David & the Dome-Florence
9th-12th August
A bit of art, a bit of architecture, some markets, shops,
cafes and wine bars, hilltop views and high up vistas-in our few days here we
sampled it all.
The tourists and the heat made daytime in this old city a challenge but there’s nothing like an early start to beat the rush and enjoy the sights. We did just this to avoid the long queues for the Galleria dell’Accademia and managed to get an unobstructed view of Michelangelo’s David (although it is so massive it would be hard to obstruct!)
Again, the early-bird-ness in
us meant we didn’t have to line up too long before being able to trudge the
400-odd steps up to the top of the dome in the immense Duomo for some great
views of the city.
The most magical of views
though, was from the Piazzale Michalangelo at sunset. Seeing the gorgeous colouring spread over
Tuscany and Florence itself was a brilliant reward for the trek up the steep
hill!
Venice-12th-15th August
By day or by night, Venice was
impressive. The labyrinth of canals and
laneways, the leaning buildings, piazzas and churches round every corner and
fact that the Venice was built up out of the waters was just extraordinary!
We did our fair share of
wandering, making it to the Basilica di San Marco and joining the long queue
for, surprisingly, not such a long wait to stare in awe at the gold mosaics
covering the interior.
Palazzo Ducale was also crossed
off the list. We were able to mosey through
many of the old palace rooms and most notably across the Bridge of Sighs and
into the old prisons.
Our time was spent with a
little island hopping too, making it to Lido for some beach time, the island of
San Giorgio Maggiore for some vistas atop the bell tower and Murano for some
pretty glass goods.
To add in a little refinement
to our Summer trip we spent our last evening in a church listening to a small
string octet play some Vivaldi and glorious bits of classical music
Fair Verona 15th – 17th August
This was probably our favourite
of the trio of romantic Italian cities-easy to get about, not half the amount
of tourists, some great sights to see and a lovely small town feel.
We got our money’s worth from
the Verona Card, squeezing in six monuments and two churches over the space of
a day and a half!
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| View from Castelvecchio |
Roman themed monuments:
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| The Roman Theatre |
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| The Roman Arena |
Tower themed monuments:
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| Juliet's balcony |
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| At the top of Torre dei Lamberti |
Churches:
For some more photos of each of these romantic Italian cities follow the links:
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