I will be processing and posting most of the pictures I am taking when I get home, but here is one from Florence that probably shouldn't wait. This will tell me who is paying attention.
Old Maps
5 weeks ago
Showing posts with label Florence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Florence. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
Not as good as I thought I was
I knew that the Italian spelling for Florence was Firenze. I knew that the Giro had a stage finish in Firenze this year. So far, I had it right. What I MISSED was that the finish was in Firenze on Friday, the day I arrived, and the stage finish on Sunday that I thought I would pick up by spending the weekend in Florence was actually in Faenza which is nowhere near Firenze. It's looking like the order of the vowels really does matter.
For Giro watching, it looks like my last chance is going to be on the final timetrial in Rome. I have an apartment and a railroad ticket, so I'm hopeful that I really will be there.
For Giro watching, it looks like my last chance is going to be on the final timetrial in Rome. I have an apartment and a railroad ticket, so I'm hopeful that I really will be there.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Day of Museums
Miles from Home - 5473.6 miles
Firsts / Highlights - City exploring.
Miles Ridden - 0.0 miles
Vertical Feet - 0 ft
Route - No ride today (or the next couple of days).
People - Just me
This post is from May 24, 2009.
I had a day of playing hard-core tourist today. I don't get as much from that as actually DOING something, but when you have 48 hours in a city like Florence, you kind of need to just collect trophies. My trophies were:
The Academia (home to David - you may recognize the shadow of his rather familiar pose).
The Uffizzi Gallery - Museum of Italian renaissance art.
DaVinci Museum - This was not an A-list attraction, but it looked interesting, so I went in. This was a collection of models built from DaVinci's drawings. They were not functional, but they were 3-dimensional and helped me visualize what Leonardo had in mind. It is so impressive to realize how far his concepts were ahead of his peers ability to create them.
Piazza della Signoria - center of historical Florence and home of a good number of statues and scale replicas.
Pitti Palace - just took a quick walk along the front. It was too big to take on with the available time.
Santa Croche - Tombs of Michelangelo and Dante.
Il Duomo - The famous domed chuch. It was built hundreds of years before the design and engineering capability existed to built a dome, but they knew it would eventually be possible, so the built it and left it uncovered for a couple of centuries.
Ponte Vecchio - a bridge built in 1345 lined with jewelry shops across the Arno River.
I decided to ship home about 7 pounds of things that I can live without. The weight of my lugguge getting from city-to-city was becoming a problem. I felt pretty good about finding 7 pounds of excess until I learned the cost for shipping. It was about $100 for 7-day delivery. I didn't need it there in 7 days, but that was the least expensive option available from the fairly rare shipping company that I found. Ouch.
Time to lug my bike and slightly lighter backpack to the train station. Heading to Siena for the next week.
Visualizza Siena in una mappa di dimensioni maggiori
Firsts / Highlights - City exploring.
Miles Ridden - 0.0 miles
Vertical Feet - 0 ft
Route - No ride today (or the next couple of days).
People - Just me
This post is from May 24, 2009.
I had a day of playing hard-core tourist today. I don't get as much from that as actually DOING something, but when you have 48 hours in a city like Florence, you kind of need to just collect trophies. My trophies were:
The Academia (home to David - you may recognize the shadow of his rather familiar pose).
The Uffizzi Gallery - Museum of Italian renaissance art.
DaVinci Museum - This was not an A-list attraction, but it looked interesting, so I went in. This was a collection of models built from DaVinci's drawings. They were not functional, but they were 3-dimensional and helped me visualize what Leonardo had in mind. It is so impressive to realize how far his concepts were ahead of his peers ability to create them.
Piazza della Signoria - center of historical Florence and home of a good number of statues and scale replicas.
Pitti Palace - just took a quick walk along the front. It was too big to take on with the available time.
Santa Croche - Tombs of Michelangelo and Dante.
Il Duomo - The famous domed chuch. It was built hundreds of years before the design and engineering capability existed to built a dome, but they knew it would eventually be possible, so the built it and left it uncovered for a couple of centuries.
Ponte Vecchio - a bridge built in 1345 lined with jewelry shops across the Arno River.
I decided to ship home about 7 pounds of things that I can live without. The weight of my lugguge getting from city-to-city was becoming a problem. I felt pretty good about finding 7 pounds of excess until I learned the cost for shipping. It was about $100 for 7-day delivery. I didn't need it there in 7 days, but that was the least expensive option available from the fairly rare shipping company that I found. Ouch.
Time to lug my bike and slightly lighter backpack to the train station. Heading to Siena for the next week.
Visualizza Siena in una mappa di dimensioni maggiori
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Florence
Miles from Home - 5473.6 miles
Firsts / Highlights - First time to set foot in Tuscany.
Miles Ridden - 0.0 miles
Vertical Feet - 0 ft
Route - No ride today (or the next couple of days).
People - Just me
This post is from May 21-23, 2009.
Visualizza Florence / Firenze in una mappa di dimensioni maggiori
I left Lake Garda yesterday and moved from bike riding in the countryside to big city adventures. My original plan was to go directly to Siena, but the hotel closed out availability for the first 2 nights of my stay. I could have stayed at Garda for a couple of more nights, but my bike was already packed, so I decided to improvise. End result, I’m in Florence (a.k.a., Firenza).
The guide books say that the Academia and Uffizi require reservations months in advance, but I was able to get both last night when I arrived. I am heading to the Academia now to see Michelangelo’s David. Later, the Uffizi for one of the great art collections in the world.
The Giro has a stage finish in Florence tomorrow, so I will stick around for the circus before catching a train to Siena.
It’s easier to bleed money while in the city than the countryside, so I am going to head off and try to keep my credit card idle for as much of the day as possible.
Firsts / Highlights - First time to set foot in Tuscany.
Miles Ridden - 0.0 miles
Vertical Feet - 0 ft
Route - No ride today (or the next couple of days).
People - Just me
This post is from May 21-23, 2009.
Visualizza Florence / Firenze in una mappa di dimensioni maggiori
I left Lake Garda yesterday and moved from bike riding in the countryside to big city adventures. My original plan was to go directly to Siena, but the hotel closed out availability for the first 2 nights of my stay. I could have stayed at Garda for a couple of more nights, but my bike was already packed, so I decided to improvise. End result, I’m in Florence (a.k.a., Firenza).
The guide books say that the Academia and Uffizi require reservations months in advance, but I was able to get both last night when I arrived. I am heading to the Academia now to see Michelangelo’s David. Later, the Uffizi for one of the great art collections in the world.
The Giro has a stage finish in Florence tomorrow, so I will stick around for the circus before catching a train to Siena.
It’s easier to bleed money while in the city than the countryside, so I am going to head off and try to keep my credit card idle for as much of the day as possible.
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