Florence, Italy

As stated previously, our introduction to the Land of Pizza could have been better, but things improved as soon as we reached Florence. Firenze: home of the Renaissance and David and other artsy-fartsy things I knew nothing about.

We went for an evening stroll in search of wifi, and wound up by the Ponte Vecchio, which is like your average mediaeval bridge but stacked with buildings. It’s like your older brother stole all the strategic lego blocks and constructed a kick-ass shopping mall bridge while you were left with only enough blocks to build, I don’t know, the bridge that the troll lived under. It’s incredibly good-looking and was the only bridge to survive the World War II bombings.

Florence is the most fantastic clutter of domes and campaniles, marble and gelato shops. I won’t go through all the churches and museums we visited in Florence as it would take a million years and bore you to death. Instead, I’ll just say that Florence is the best-looking city I’ve ever been to. Beats Prague, Bruges and Paris. 

Most importantly, Florence is home to David (the naked guy with the muscles). There wasn’t just one David, either. He appeared all over place, with a fake outside the Ufizi gallery and another up at the Piazzale Michelangelo. It was Real David, however, who helped reunite me with my lovely Monash girls, Kathy and Niki.

It was a Hollywood moment. While queuing outside the Galleria dell’Academia (David’s house), I got a text from Niki saying that they lived opposite the museum. I replied with my location, and seconds later, a window opened overhead and I heard my name called from above. Kathy ran down and Mum took an embarrassing photo, and it was just about the most surreal moment ever. Very entertaining for the queue.

We arranged to meet up later, and then I returned to the parents and saw David in all his glory. His right hand is about three times the size of his left, but otherwise he was much more impressive than I’d imagined. Dad took an illicit photo from behind a pillar while I pretended not to know him.

We then looked in at the very famous Duomo, a big domed cathedral at the heart of the city, all green, pink and white marble. It's like the most structurally amazing wedding cake ever, and the photos do not do it justice.

I met up with the girls for dinner. We joined several other Monash-Prato students in a café near the Duomo. The food was meh but the company was lovely.

I saw Kathy and Niki again the next morning, taking advantage of the weeklong free museum entry; thank you, unexpected Culture Week! We crossed the Ponte Vecchio, climbed all the way up to the Piazzale Michelangelo, and took in the fabulous view out over the city.

Having dropped Niki home for her Orthodox Easter lunch, Kathy and I headed back out with a view to lunching on divine pear-and-cheese pasta. Highlight of my life. We then visited the Palazzo Piti, home to the Renaissance royalty Medici family.

While the rain held off, we wandered through the enormously expansive gardens, which seriously rivalled Versailles.

We climbed up and around and crept through hedge mazes and posed with statues and had a wonderful time until the rain started in again.

The actual palace was impressive in itself, showcasing a grand suite of Medici-style rooms, which again could have been lifted straight out of Versailles. When we finally reached saturation point, we left for Kathy’s house, only stopping for a cheeky waffle-and-gelato on the way. I met up with the parents for our own Easter dinner of traditional Italian pasta. Rather less fish than normal.

Tuesday and Wednesday involved a lot of hiking and city views. Dad and I visited the Uffizi where we saw Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, which didn’t impress me quite as much as expected. We joined Mum and took a bus up to a small town called Fiesole. Fiesole overlooks Florence from a nearby hill, and is the most picturesque Tuscan village imaginable. The Tuscan landscape looks like its been lifted from the background of the Mona Lisa, all narrow, tall cypress trees, vineyards and green hillside.

We took an epic uphill climb for some amazing views and were almost squashed between competing cars on the one-lane (pedestrian only) road.

We visited the local Roman ruins before embarking on our second and more epic ascent. Mel would have keeled over dead halfway. We finally reached a monastery perched up at the apex – San Francesco, visited and admired by Albert Camus – and spent a while catching our breath and the panoramic view of Florence.

It rained a lot on our last day in Florence. A lot. There was lightning, and even though every second building in the city is a church with a metal cross perched at the top, Dad was worried we might get electrocuted via umbrella spokes. We waited out the storm first in the Mercato Centrale (central market) and then in someone’s garage just off the road, until the doors started closing on us and I had to leap out like an umbrella-d Indiana Jones.

And that was Florence. You must go there.