Being a Tourist in Italy

[Birdjaguar]

In the Travel thread I was asked about my trip to Italy in April. Given that it was a long trip with many new (to me) tourist issues, a separate thread seemed like a better way to respond.

Outline of my trip:
Flew from NY to Rome on ITA Airways and arrived on April 10th
Train to Florence on the 10th
Train from Florence to Naples on April 14th
Train from Naples to Rome on April 19th
Flight from Rome to NY April 27

I stayed in an AirBnB in all three cities. A Chinese friend joined me in Rome.

My goal was to see the most sought after sights in each city.

I will fill in with the planning needed and not needed and my thoughts on my experiences. Feel free to ask any questions you might have or come to mind later. Thanks to @Falein for prompting this thread.

 

[Akka]

What, no Venice ?

 

[Birdjaguar]

No, no Venice. Italy is just too big and full of interesting places to see it all in a single trip. My three weeks was really too full and often felt rushed as it was.

 

[Thorgalaeg]

Italy is like Gothic, small but every corner has something of interest, while countries like USA is like TES2 Daggerfall, huge but mostly procedural.

 

[EnglishEdward]

In the Travel thread I was asked about my trip to Italy in April. Given that it was a long trip with many new (to me) tourist issues, a separate thread seemed like a better way to respond.

Please do. I have reached the age that I am unlikely to actively travel much more to see the sights of the world. So I passively let others e.g. Warpus do it for me.

 

[Akka]

No, no Venice. Italy is just too big and full of interesting places to see it all in a single trip. My three weeks was really too full and often felt rushed as it was.

I would have cut Naples out and added Venice, TBH. The place is just magical.

 

[really]

I had a very, very small part to play in building the Roma-Napoli high speed rail line.

The output of my work (accounting) is rarely tangible so I took great pleasure zipping along at 300 kmph.

 

[Gori the Grey]

Italy is like Gothic, small but every corner has something of interest, while countries like USA is like TES2 Daggerfall, huge but mostly procedural.

I like this. You even could have used Morrowind in place of Gothic, to make the contrast more pointed.

 

[Thorgalaeg]

Yep, don't know why I didn't used Morrowind maybe my favorite game and for sure my favorite soundtrack:

Btw, going back to Italy the main difference with Spain is Italians always had a better conscience about their history and patrimony. Each village is well preserved and treated with respect, but here in Spain it is not unusual to find a horrible block of flats built in the 1970s spoiling a medieval village. It is like people didn't care at all until very recently.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Italy was crowded while I was there. In Florence my targets were the Pitti Palace, Uffizi Gallery, Museum Bargello, Galleria del Academia, Duoma and the Vecchio Palace. The nice thing about Florence is that the entire old city center is walkable and was accessible by foot from my Airbnb. For the popular places, timed and dated tickets, bought online in advance, are required. My trip was structured around those tickets.

Arrived in Florence Thursday morning
Pitti Palace, Thursday afternoon
Uffizi Gallery Friday morning
Duomo Friday Afternoon
Galleria del Academia (David Statue) Saturday afternoon

The Duomo was closed and only those having guided tour tickets could get in to see the dome or climb the 700+ steps to the top of the tower. It was raining so I skipped the tower climb and could not go into the main basilica space. All the other sights were filled in around the ticketed entrances.

The online ticket buying process is not straight forward and there are lots of places selling tours and skip the line tickets. I tried to work directly through the targeted building. Some tickets were timed only for one aspect of the visit (climb the dome, see the Baptistry, or climb the tower), but gave anytime access to other parts of the area. Rome was worse for this kind of thing.

[Late Edit]
On this map below, my Airbnb was on the left, just below the oval for the Santa Maria Novella Church.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Florence from across the river. From left to right (major buildings) Vecchio palace and tower with crenellations, Baptistry small red dome), Duomo and tower (large red dome).

 

[Birdjaguar]

A wider view. that adds the Pont de Vecchio Bridge. The Pitti Palace is just to the left of the bridge and out of the picture. the Uffizi Gallery is the yellowish red-roofed building between the Bridge and the Vecchio Palace.

 

[Birdjaguar]

The Medici originally lived in the Vecchio (old) Palace and their offices were in the Uffizi building. They bought and moved into the Pitti palace (and expanded it) and then built a private passage from the Pitti to the Uffizi so they could come and go without trouble or interruption. This picture shows the passage more clearly. You can see it's windows on the bridge and the passage along the building. I took this picture from a window in the Uffizi.

 

[Birdjaguar]

The Pitti Palace is an enormous stone building to which the Medici added two wings to the right and left of the 3 story original building. In addition to being the family home it was also a fortress in times of trouble.

 

[Birdjaguar]

I learned on this first day that stairs were a daily part of the routine of the wealthy in Florence. All of the public rooms and family rooms were up multiple flights of steps. Often it would be two or three flights to go up just one floor. In other places I have photos of the steps.

The art in the Pitti Palace is, like most of it in Florence, exceptional. I have way too many pictures to even begin to post them here. What surprised me was the extent that all the ceilings we beautifully painted. Every room and every hallway was spectacular.

 

[Birdjaguar]

The crowds were not terrible on this afternoon. They tended to gather around particularly famous art. Botticelli's Spring and Birth of Venus were hot spots.

Spoiler :

A detail from Spring:

 

[Birdjaguar]

Florence is just full of paintings and sculpture. There are literally hundreds of of each throughout the city.

Here are some;
Drunken Dionysus by Michelangelo (Museo del Bargello)

Laocoon by Bandinelli (Uffizi Gallery)

Hercules and Nessus by Giambologna (Museo del Bargello)

None of these are simple pieces and it got me wondering just how would one go about chipping a block of marble to to create them? Start at the top? Rough out one side? Start at the bottom? Rough out the entire thing and then finish it?

 

[Birdjaguar]

And one more.


Rape of the Sabines by Giambologna (Museo del Bargello)

 

[Birdjaguar]

When I got to the Galleria del Academia where the very famous David now resides, I got some answers. In the entrance hallway to the David, there were a collection of unfinished Michelangelo sculptures.

Front to back seems like how Michelangelo did these, How one approaches a work like Laocoon is beyond me.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Because I could, I asked co pilot to write a quick description of the Hercules and Nessus sculpture:

Certainly! Here's a description you could use:

"This striking marble sculpture captures a powerful and dramatic scene between two figures. A nude woman stands atop the back of a crouching man, her posture graceful yet commanding. She holds a piece of cloth in her hands, adding movement and tension to the composition. The man below appears to be struggling or supporting her weight, his muscles tensed with effort. The intricate craftsmanship brings a sense of realism to the figures, from the fine detailing of their anatomy to the flowing textures of the cloth. Set against the backdrop of an indoor space with arched doorways and windows, the sculpture is likely housed in a museum or gallery, where its artistry and emotion captivate viewers."


Would you like me to refine or adjust anything to better suit your needs?