo Borgello which houses a great collection of statues including some of Michelangelo's work as well as porcelain, old armour and weapons and more. But it wasn't just the exhibits that thrilled me, it was the palazzo itself that conjured up visions of Renaissance drama and Musketeers... Finally, below the famous postcard view over Florence as seen from Piazzale Michelangelo, where I finished my sightseeing tours of the town before heading on to the coast...

It had made sense at the time. After indulging in cultural overkill in Florence for four days, head to the beaches for another three days of relaxation, recovering and enjoying the last bits of summer. But while the tales of the decline of Italian beach holidays are many as the Northerners choose Spain, Greece or Turkey over Italy, not many tell you what the problem is. I realized soon enough when I arrived in Viareggio, one of the most popular resorts on the Ligurian coast: You cannot access the beach unless you pay. And not just a bit - no, one day entry to the beach would set you back a whopping 48 Euro!!! Here are the photos to prove that I am not lying: You can see that the entire promenade is lined with shops,cafes and other buildings. Tucked between them are the "enttrances" to the beach (see below) - and there is absolutely NO CHANCE to get anywhere on the beach or near the sea for as far as I could see (and I walked a fair bit along the promenade).

Since I was tired anyway and somehow longing for home, this really made me blow a fuse and I phoned the airline of my (never-again) choice to change my flight from Wednesday to Monday, coming home two days earlier than planned. But really, what is the point of going to a seaside resort for three days when you cannot access the beach at all? And I am really not willing to fund such a rip-off scheme. I am fine with paying 4-5 Euro to rent a sun chair and an umbrella for a day. But that's enough and I also believe that people should have a choice whether to fork out for luxury chairs, changing rooms, swimming pools, etc. or whether they just want to flop down on the beach on a towel for an hour sunbathing and swimming. Since the flight was leaving from Pisa anyway and only departed in the afternoon, I did at least have time to check out that most famous of all Italian towers - the leaning tower on the aptly named Piazza dei Miracoli, the square of wonders. You may have seen it countless times on photos, but only when you stand in front of it, you realize just how crazy and gravity-defying this thing is. Before becoming an icon in its own right, the tower was actually meant to be the campanile for the Pisan cathedral, seen below. The thick tower on the left is the Battisterium.

And this is the other side of the Piazza, which you do NOT see in the tourist guides - running all the way from the entrance gate to the actual tower is an endless line of souvenir stalls, all selling the same crap - the leaning tower in all sizes and colours, T-Shirts and everything else under the sun that can somehow be marketed. And so my trip to Italy ended two days earlier than planned... A little disenchanted perhaps after hearing so much about the beauty of Florence and Tuscany, quite A BIT angry about the rip-offs at Viareggio, but nonetheless glad to have been there and seen new places once more and discovered some of the world's greatest treasures in art.