16 Days Europe Vacation Package Day 3

16 Days Europe Tour – Europe Vacation Package Day 3 Rome to Florence

After breakfast in our Rome accommodation, we checked out and were ready to leave the hotel, Hotel Melia Roma Aurelia Antica, by 0830 hrs.

It was a good three hours ride by our comfortable coach to our destination, Florence, which comes from the word ‘flore’ meaning flowers. The birthplace of Michelangelo, it was an interesting visit of the city of Florence where we toured the area on foot on this Europe vacation package.

Here you can see lots of Pinocchio souvenirs since Florence is the birthplace.

Pinnochio

Christmas tree in Piazza del Duomo

A major attraction in the rigion of Tuscany, the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (Cathedral of Santa Maria del Flore) is the cathedral church (Duomo) of Florence, Italy, begun in 1296 in the Gothic style and completed structurally in 1436. According to our tour manager, Ricky Tiang, this is the 4th largest basilica in the world and is also known as the Florence Cathedral.

Florence Cathedral - The largest brick dome ever constructed

 The cathedral complex, together with the Baptistery and Giotto’s Campanile are located in Piazza del Duomo and are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Giotto's Campanile or Bell Tower

Look closely at the artwork and you will find it difficult to believe that these are not paintings, but instead painstakingly made of tiny mosaic pieces.

 The exterior of the basilica is covered with various shades of white, pink and green marble panels and presents a gothic facade.

Florence Cathedral

Take note of the double dome built by Filippo Brunelleschi, the founder of the Renaissance period, which till this day remains the largest brick dome ever constructed.

The Florence Baptistery or Battistero di San Giovanni (Baptistery of St. John) is a religious building in Florence (Tuscany), Italy, which has the status of a minor basilica.

Florence Baptistery

The octagonal Baptistery stands in both the Piazza del Duomo and the Piazza di San Giovanni, across from the Duomo cathedral and the Giotto bell tower (Campanile di Giotto). It is one of the oldest buildings in the city, built between 1059 and 1128. The architecture is in Florentine Romanesque style.

The Baptistery is renowned for its three sets of artistically important bronze doors with relief sculptures.

Admission to St John’s Baptistry is Euro 4 per person.

Dubbed the Gate of Paradise by Michelangelo, the doors are made of bronze and in 3D, a wonder in the era it was done.  At the top of the Gate of Paradise, you can see St John blessing Jesus.

Gate of Paradise

Piazza della Signoria, Gentlemen Square, till today retains its reputation as the political hub of the city of Florence.  Here, you can see many interesting buildings and statues of significance such as the Palazza Vecchio, Michelangelo's statue of David, a gallery of statues at the adjacent Loggia dei Lanzi, the Fountain of Neptune, Bandinelli's statue of Hercules and Cacus and many others.

Piazza della Signoria

Piazza della Signoria or Gentlemen Square with the equestrian statue of Medici and Michelangelo's David

Palazzo Vecchio on the left and Loggia dei Lanzi on the right

Lunch was not included in our vacation package. Our tour guide, Ricky Tiang, recommended us to try the pizza at Fratelli La Bufala and we were not disappointed. The pizza here is cooked in a special woodfire oven and though the crust is not crispy as we would prefer, it is not that cheesy and we enjoyed trying out a few pizzas with various toppings.

You can even watch the live pizza making at Fratelli La Bufala whilst waiting for your meal to be served.

Fratelli La Bufala for some great Italian pizza

After lunch, we passed by the Uffizi Museum, originally part of the palace that was to house the Florentine magistrates but now one of the oldest and most famous art museums.

Uffizi Museum Gallery

Next, we passed by the Arno River, the second most important river in central Italy.

Arno River as seen from Uffizi Museum

Arno River

Ponte Vecchio or Old Bridge along Arno River with buildings built on

The last surviving bridge along the Arno River, Ponte Vecchio, with buildings built on, as seen in the picture above, now provides a panoramic view of the Arno River as well as housing jewelry shops.  This bridge dates back to 1345 and is built practically at street level.

Bust on the Ponte Vecchio

Arno River as viewed from the Ponte Vecchio

Walking a little further, we passed by street painting artists with nativity paintings as well as Il Porcellino, the bronze fountain of a wild boar.

Street Paintings

Il Porcellino

Bust of Dante

We passed by Casa di Dante, Home of Dante Alighieri, an Italian poet in the Middle Ages.  The Casa di Dante now serves as a museum dedicated to Dante.








When in Italy, you simply must visit Peruzzi.  As our tour manager puts it, Peruzzi is the godfather of all things leather.  Florence in Italy is famous for its leather products and Peruzzi is the largest leather outlet store in Florence.  In the leather business since 1948, Peruzzi is renown for its workmanship, care of detail and quality.  Thus, if you are looking for a great place to shop for leather goods and designer fashion where you can even personalize your purchases with your initials gold stamped on the spot, Peruzzi is the place to go!

Peruzzi Leather

Dinner was at a villa, La Certosa Restaurant, where we enjoyed a Tuscan dinner of beef steak as well as were entertained by folk music. In Italy, villas are the homes of the rich.

Our group enjoying the wine and food...

Our accommodation for the night was at Wall Art in Prato – a beautiful hotel with 1200 sq metre art gallery designed to host private collections, shows and events dedicated to merging talents. Rooms are tastefully furnished and very spacious, more towards an apartment style.

Wall Art in Prato

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