08.10.2020-Florence, you beautiful city of lizards

08.10.2020

Dear friends,

I need to get used to the heat first.

Our day started in a pretty cold motorhome, as we are now in the countryside climate. Unstrapping the bikes and heading back to Piazzale Michelangelo. After all, we wanted to explore the city today and it's best to get an overview first. I can't tell you whether the city is more beautiful by day or by night, it's simply stunning.

We crossed the Ponte Vecchio and made our way to the other side of the city, even though we had already been there before, as the bike network is even more intricate than the city's streets and my navigational skills resemble those of a bird crashing into a window. Since it was still early in the morning, we could leisurely stroll over the bridge with the jewelry shops, each trying to outshine the other and marveling at the glittering shop windows. Our first stop was the Palazzo Vecchio, and just the entrance left me speechless with its beautiful wall paintings and ornate columns. It's really beautiful here, everything is old, small, and winding. The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore is an amazing sight from the outside, everything is made of marble. It would be impossible to further embellish the facade, as every little corner is adorned with a painting, coat of arms, or various patterns, and then we went inside.

Nothing, absolutely nothing. The cathedral is indeed huge from the inside, but no wall paintings, no gold or decorations, just a few paintings and benches, suddenly very plain. Did the people of Florence run out of money? According to Dad, that couldn't have been the reason, but the question remains, why?

After that, we headed to the last major church building, which was illuminated last night. This wasn't an easy task with my Albert Einstein memory and Dad's "I'll just follow you" approach. But my dear ones, we made it. After getting to know the city like the back of our hand and exploring every little dead-end from the inside, I can tell you this: the third church is a bit sad. The Basilica di Santa Maria was wrapped in scaffolding and couldn't compete with the other two, but we drove everywhere and even had to check off a few points of interest that I had marked on the map.

At Piazza Santissima Annunziata, we had our first encounter with the dangerous, sheep-eating animal, Wolf. The knight seemed to be doing quite well, and overall they were all very tame and allowed us to touch their noses and mouths, but the best part was that we could ride them and none of them looked alike. It was surely a formidable task to cast these iron statues, and the first thing the kids had to try when they arrived at the square was whether the wolves were firmly grounded, and no, they aren't, because the two children on the back of the statue swayed dangerously back and forth as the clinking sound of the iron feet on the ground echoed - annoying kids.

So our lunch was secured, pizza. Then we went to the last item on my what-I-want-to-see list, the Giardino di Boboli. A huge park behind the Palazzo Pitti, where, surprisingly, the wolves greeted us again on its forecourt. After much consideration, because the admission fee for a garden was quite steep, we finally ventured inside the garden and I was not disappointed, it's truly beautiful. The grottoes and fountains, which don't really spout but rather fall (a clever comment from Dad), and these endlessly green paths with lots of cute lizards, they are so adorable. My love for them has been ignited and I have certainly taken more photos of reptiles than of the whole city. Even though I couldn't quite understand why the palace needed an orangery, as lemon and orange trees grow along the roadside and apparently have no problem with the weather, it still looked beautifully idyllic with the various flowers planted in the beds among the little trees.

Then our time was up and we drove back, unfortunately, that also meant going uphill again, and it was way too hot to even engage in any kind of sports. My lungs and sweat glands certainly didn't send me a thank-you note for the unnecessary work, but we made it. However, because we were apparently still highly motivated, we set off for our next destination: San Gimignano. A small town that immediately transports you back in time when you step through the city gates. The perfect place for a medieval film if it weren't for people like us being there. Here too, we simply followed the signs to a viewpoint and in doing so, we saw the whole town, it's truly breathtaking and the surrounding gentle hills are simply beautiful. The most important thing I forgot to mention: the town has unnaturally symmetrical towers that can be seen from afar and are no less impressive up close, and the cute little shops, designed to cater to a three-million-tourist flow per year, are also delightful.

I will definitely sleep well tonight and try to digest all the impressions.

See you soon and the next travel planning will be exciting.