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Stepping off the train in Firenze was pretty daunting what with the incredible numbers of tourists and the hustle and bustle of the crazy Italian vespa and taxi drivers that barely fits in the cramped one lane streets of the city. Luckily I had made this little map of the sites I planned on seeing and was able to walk straight to my hostel to book my room for the night.
I then headed to the Uffizi a short distance away and found the line to be about two hours long. Not what I was in the mood for. I therefore headed out on a walking tour of the city, which brought me to many neat sites in the core of this incredibly walkable city.
My first view of the Ponte Vecchio, a bridge covered in gold, jewelry, and watch shops that spans the Fiume Arno right next to the Uffizi. I'm pretty sure Liam took the exact same picture for his blog when he visited Firenze.
The Piazza Uffizi surrounded by the museum of the same name. The museum would have to wait until tomorrow.
I decided to check out the Galileo Museum, which turned out to be extremely interesting. Housed on three floors was a collection antique scientific instruments from the 1400s to the 1800s. These included astrolabes, clocks, globes, thermometers, early electrical devices, hundreds of little machines for demonstrating physical phenomena, and much more.
Here is a huge globe of about six feet in diameter for exploring orbits and why certain celestial bodies appear where they do in the sky.
A pair of globes shows star formations (left) and the Earth (right).
Gorgeous woodwork was employed to build these devices for demonstrating the physics controlling falling objects.
These glass objects were used as thermometers, beakers, distilleries, and many other parts of experimental applications.
You can never have too many telescopes or a telescope too long.
I was most impressed at this museum by the incredible craftsmanship that went into making this instruments. There were no cheap plastic beakers or calipers of less than exquisite quality. It seemed most of the tools were designed by scientists and crafted by distinguished craftsmen who specialized in making scientific tools or else these men were scientists themselves.
The museum also had a temporary exhibition telling the story of the evolution of the bicycle, which as you can guess was especially interesting for me.
The "Bone-shaker"
An early handbrake system.
This room held a collection of bicycles that were produced for specific tradesmen and so they were outfitted with the essentials of each trade: firman (on left), salt seller (on right), dairy man, post man, painter, photographer, carpenter, cooper, and knife grinder. This last one was my favorite because you could undo the chain and hook an alternate chain from the crank to a small grindwheel mounted between the knees.
The last cool thing I saw in the museum was this curved mirror surrounded by a cube of Xs which created the same globe of orbits int he resulting mirror image.
A line of about one hundred scooters and motorcycles is no surprising sight in Firenze or any larger Italian town.
A tower just across the tower and a little east of the Galileo Museum.
After climbing through the Boboli Gardens I ended up on a terrace, which afforded this view of the city including the dominating presence of the Duomo (Cathedral) di Firenze.
Not the only reproduction of the David I saw although I never saw the original.
I found this intricate and beautiful church at the top of the hill as well. This is where I really started to get an idea of the amount of effort that was put into the design and construction of these spiritual places in the cities where a lot of money made it possible.
Just check out the painted ceiling...amazing!
A couple examples of the many hilarious painted road signs I saw throughout the city.
After leaving the Boboli Gardens I found this sculpture mounted on top of the 16th-century Fort di Belvedere.
I had a nice guy take my picture from on top of the fort looking North toward the city but realized after we lined up for the shot that the sun was directly in my eyes...
Saw a few of these little guys around the city. Some even smaller too.
Classic Florentine parking job. Gotta take it where you find it.
A water fountain like others around the city. The store just to the left of this fountain was one of a number of produce shops from which I bought fresh nectarines and plums as I walked the city.
I hadn't seen a chess shop before and this one seemed incredibly nice.
You just don't see streets that cut through buildings like you do in these European cities. Or is it that the building was built over the road?
A nice morning view of the Ponte Vecchio from the opposite side right before I went to the Uffizi.
I was one of the first people into the Uffizi this morning and my first exposure to what it's all about was stepping into this ridiculously long hallway full of busts and sculptures. There was an identical hallway on the other side of the piazza as well. The Uffizi is primarily the collection of the Medici family. I can't imagine how rich they must have been to have collected and commissioned as much art work as they did.
The face of the Duomo is really an incredible feat of art and architecture in the name of the Catholic Church. Unfortunately the line was extremely long and I had to catch a train so I just had time to walk around its enormous circumference.
The Gates of Paradise by Lorenzo Ghiberti face the front of the Duomo,
One of many cool bits of graffiti I saw around the city. This one was on the walls of the scaffolding that covered the eastern wall of the Duomo as they restored or fixed it.
Firenze, you treated me very well but I must return to Coldigioco!
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