Florence, Italy Day 2

Day two was more of me abandoning the tour group and wandering around on my own. The tour guide lent me an English language guide book so I started a suggested walking tour at the Ponte Vecchio.
It is one of the oldest bridges in Europe and is lined with jewelry shops.

It's the closest bridge in this photo.

Next I headed up a little alley and enjoyed the surroundings as well as the lack of tourists.

I got a little off track and stopped using the guidebook but enjoyed what I saw.


I did not end up visiting this church but was able to see it as well as the Boboli Gardens from above (no time to actually go there).

I'd been told we would be visiting the viewpoint pictured above right before we left town but I decided to hike all the way up and enjoy the intermediate views as well. I'm glad I did because our visit on the way out of town amounted to 5 minutes to snap a couple photos and then high tail it out of there.

The plant life and dripping water under one of the walkways for some reason reminded me of the water and light show at Enchanted Forest. I'm really not sure why.

I was very hungry after all the hiking around so I found a moderately expensive pizza joint across the street from what looked to be the flagship Salvatore Ferragamo store. Buffalo Mozzarella and porcini mushrooms, yum!

The sun finally decided to come out after lunch and the street performers appeared.


Shortly after lunch I rejoined the tour group and we went to the Santa Croce cathedral.

The apse was completely covered in scaffolding and several museums not open to the public so admission was free!

The church housed several famous figures tombs including Dante's, Galileo's, and Michelangelo's pictured above.

After the church and some quick gelato we were bussed up to the viewpoint where I took a few more photos. The olives trees behind my head are actually the classiest looking RV park I have ever seen.

The city hall and Duomo.

On the bus ride back it was clear enough to get some romantic views of the Tuscan countryside. Makes me want to find a hostel near a vineyard and just soak it in.

Next: Vienna

Florence, Italy Day 1, Part the Second

One of my favorite things that I stumbled upon on day one was this outdoor gallery next too the Gallery Uffuzi (where Michelangelo's David resides) and the city hall.

For a sculpture with the word rape in the title (The Rape of the Sabine Women), I thought this was pretty amazing.


I was also taken with these feet. Amazing stuff.


There were several ancient roman sculptures along the back wall. The bird is real, not marble.
Raise the roof Mercury.
Here's one of the outdoor Davids, this one is in front of the city hall.

I found a smaller church that was originally a merchant's guild market, then turned into a church. It was a nice place to escape the rain, other tourists, and sit down for a bit. Church pews are the only free place to sit in Italy. Restaurants and cafes charge a seating fee, and there are no benches anywhere. There was a no photography sign but I sneaked one photo.
Back at the Duomo I decided to take a couple detail photos because the facade is so intricate.

One tiny part of the Cathedral door. Back at the 4 start hotel I was treated to the previous guest's child's artwork all over the wall.

Florence, Italy Day 1

So not last weekend but the weekend before I had had a really long week and was looking forward to some R&R at home but apparently the universe had other plans for me. That Friday afternoon as I was finishing school one of the employees as the school offered me her tour package to Florence for the weekend. She had conflicting plans and couldn't get a refund but could change the name on the tickets so was looking for someone to take them. I was the only person she's found who was available. The only catch was that the bus left town at 5am the next morning, so I had about 10 hours to make dinner, pack, shower, research the city and sleep before I left. I think I got about 4 hours of sleep plus maybe another 1.5 on the bus. Also, all of the information and narration given by the tour guide was all in Slovenian, not English.

The drive was half in the dark and half in the rain so I couldn't see much in the way of scenery but it was occasionally beautiful. I would have slept more but the tour guide started using the PA to talk about where we were around 6am until we got there around 1pm.


One of our first stops was the Duomo which I vaguely remember studying in art history in college. It was on a midterm but I forget specifically why other than the dome being the first of it's time.
I read/then remembered that the inside is a perfect example of a romanesque church and that the arches on the sides are gradually wider closer to the back to give the illusion that the space is longer than it actually is.

