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July 2005

Florence & Cortona (Tuscany)

Jeremy Koh
2005-11-05 12:15:44

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Florence

Florence is a city in the center of Tuscany that is sometimes considered the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance. However, we were there for only a day and we didn't even get to see Michelangelo's David, though we did get to see a copy of it in Piazza della Signoria, where it once stood. Though we didn't get to see much of the fine art that Florence had to offer, we could still marvel at its striking buildings.

The journey to Florence from Arezzo took less than an hour. When we arrived, we headed to the San Lorenzo market, a traditional flea market, where you can get anything from leather jackets to Commedia dell'Arte masks, which I got for around �8 for a small one. Anyway, it is very fun to wander around this market, and very easy to overspend. Almost everything around you screams, "Buy me! Buy me!". As we walked on, we reached San Lorenzo, the parish church of the Medici. It is a huge structure, with the dome almost as prominent as that of the Duomo. However, we decided not to go in because you had to pay an entrance fee to get in.

From here, we decided to head to the Accademia to see Michelangelo's David. When we reached there, there was such a long queue that we decided not to spend hours queuing up and walked on to San Marco. Alas, we had missed its opening hours by less than fifteen minutes. Well, we had no choice but to move on. Our next stop is the magnificent Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, also known as the Duomo. The facade is inlaid with pink, white and green marble, and is so intricate in its design. However, it is also extremely difficult to photograph as it is so huge that it cannot fit in a single frame. After the splendor of the facade, the interior seemed dark and dreary. The highlight of the interior has to be the fact that you could see the interior of the dome, which measures 43m across. As you look up, you'll see ...