JAYNE'S BLOG: FLORENCE ITALY

Wednesday 17 July 2013

FLORENCE ITALY

We started our journey to Florence on 25th May 2013 by train.
Why Florence? One may ask.

Florence is above all a city of art. Florence is the birthplace of many famous people such as Dante, Boccaccio, Machaivelli and Galileo Galilei. Florence was made more beautiful by the works of art of Michelangelo, Brunelleschi, Botticelli, Donatello and Giotto.' Whoever visits Florence cannot ever be deluded. This thanks to its cultural and artistic inheritance almost unique in Europe and in the world, which has its base in the middle age and its maximum glory in the Renaissance. Florence and Rome are the history of Florentian civility. In Florence , in the XV century, bases were set to reflourish art and culture, here thanks to writers like Dante, Petrarca and Macchaivelli, culture and the Italian language were born. Artists like Botticelli , Michelangelo and Donatello made Florence to be one of the artistic capitals in the world.

Florence was founded by the Romans in the 59B.C. and called Florentia . You can see 'Cardo Maximus' in the actual street Strozzi, street degli Speziali and street del Corso; and the 'Decumanus' in street Calimala, street Roma, and street Por Santa Maria. In the actual ' Place of Repubblica' the Foro was found during the imperial period the city increased its richness, it became an active commercial centre where handicraftsmen worked and made Florence famous. During the Barbarian invasion the city occupied by Ostrogoti, Byzantine and Goth of Totila. It was in that period that the inhabitants gathered around the Bishops, in the monasteries, which became centres of culture and work. The Longobardi conquered it later in the VI century and only later the city emerged from the darkness of the middle age into an independent sate. After the Longobardi were defeated by the Franchi, the Duke was substituted by a count; later the counts were substituted by the Marquis. Florence reached the height of its glory between the XI and XV century, becoming one of the main centres of power in Italy, balancing between the authority of Emperors and Popes, superating the fear of the struggling between the Guelfi and Ghibeliini.

In the XV century Florence passed under the Signoria dei Granduchi di Tuscany. Lorence and the rest of Tuscany remained under the dominium of Medici for three centuries. In this period the city was at the height of its glory, from the artistic, political and economical point of view, the city developed in an enormous way: painters, sculptors and architects filled roads, churches and palace with the greatest works of art of the Renaissance. In the Granducato dei medici was succeeded by the Loren in the XVIII century, whose Granducato lasted until 1860, in the year in which Florence was the capital from 1865 to 1871.

Read more here

Facts about Florence:

Niccolo Machiavelli, the first great Italian historian, and one of the most eminent political writers of any age or country, was born at Florence, May 3, 1469.

Weird Fact: Florence streets can be one name at one end of the street and another name at the other end. For example, Via Martelli is the street leading away from Piazza del Duomo then at the first intersection it turns into Via Cavour.
Fun Fact: Florence is the capital city of the province of Florence and the Italian region of Tuscany.
Interesting Fact: Via Chiantigiana is the most beautiful road in all of Italy. Winding through the vineyards and woodlands surrounding Florence connecting to Siena.
Weird Fact: Fiasco is an Italian word referring to a glass bottle or flask with a long neck. According to the Oxford English dictionary fiasco--meaning a failure or complete breakdown--comes from the Italian expression fare fiasco, to make a bottle. Nobody knows how this Italian expression came to be in the English language. Today, old trattorie are still called fiaschetteria--working men's taverns. Back in the day was known as taverns with hearty, cheap Tuscan wines and later for a more homey Tuscan specialities that paired with the wines.
Historical Fact: In 1339, Florence became the first city in Europe with paved streets.
Random Fact: Florence was home to the infamous Medici family from the 14th century to the 18th century. Leonardo da Vinci, Niccolo Machievelli, Galileo Galilei, Amerigo Vespucci, Donatello, Raffaele, Roberto Cavalli, and Guccio Gucci, fashion designer and Gucci fashion was founded in Florence 1921.
Historical Fact: Florence Nightingale, famous for revolutionizing the field of nursing, was named for the city of her birth.

More facts can be found here do read on..dont be lazy-lazy hehehehe.

I bought our fast train tickets from Select Italy long before We depart to Italy. It's easy and you can secured your seat in advance. Choose the 2nd class seat but still very comfortable and spacious. So no complain. By the way, this is my first time on train.... Seronoklah pulak..kannnn.

Gambar kat bawah ni di Station Santa Lucia Venice. Mula-mula tu ralat juga ingatkan ticket printout tu perlu di stamped and verify kat counter. Rupanya tak perlu. So klik..klik dulu lah buat kenangan.

Sorry ya. I'm not a good story teller.

Ini dalam train dah.... 2nd class.

Me early in the morning. Masih fresh lagi.

Arrived at Santa Maria Novella Station around 3.30pm. Stesen ni tak besar sangat. Besarkan je mata tengok sign board mana nak dapat teksi. Just follow the crowds supaya selamat. Hujan juga di Florence ni. Ramai gagak hitam berjualan payung... payung2 tu dilonggokkan ja di lantai. Akhirnya terjumpa di mana nak tunggu taxi. Kalau kita keluar dari pintu stesen tu, terus belok kanan..jalan...jalan..sampai nampak ramai berbaris tunggu taxi... Sediakan juga printout alamat hotel penginapan. bagi je kat taxi driver so dia boleh baca di mana hotel kita.

Mula-mula sampai kat stesen sehingga 100m pertama, I tertanya-tanya juga apa bestnya Florence ni? cam biasa2 jerrrr... ?

Kami tinggal di BB Florence Bed & Breakfast.