This was the best photo I could get of the inside of the dome, as almost everything worth seeing in Florence has high admission prices. And long lines/crowds of tourists.

They were obviously in the process of cleaning/restoring the marble facing of the church, the result of which was quite beautiful. After seeing the first couple of sights with the tour group I got a little annoyed because 1) I couldn't understand anything the tour guide was saying, 2) I wasn't able to wander and take photos the way I liked to because I might not hear the group leave, 3) sometimes my favorites things to see have nothing to do with the main sights that everyone else is going to, and 4) I was starving and in desperate need of lunch. So I found out when and where to meet the group to catch the bus back to the hotel and forged out on my own.


First stop on my own was lunch. I had a crazy delicious meal here consisting of spaghetti with a spicy garlic tomato sauce for the first course and a stewed beef with tomato and zucchini for the entree. Expensive, but good.


At a sweet shop. I think they're orange sticks but I prefer to think of them as chocolate slugs.

Much more to come later!

Further discoveries in Ljubljana

The day before classes started I ventured to Tivoli park which I had been staring at out of my hostel window all week. It was a nice break from the city and I think I only managed to see less than a quarter of it in a couple hours. It'll be even nicer once the leaves fill in.


The graffiti is probably the first thing I noticed when I visited the center of the city. I'm so used to it being quickly covered up in the US that I was struck by how much there is here. But one of the travelers in the hostel remarked they love the graffiti here because it's so cute and optimistic compared to other cities they'd visited.


I was not particularly impressed until I happened upon on a skate park with some really good stuff.
I walked over the Dragon Bridge again today and thought I should get a picture of the light fixtures too.


The Parliament building is very Yugoslavian in architecture but the front entrance is graced with stacks of naked bronze people.


The waterfront is lit up and beautiful at night.


Another view of Preseren Square and the triple bridge, the center of the city.



The old town which forms a crescent around the castle hill is pedestrian only and consists of just two streets like this one. It's small but very cute.


Ah, finally some makeup. We students were invited to be wallflowers (and clean some brushes) at the backstage makeup area for Slovenian Fashion Week. It was crowded and full of models. Many of the makeup artists seen here are MUD Alumni from last year. I felt like a fish out of water because I know so little about fashion but at the very least it was a fascinating anthropological experience. And the male models were easy on the eyes.

Next: Photos of the school perhaps?

Lake Bled

On my last free weekend before school started I decided to join a couple of kids from North Carolina (David and Meredith) that were staying at the hostel on their trip to Lake Bled.

It was about a 90 minute bus ride through the countryside which ranged from flat and sparse to positively scenic.


Here is one such scenic town we drove through. You can tell we're very close to Austria by the look of the towns.

The bus stop in Bled doesn't give much indication you're arrived anywhere special but once to find the right direction to walk in you're greeted by the lake and this castle and church sitting right above it.


The three of us decided to picnic beside the lake before we ventured up the hill to the castle.

The steps up to the castle. I was a bit winded by the end of it.



Once we got to the castle instead of heading straight in we hiked around the back and found some spectacular views.


From the back to can see how sheer of a cliff side the castle rests on. I was a little wigged out by how unsupported some of the lookout terrace felt.


Looking back towards the city of Bled from inside the castle. The lake is the wedding and tourism capitol of the country so there are many hotels, spas, and a casino lining the lake. There was a hefty admission price to get into the castle but it was filled with a fairly interesting museum on the geology and archeological history of the area as well as the castle.

The island in the middle of the lake has a church on which is a local favorite for marriages. There are 100 steps leading up to it that according to local custom the groom has to carry the bride all the way up in order to get married. On our return trip to Ljubljana we took a taxi van that was hanging out by the bus station that offered a faster drive (40 minutes) for just 1 euro more than the bus (as long as the van was full) it was a stuffy ride but worth it for the time savings. Back in town I finished up the evening with a riverside dinner with my new American friends, it was quite lovely.

Next: school starts and more bits around town