Florence and Pisa Weekend Trip

The weekend of November 22nd-24th my friends and I decided to take a weekend away. So after only getting to visit Florence briefly on a school trip, we decided to return to the amazing city and see some of the stuff we missed.

So on Friday, November 21st, we arrived at night to the "hostel" in Florence. It turns out that the 4-person "hostel" room was a HUGE 4-person apartment that the owners simply gave us the key to. To end up in an apartment that had a kitchen with fridge, a TV, a sitting area, queen beds, and much more instead of a 4-person room with bunk beds was simply awesome.

So after spending the night enjoying the amenities of the hostel, early in the morning we went over to the Uffizi Gallery. The Uffizi, which is one of the oldest and most famous art museums in the world, was perfect at 7:30am in the morning- no tourists, no people talking, no tour guides with little flags- perfect.

The Gallery was truly amazing and it had some of the most famous works by painters and sculptures, including works by Botticelli, Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio, and many others.

Since I couldn't take pictures inside, I happened to get a quick picture before we entered of the sign explaining not only that I couldn't take pictures but much, much more...

From the Uffizi Gallery, I also took a picture of the Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge), the famous bridge that crosses the Arno bridge in Florence. It truly is a marvel of engineering and architecture that has stood for centuries.

At the end of the walk through the Uffizi you end up on the roof of the palace and I got some great views of the Piazza della Signoria...

...and a view of the Duomo of Florence. This famous dome was designed by Brunelleschi and became one of the most impressive engineering and architectural domes constructed in the world. The distinctive octagonal design of the double-walled dome was never seen before, and Brunelleschi even had to design a mechanical hoist to bring the materials, mostly brick, up to construct the dome.

Another great view of the Ponte Vecchio.

So after walking around after the Uffizi Gallery, I HAD to introduce my friends to the amazing, only-available-in-Florence lunch of Lampredotto. After having Lampredotto with my professor when I was Florence before I took my friends to the same lunch stand and we all tried the Lampredotto. Yet again, trying to forget that Lampredotto is the fourth stomach of the cow, I had the unique Florentine lunch.

After lunch we went over to the Duomo and got to see the inside of the Gothic-style Florence Cathedral.

Then the four of us climbed Brunelleschi's famous dome and got to see Florence from the highest point in the city.


Later, as if the day hadn't already been packed with enough activities, we got a chance to catch the afternoon train to Pisa. The hour long train ride got us right to the city famous for its leaning tower.

The Piazza dei Miracoli is the major piazza in Pisa that includes the leaning tower, the Duomo, and the Baptistry. The piazza was packed with tourists, street salesmen, and people posing for the famous leaning tower photo, so I got a couple great pictures of my own.

Inside the Duomo.
Leaning tower as the sun set in Pisa.

I had to do it. I think turned out ok.

After returning to Florence, we got a chance to visit one of my most anticipated Florence night spots in Florence- Club Tenax. The club is considered the best in Italy and it truly lived up to its hype. The club was enormous, and the Saturday night "Nobody's Perfect" party was DJed by two of the world's best DJs.


Then on Sunday the 24th we got up early and went over to Academia dell'Arte, which is home to Michelangelo's famous sculptures including the Prisoners and, of course, David.

Michelangelo's prisoners were unfinished sculptures intended for the tomb of Pope Julius II, and are pictured here along the wall in the room leading up to the David.


After the Academia, we headed back to the hostel to check out and we got a chance to stop in the Piazza della Signoria where the Palazzo Vecchio (Palazzo della Signoria), the town hall of Florence, stands.

Also in the Piazza della Signoria is the spectacular Loggia dei Lanzi. It is a great three-bay loggia that houses some great sculptures. The one below is The Rape of the Sabine Woman by the Flemish artist Jean de Boulogne.


The weekend in Florence was great, and the city definitely lived up to its name as one of the greatest Renaissance cities in the world.