First Time in Florence Feeds Urge to Create Art

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Day 15, 2024 Ultimate Mediterranean

Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024; Florence, Italy

For all the traveling I’ve done, I haven’t seen much of Italy. I loved Venice, where my sisters, mother and I stayed before joining a Princess cruise in 2007. Imagine my surprise when Mom bought a crystal chandelier in Murano and paid a fortune to have it shipped home, assembled and hung. On previous cruises I’ve spent a long day in Rome, visited Pompeii, had a wonderful time touring the Amalfi Coast and saw a bit of Sicily.

Today I realized I’ve only scratched the surface. Day trips while cruising just don’t suffice. In the midst of my afternoon in Florence today, I texted my sisters that we need to spend a month here. They immediately concurred.

Instead of touring with a guide, I bought a transfer to Florence (Forenzi to the Italians), where I had about five hours to explore on my own. I crammed a lot into that short time. It wasn’t hard, because to me Florence has a lot crammed into a small space. What looked expansive on a map was separately only by narrow streets. And yet I still clocked 15,000 steps.

Today’s adventure was a test for me. Could I survive when dropped off in an unfamiliar city, find my way around, work in some sketching and relax with a cappuccino or glass of wine? Instead of the not-insignificant $130 for the ship transfer, I could have opted to take a train. But the Italians decided to schedule a train strike for today. I decided to pay for convenience and less stress. I wasn’t the only one, as we had a full bus.

In addition to the transfer, we got the services of a guide who told us about Livorno and Florence and then walked us a few blocks to the Piazza Santa Croce, with its statue of hometown luminary Dante, where we would meet at 4 p.m. sharp.

Unfortunately, once we got there one of our group took a fall on the worn and uneven paving stones, hitting his head, which resulted in lots of blood. I didn’t wait around for the ambulance to come, as I couldn’t have added any assistance. But fortunately, at the end of the day he and his wife rejoined us, after his trip to the hospital where they stitched him up and ran some tests. The guide handled everything – a benefit you wouldn’t get from an independent train ride.

As I walked the narrow streets toward the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, I stopped in Zecchi Colori. An art supply store I had found earlier on my Google map exploration, it truly is a haven for serious artists – no fancy marketing displays or over-eager staff, but stacks and boxes and hidden stashes of paints, brushes, paper and other delights. I loved exploring, but didn’t see anything I needed.

My digital map showed it was still a few blocks to the huge duomo of Santa Maria del Fiore, but once I exited the shop into the narrow street, the dome loomed immediately ahead. I was reminded of walking Petra’s siq, or gorge, and suddenly seeing the Treasury.

I decided that later I would return to this exact spot to sketch the duomo. Another artist had set up her easel for a similar scene.

The architectural angles of such intricate buildings are not my strong suit, so I thought I would do better with only the glimpse of the huge copula.

But first, a cup of cappuccino and a croissant. And a walk through narrow streets already decorated for Christmas.

One of Florence’s most iconic scenes is the Ponte Vecchio, a Medieval arch bridge over the Arno River. It’s the only bridge spared by World War II and is lined with shops.

This is another place where some preliminary research paid off. From studying images of the bridge, I knew a good vantage point would be from a nearby bridge, and by heading west to the Ponte Santa Trinita, I would capture the Ponte Vecchio bathed in afternoon sunlight.

The sunny but crisp weather (in the 50s) brought out the crowds, but I found room on the bridge to draw, taking my time to add ink and even suggest all the windows of its many shops.

With two rough sketches done, I headed back toward the meeting place at the Piazza Santa Croce. I hadn’t time to tour the Uffizi Museum, but took photos of Michelangelo’s David (the outside version) as I passed.

A vibrant Christmas market filled the open spaces of our meeting place. I had time to sit down for a pizza and chianti – neither the best I’ve had but they seemed appropriate for a late afternoon in this iconic city.

And I proved to myself that, at least for today, I could successfully explore a new city on my own.