I approached it with some nervousness. I have a pretty bad fear of closed spaces and not being able to escape, and although I'd flown once before as a very young child (after watching Turbulence, at that), the fear had developed since and I'd not gone near a plane in over a decade. One of the main reasons why I decided not to go along to the university trip to Berlin last year was because I hated the thought of flying.
However, see "bucket list" sentence - I really couldn't let this one go, especially while I had the money, and that outweighed the anxiety about flying. I was a wee bit tense at Heathrow especially as we had to wait three hours to board, but on the plus side I whipped out a Kinder-egg container, some water and my mini-paint palette to try and capture the beautiful sunrise from the window:
Sadly didn't do it justice but it was a great way to help me relax.
Eventually we got on the plane and although I was fearful and a bit shaky, we got to Bologna very smoothly with no disruptions, a beautiful blue sky and with little turbulence - I even fell asleep for the last half hour of the flight. The snack wasn't half bad either. When I flew to Spain as a 9-year-old, I distinctly remember the skin that had formed on my foil tray full of baked beans and curly fries (which I'm not entirely sure were meant to be curly). Eugh.
Nice view!
Again ... this is November we're in.
After getting to Bologna (where it was so warm - so much for winter weather!) we went on a two-hour long coach ride to Florence. I slept for most of this and was still a little weary from all the travel when I hopped out. A few moments later we were being sorted into our rooms for the hotel - I shared with a very nice lady from the Photography course called Saadia, and we had the room (made for about five people) to ourselves thanks to student numbers. How lucky were we?!
After a spot of unpacking and a chance to get settled, we then headed out to get our bearings around Florence.
Trying to figure out where to go ...
The first of many, many photos of the amazing Duomo. Definitely one of my favourite parts of the trip and I'm going to love doing some real paintings from the photographs I took (sadly, with all I did I didn't get much of a chance to dig out the watercolours again).
The sheer size and detail that has gone into the building is magnificent, I've never seen anything like it in my life. I could probably happily paint this for years on end as there's just so much to it.
After admiring the Duomo from the outside, we headed into a small side-street where we came across Zecchi, which is a tiny little art shop that has some amazing things for cheap prices. I was on a tight budget on this trip, but I managed to get a pocket-sized sketchbook (which I filled during the trip) for about 2 Euros, and a book of Fabriano watercolour postcards for 3 Euros. Happy days!
We then stopped off for pizza at a small local cafe. After trying pizza made from scratch, I don't think I'm going to be able to go back to the frozen ones we usually get in the UK - it just can't compare!
I crashed for the night at about 7PM, the earliest time I think I've ever gone to bed while healthy - but I slept well! The hotel was definitely the most basic of basics (and I daresay the youth hostel in my 2007 Belgium stay was more comfortable) but as I only used it to sleep and the staff were nice enough I didn't really pay much mind to it.
Next day was the Galleria dell'Accademia visit! Jack and I originally planned to get tickets for the same time but by the time I booked, his time had sold out and I had to get one for half an hour later. In the meantime, I sat on a bench in a street near the museum and did a little drawing while tourists and locals went about their daily business:
Sadly, photos in the Accademia museum were not allowed, but I stuck around for about 4 hours drawing and drawing (some scans shall be up soon). There was so much to get down onto paper! I got to see Michelangelo's David in person, too - a 17-foot tall statue with his own wing of the museum.
Afterwards we headed to the Piazza della Signora. I can't remember now what we were looking for - I think we'd seen a crazy spire in the distance and had wanted to find it to examine the building further, but ended up coming across here instead so we stuck around for more sketches and people-watching. It's right next to the Uffizi Gallery, which we were due to visit the following day, so finding this place was useful in more ways than one!
It was also on Tuesday that we took a proper look inside the Duomo. We were to save climbing it until Thursday (to spread our activities out a bit, and we were still pretty tired from travelling) but I was still enthralled by the interiors of such a magnificent cathedral:
Click the image to see it full-size. It is worth it.
It was then I joined Jack in the pub for a wind-down before I headed back to the hotel for the evening. I had my Embodiment journal with me to recount the day - already proved useful as when writing this post I've forgotten what I did on which day and when! I also painted a postcard for my dad (after working out how to buy stamps for the three I'd bought) and caught up with Saadia on what she did with her day.
Wednesday was the Uffizi Gallery! We'd all tried to book for the same time but I only really saw a handful of coursemates while I was there. I'm not surprised as the Uffizi is humongous, and again I spent a while there sketching and absorbing the atmosphere. No photos from here either, I'm afraid, but I'll have some scans to show you! It was here that I saw Botticelli's Birth of Venus in person.
After this, Jack, Kieran and I headed to a lovely little local cafe that Jack had visited earlier (and told us of its 1-euro espressos). We stopped for a drink and a little something to eat.
Sadly I didn't get to try any gelato while I was away, but the food presentation was gorgeous. I never thought I'd photograph so much food in my life.
Thursday was the big one - climbing the Duomo, one of my favourite parts of the entire trip. I am proud of myself in that I only had to stop once to get my breath back during the 460-odd fairly steep steps up the tower, and that's because I was rushing.
You can see why here:
What a fantastic view! The weather was also glorious, there was a lovely breeze, and it felt like a summer's day as I sat there and just soaked it all up. People can also climb the tower above, but as that cost extra I chose to give it a miss and kept it to the Duomo (free to visit but 8 euros to climb to the top).
Jack and I then headed to the Bargello which was also a favourite of mine (I wish I could have stayed longer!) but unfortunately they had to close early that day, so we could only hang around for about two hours. We got some nice sketches done, though, and what we did see was definitely worth the 2 euro entry fee!
Friday was spent preparing for our flight to go back. The plane ride was a little bumpy but we were all just desperate to get home by that point, all illustrated out and totally tired - and this morning I really felt rotten as all the travelling caught up to me and then some - but this visit was worth it all.
Good stuff!
