Florence Express
A Short Visit to the Birthplace of the Italian Renaissance
(Second in a two-part series on Italy)
By Ingrid Anthony

You could get lost for days wandering the narrow streets in Florence (Firenze in Italian). You’ll find history and culture in every corner, tucked among the city’s many piazzas, beautiful churches and fascinating museums. If you don’t have the luxury of time as we did when we visited Florence, choose a hotel in walking distance to the “must see” attractions. Time is sometimes more valuable than the savings you may occur in choosing a hotel far from the main stream of the city.
With that in mind, we unpacked our belongings at the Western Excelsior Florence and headed out to uncover the treasures of this city, which is known as the “cradle of Renaissance” for its monuments, churches and buildings. Since we had only about a day and a half, we were again on a mission as we were in Rome (read May 2009 article on Rome).
Our first stop on our tour was visiting the primary art museum of Florence, the Uffizi Gallery. This museum is an extraordinary container of paintings that embrace an historical period from the 1200’s to the current day. We continued on to the Accademia Gallery and gazed for a long time at Michelangelo’s David. A trip to Florence would not be complete without seeing its art and the universal genius of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. Tickets for the museum should be bought beforehand as not to wait in lines during the height of the tourist season. However, during the summers, the Accademia and the Uffizi Galleries have extended hours midweek, which means from 7:00-10:00 p.m. all the tourist groups are gone and you can just walk in with no wait, no reservation, and no surcharge and the museum is just for you. Of course, there are many other exceptional museums located in Florence, but for us, we would have to plan to return at another day to visit them.
We had no time to dawdle so we hurried on to the Florence Cathedral, the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore with its dome (Duomo) that would forever dominate the panorama of Florence. It’s still today the largest masonry dome of the world. The construction of the church began in 1296 in the Gothic style to the design of Arnolfo di Cambio and completed structurally in 1436 with the dome engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi. It is considered a spectacular contribution to architecture. To appreciate Brunelleschi’s genius, and for the best view of Florence, you need to scale the 463 steps to the top of the Duomo. Since we did not have time for that, it would be yet another reason to return to Florence.
When planning this trip to Florence, a friend, who lived in Florence for many years, mentioned that I should visit the jeweled bridge. I envisioned a bridge constructed with some colorful stones resembling jewels. When I finally encountered the bridge, I discovered my imagination did not coincide with the reality of this unique piece of architecture. The Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge) has a multitude of shops built upon its edges and held up by stilts. The bridge spans the Arno River at its narrowest point where it was built during Roman times. It has always hosted shops and merchants who displayed their goods on tables. It is said that the economic concept of bankruptcy originated here: when a merchant could not pay his debts, the table on which he sold his wares (the “banco”) was physically broken (“rotto”) by soldiers, and this practice was called “bancorotto” (broken table; possibly it can come from “banca rotta” which means “broken bank”). Not having a table anymore, the merchant was not able to sell anything. During World War II, the Ponte Vecchio was not destroyed by Germans during their retreat of Aug. 4, 1944, unlike all other bridges in Florence. This was allegedly because of an express order by Hitler. Butchers initially occupied the shops; the present tenants are jewelers, art dealers and souvenir sellers.
Of course, being with a group of women, we had to have some time for shopping. In Florence you’ll find leather goods, paper goods and jewelry as well as nice souvenirs and art productions. We were lucky to visit one of the open air markets selling food, clothing and antiques. The most famous is around Piazza San Lorenzo where you’ll find leather goods (this is where we did our most damage—beautiful leather purses at reasonable prices).
All of the above popular tourist attractions are within walking distance of our hotel The Western Excelsior Florence, an undisputed masterpiece in its own right. It was important for our group to stay at a hotel and be surrounded by the rich history of the city. The hotel is found in Piazza Ognissanti and is just moments away from the marvels of Florence: the Renaissance churches of Santa Maria Novella, San Lorenzo and the Duomo; the exquisite Piazza della Signoria; the Uffizi Gallery and the finest masterpieces of Italian painting from Botticelli to Raffaello, Giotto to Leonardo da Vinci; picturesque Ponte Vecchio and its fabled jewelers and leatherwork boutiques. From the windows one can see a breathtaking view of the old bridge that stretches from the River Arno, the winding medieval streets that surround the town and views of the panoramic Tuscan countryside—catch the sunset if you are able—it’s spectacular! Named one of the top 75 hotels in Europe by Conde Nast Traveler, guests can enjoy the piano bar, the Mediterranean restaurant, and the Westin Kids Club. This five-star hotel also offers 24-hour room service, babysitting and has an onsite health club complete with sauna, jacuzzi and beauty treatments. The service was impeccable and the staff extremely friendly. The Western Excelsior Florence is decorated in 15th century elegance with antiques, fine fabrics, beautiful woodwork and marble florors and is considered a Renaissance palace on the River Arno. An added plus is that it is located only four miles from the airport—giving us extra time to enjoy Florence before we had to say our goodbyes.
Florence is one of the world’s most beautiful cities, and hopefully our next visit will allow more time to discover the seven centuries of noble history. You cannot do this in two days, but we gave it our best shot.