A Full Day In Florence

After breakfast on my first full day in Florence, I made my way towards the Galleria in hopes that arriving early would mean a short line.  I arrived around 8:45am and still ended up waiting for about 50 minutes before getting in.  The museum actually had quite a few different sections but of course everyone was just there to see the David.  It really is amazing how Michelangelo created this massive piece of art back in the day.

From the Galleria, it is a short walk towards the Duomo complex and after a brief 15 minute line up for the Cathedral, I was let in to explore the beauty of one of the most famous structures in Florence.  

I was also very lucky in that when I exited the cathedral, there was no line for the Campanile (Giotti’s Bell Tower) and I was able to climb to the top immediately. 

After climbing the Campanile, I joined the line to enter the dome.  I waited 35 minutes to get in and this turned out to be the toughest climb of the 3 towers I’d climbed in the last two days. There are sections inside that are so narrow that even having a larger backpack would be inconvenient.  Keep in mind that there were constantly people traveling in both directions so this made it even worse.

However, it was all worth it, as the views at the top were amazing and even the owner of the B&B I was staying at said that if you only have time to do one thing in Florence, make sure it’s this.

I spent almost an hour at the dome before making my way deeper into the city centre towards Piazza della Signoria, where I saw the infamous “fake” David.

After a brief stop for lunch, I headed over to Ponte Vecchio and Plaza Piatti.  I knew that Ponte Vecchio was a bridge that sold a lot of jewellery and I didn’t actually intend to go to Plaza Piatti as everything else in Florence seemed more interesting to me.  However, it appeared so quickly after I crossed Ponte Vecchio that I was able to see it anyways.

I took a long detour and walked around to another bridge to cross back over to the northern part of Florence, as the owner of the guest house had mentioned that the bridge had special statues of each of the seasons.   However, it was either a misunderstanding or I was at the wrong bridge, as I didn’t see any of that. 

I crossed back over to the North side of the river and quickly found Santa Croce after that.  The lineup for admission was short and in a matter of minutes, I was inside the Cathedral.

My last stop before heading back to the hotel was to grab some gelato at Vivoli, which is famous for having the best gelato in Florence.  The gelato did not disappoint as it was creamy and smooth and the flavours really jumped out at you.