tell me about florence

jean · Posted: Thu May 20, 2004 12:14 pm Post subject: tell me about florence

i'm leaving in 8 days to spend a month or so in florence. i've never been there, but i can't wait to go.

has anyone gone? have any suggestions?
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Jean Railla
my blog: http://mealbymeal.blogspot.com/

soapandwater · Joined: 13 Apr 2004 Posts: 945

Florence, Italy? Are you going to FLORENCE, ITALY?

That's one of the cities I want to go to one day. I blame A Room with a View for that.

I have nothing to say other than have fun.

You do mean Italy, right? You're not talking about some city in some midwest state or anything, right?
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jean · Posted: Thu May 20, 2004 12:47 pm Post subject:

yeah. i mean italy. we were going to swap apartments (which is a great way to travel, by the way), but it didn't work out...so we sublet our apartment in nyc and rented a small aparment in a quiet. non-touristy part of florence for the month of june (a bit longer actually). i'm taking a class for grad school there and my husband and baby are coming for the adventure. b/c we're broke, we took out a student loan to do it, which is utterly irresponsible, i know, but, we don't know when we'll have the time to do this again,and we both passionately believe in adventure. my husband is a professor and he's been on sabitical (leave of absence) for the past 4 months and come the fall he goes back to full-time teaching, instead of part-time writer, part-time daddy.

sigh. i cannot wait to go to florence. it's been a long, busy, eventfull year!

jean
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Jean Railla
my blog: http://mealbymeal.blogspot.com/

Mathias · Joined: 17 May 2004 Posts: 102 Location: Virginia

YOWSA!!! How exciting, Jean! Really!

I spent 5 days in Italy when I was 16, and two of those were in Florence. Stupidly, the thing that always stands out to me when I think of Florence is that I bought and shared a bottle of wine with one of my classmates. Heh. :) It was part of a 16 day trip that members of the high school foreign language club went on--I busted my ass at my little public library job to save up the cash for it. I honestly think I was far too young (with misdirected priorities to boot) to really appreciate the awesome opportunity I had there.

The hubster actually said to me the other day that he wishes that we had traveled after our college graduations for a while (even though we were totally broke at that time) instead of settling into jobs/bills/etc. I guess what I mean to say is that I think it's awesome that you're brave enough to go for the month--because truly, even though you're taking out a loan for it, your experiences there will be priceless.

Okay, cheesey dialogue over and out.

danielepea · Joined: 07 May 2004 Posts: 185 Location: NOLA

Florence is one of the cities that I absolutely MUST visit one day. Spending a month there sounds wonderful!
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jean · Posted: Thu May 20, 2004 8:28 pm Post subject:

thanks for the encouragement ladies!
_________________
Jean Railla
my blog: http://mealbymeal.blogspot.com/

Katrin · Posted: Fri May 21, 2004 12:05 am Post subject:

She was the mom on the Brady Bunch, and then she sold cooking oil and...What? Oh. Never mind.

(Have a great time on your trip, Jean! I've always wanted to go to Italy. My mom is trying to plan a family trip there next year, and I really hope I can go.)

jean · Posted: Fri May 21, 2004 8:45 am Post subject:

smachel · Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Posts: 305 Location: kentucky

too bad you're not heading to florence, kentucky... or you could come and see me. :)

tabularasa · Joined: 22 May 2004 Posts: 23 Location: Brooklyn, NY

hi jean! i lived in florence for awhile. i'm so excited for you! florence is BEAUTIFUL and there's tons to see and do. definitely do all of the touristy things - the uffizi, accademia, the duomo, etc. one thing that a lot of people don't see is the marino marini museum, and it's well worth visiting. it's housed in an old church and has an intimate feel about it that you don't get in the bigger museums.

also try to get away from town a bit - siena, san gimignano and fiesole are all wonderful. cinque terre is super lovely, but further away. visit the other side of the arno (called the altr'arno) - it's less touristy and quieter.

and just spend time doing normal things - sitting by the arno and writing in my journal/sketching was one of my favorite ways to spend time, walking down narrow streets, enjoying the sun in piazzas. oh, that and eating massive amounts of gelato! ;)

you are so so so so lucky! feel free to pm me if you want more info.

pucca · Joined: 25 May 2004 Posts: 7 Location: New York, NY

I second everything tabularasa said. I especially recommend spending time in Siena. The last time I was in Siena, I purposely got lost and wandered around vineyards and little farms outside the city. Fantastic.

If you get overwhelmed with all the art (and there is so much beautiful art in Florence) spend some time in the Boboli Gardens. It's a nice change of pace. I also recommend staying in this neighborhood across the Arno river (much less touristy).

The NYTimes just had an article on the newly cleaned David:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/25/arts/design/25
DAVI.html