48 hours in Florence
Basilica di Santa Croce, Florence.
It all began in Florence. I was 18, and visiting Italy for the first time on a high schools culture trip. The beauty and the atmosphere of Florence totally enchanted me...
One night I and my classmate (and one very cute boy) sat until the morning on these stairs of Basilica di Santa Croce -church. Young, wild and free – big dreams and life ahead of us. That night I started to dream about living in Italy...
Now I am visiting Florence after all these years, sitting in the same place and just smiling... No, the cute boy is no longer here, but I realize that my dream has become reality.
I have warned you. Travelling to Florence (oh, or actually anywhere in Italy) has its risks... But if you are ready to be mesmerized (and ready to leave your whole life behind and to move to Italy), you are more than welcome! You can start by reading the list of my favourite things to see and to do in Florence. The city is quite compact, so I experienced all of these within my 48-hour mini-vacation in Florence.
My 8 Florence favourites
1. Florence by walk
There is not enough superlatives to describe the beauty and splendour of Florence! Florence, or Firenze in Italian, is one of my favourite cities in Italy. It is full of art, beauty and history in every corner: The Historic center of Florence is listed in UNESCO´s world heritage -list (I see almost all my posts are from places that are listed in UNESCO´s world heritage -list. But hey, it’s Italy…).
Everything is within walking distance, so my favourite thing in Florence is to walk around, maybe visit galleries or a museum, then walk some more and sit in cafes and restaurants, watch people and absorb the energy and atmosphere of the city. Florence is a nice place to travel also alone, because the people are often nice and easy-going, so you get new friends easily.
The Arno river crosses the center of Florence. Behind you see Ponte Vecchio, the oldest bridge in Florence.
2. Basilica di Santa Croce
(Piazza di Santa Croce, 16)
Religious or not, I love to visit churches, especially in Italy. I light a candle, meditate and get enchanted by the art.
In Florence the main churches are Basilica di Santa Croce and Duomo di Firenze. Basilica di Santa Croce is the largest Franciscan church in the world. To mention a few highlights, there are frescoes by Giotto and artwork by Donatello, and tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo Galilei and Niccolò Machiavelli.
Basilica di Santa Croce.
3. Duomo di Firenze
(Piazza del Duomo)
Another must-visit church is the gigantic Duomo (officially Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore). It is the fifth-largest church in Europe, and the largest dome ever made of marble bricks.
The great complex in Piazza del Duomo includes the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, Brunelleschi's Dome, Giotto's Bell Tower, the Baptistery of San Giovanni, the Ancient Basilica of Santa Reparata and the Opera del Duomo Museum.
4. Galleria degli Uffici
(Piazzale degli Uffizi, 6)
Do not miss Uffizi if you are in Florence. This museum has hung masterpieces after masterpieces to their walls. For example, you can find these artworks in Uffizi:
Sandro Botticelli: The Birth of Venus
Sandro Botticelli: Spring
Titian: The Venus of Urbino
Leonardo da Vinci & Andrea del Verrocchio: Annunciation
Caravaggio: Medusa
Rosso Fiorentino: Angel playing the lute
Baccio Bandinelli: Laocoön and his Sons’ (sculpture)
& many more.
5. Galleria dell´Accademia
(Via Ricasoli, 48/50)
Sculptures, sculptures and more sculptures! When I was a teenager and on that school trip, we had to sit for hours in the halls of Galleria dell´Accademia and draw these sculptures to our sketchbooks. It was actually pretty cool! The museum has the largest collection of sculptures by Michelangelo Buonarroti, including the beautiful David.
The museum has also an impressive collection of instruments made in the 17th to early 19th centuries. It has pearls like violoncello made by Antonio Stradivari in 1690 for Grand Prince Ferdinando, a violin of 1716 by Stradivari and a cello of 1650 by Niccolò Amati.
Some of the masterpieces of Galleria dell´Accademia:
Michelangelo Buonarroti: David
Sandro Botticelli: Virgin and the child with the young St. John the babtist and two angels
Mariotto Albertinelli: Annuncation
& many more.
6. Gucci Garden
(Piazza Della Signoria, 10)
I love Italian fashion and the Gucci Garden -concept created by the Florence-born fashion house of Gucci and the creative director of Gucci, Alessandro Michele. The concept includes a Gucci boutique, a restaurant Gucci Osteria by chef Massimo Bottura and a wild Gucci exhibition called Gucci Garden Archetypes, which explores fifteen Gucci advertising campaigns from the past six years.
If you are not in Florence, you can also take a virtual tour in Gucci Garden´s website.
Gucci is celebrating its 100 years anniversary. The fashion house was founded in Florence in 1921 by Guccio Gucci.
Gucci has made special pieces that they sell only at Gucci Garden -boutique in Florence.
Some Gucci Garden Archetypes -exhibition:
Gucci Garden Archetypes= three floors of faschinating multimedia experiences created by Gucci.
An entrance with a message: La creativitè sans limites!
Fall / Winter 2016 Tokyo Lights -campaign.
Spring / Summer 2016 Rebellious Romantics collection by Gucci.
7. Officina Profumo-Farmaseutica Santa Maria Novella
(Via della Scala, 6)
If you still can take more beauty, visit Officina Profumo-Farmaseutica Santa Maria Novella, Europe´s oldest pharmacy that was founded in 1221.
Now they sell perfumes and other luxurious beauty products. Their bestseller is Acqua di Rose, a refreshing rosewater mist, made since 1381. Another interesting product is their oldest fragrance called Acqua di S.M. Novella - also known as Acqua della Regina (the Queen's Water), which celebrates the perfume that Caterina de’ Medici commissioned the Dominican monks to create in 1533, and she took it with her to France when she married Enrico di Valois.
Beauty for your body and soul. Europe´s oldest pharmacy is selling beauty- and wellbeing products.
8. Il Mercato di San Lorenzo + Mercato Centrale Firenze
(Piazza del Mercato Centrale, Via dell'Ariento)
Lunchtime is perfect for visiting San Lorenzo market and Mercato Centrale, both located next to San Lorenzo church. Outside, at the San Lorenzo market, you can buy everything from clothes to leather goods. Next to it, is a big building called Mercato Centrale, where you find local foods: fruits, vegetables, cheese, wine, meat and little restaurants where you can enjoy traditional Florentian food. The menu in Florence and in the region of Tuscany is often full of meat, so for me as a vegetarian, it was hard to find lunch from the market.
I was happy to discover that Florence has nowadays many healthy vegan and vegetarian restaurants. It was a bit chilly weather, so I chose to have vegan miso soup from a vegan restaurant called #RAW (Sant’Agostino, 11R). If I lived in Florence I would probably go there often. The restaurant is small, cozy and relaxed, and the menu has only healthy raw vegan options.
In the evening I chose to dine at 5ecinque (Piazza della Passera, 1). Again, their menu was like made for me; super delicious vegetarian and vegan food, made mostly from local and organic ingredients. Also, the atmosphere is sophisticated but relaxed, service is good and the customers are mostly local.
After dinner, it started to rain, but I still wanted to try the Gelateria La Carraia (Piazza Nazario Sauro, 25r), because my local friend Simona recommended it. This gelateria wants to be traditional and non-touristic by keeping its standards high but prices low. This time I tried black cherry and dark chocolate. Mmm, delizioooso!
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With this post, I want to thank my history and philosophy teacher Meri Arni-Kauttu and the Rudolf Steiner School of Helsinki, who always supported our creativity and art education in many ways, also by taking us on the culture trip to Florence during our last high-school year. For me, this trip was life-changing.
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Text & pictures by Hertta Hiltunen.
