fh_trips | Florence [Friday Daytime, October 18th]

The five-star Hotel Savoy (http://www.hotelsavoy.it/) offers luxury and style in the heart of Florence. Located on the Piazza Repubblica, close to Florence's renowned Duomo, the hotel is just a short walk from the Uffizi Gallery and the Ponte Vecchio. It's also just steps away from the main Florence fashion houses if you're all art-ed out. Which would be a shame because you can't get a block in Florence without seeing some naked guy in a fountain. And most of the time they're even made of marble!

Everyone is staying in deluxe double or twin rooms (http://www.hotelsavoy.it/assets/_shared/all/images/room_images/7_DLD.JPG) ~~depending on what's funnier~~ and offer a view over the Piazza della Repubblica as well as of the Duomo. The Italian marble bathrooms, with mosaic decorations, also feature a separate shower, and the chaperones' rooms have a balcony out to enjoy the view of the city more thoroughly. Each room comes with satellite television, phones, internet connections and a minibar. Mmm, 10 Euro Toblerone.

[ooc: here (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Aq994Jtyb7HrdFNUSnZ2TWlaOHZKdGN3S0t5LW9FZHc#gid=1) are your room assignments for this part of the trip, y'all know where the dirty stuff goes.]

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Eating at the hotel restaurant (ttp://www.hotelsavoy.it/pictures/lincontrobar1.jpg) in one of the great food capitals of the world might seem like a cop-out, but with a menu (http://www.hotelsavoy.it/dining/lincontro/menu/) like L'Icontro's (http://www.hotelsavoy.it/dining/lincontro/), we'll allow for an exception.

It's a bar (http://www.hotelsavoy.it/pictures/lincontrobar3.jpg) that pours an authentic enough martini to end up on the official list of 'Bund Bars' throughout the world. In other news, there's a list of bars that are cool enough for a fictional character to drink in. Hee.

If you haven't figured out by now you have to walk pretty much everywhere in Italy, there's nothing we can do to help you on that front, but if you want to work out your arms and abs while getting an amazing view of the Duomo (http://www.hotelsavoy.it/pictures/savoy_health2.jpg), the Savoy's got you covered. They also have a steam room, perfect from unkinking those muscles worn out from seeing all there is to see!

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If you come to Florence and don't spend time at the Uffizi (http://www.uffizi.com/), you have missed out on one of the great art museums in the world. Originally just a display for all of the art the Medici family had acquired, it was one of the first museums in the world: open to visitors by request since the 16th Century and to the public at large since 1765. You can see works by Giotto and three of the four not-turtles: da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael.

Come to see the marble statue of a naked guy (http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g187895-d195557-Reviews-Statue_of_David-Florence_Tuscany.html) that has been famous for centuries, stay for the other artwork, including some being done by Italian student artists right now. If they don't seem as good as the David, well...the David.

It's practically across the street from the hotel, so go see it! The Duomo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Cathedral) (or the Basilica of St. Mary of the Flower, though no one calls it that) was begun in 1296 and finished in 1436 because cathedrals are wicked expensive to construct. It's one of the largest churches in the world, and the brick dome is the largest in the world. Until modern-era constructive materials were invented, it was the largest dome, period, in the world. You can climb to the top of the cathedral and get an amazing view of Florence and the surrounding countryside. While you're in the area, you can also stop by the Baptistery (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Baptistery) and see the amazing bronze doors by Lorenzo Ghiberti, and Giotto's Campanile (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campanile_di_Giotto), a bell tower, that while beautiful and impressive, is not as tall as the one in Siena. So suck it, Florence.

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It's hard to go wrong with food in Florence. There are little corner shops that sell water and pizza, and gelaterias, it seems, are on all the other corners. The city’s best gelateria, or ice-cream parlor, is Vivoli! Remember that a a cup, or tub (coppa), is better value than a cone (cono), and that you can ask for more than one flavor on your cone or in your cup! The hotel has recommendations (http://www.hotelsavoy.it/florence-concierge/dining/) for pricier options--Michelin starred restaurants, places that have been open since the 1800s, but you can't really get a bad meal even if you go for one that comes price fixed with wine, pasta and dessert for 20 Euros.

There's more to Florence than even the most OCD among us could want links to. Have fun!

Don’t miss the Mercato Centrale, a vast covered market selling fruit, vegetables, olive oil, and dozens of other gastronomic treats. If you have more cash to spend, the exclusive boutiques of Via Tornabuoni and Via Vigna Nuova are the places to go for really amazing clothing: remember that Prada and Dolce & Gabbana are both local Florentine companies.

I realize, belatedly, that I should have changed my icon. BUT I'M NOT GOING BACK AND REPOSTING ALL THIS.

Also, you can never have too many hockey gifs.

Gert was getting kind of bored with all the churches and religious art; she was kind of more interested in Florence's political history. So she set off with a map and a camera for the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence's functioning city hall that had begun its life as a thirteenth-century government building where Dante Alighieri had worked as a prior before the Black Guelph takeover and his exile.

She wandered through the museum part of the building and took her time checking out the art they'd stuck in here, but she found herself much more interested in the plaques detailing the history of the building and the many, many changes in government it had seen. This felt more like what she knew about Florence.

[[don't ask me about my high school obsession with Dante and Florence. open!]]

If you didn't think Topher giggled at the penis, you were just wrong. Because it happened and a whole cluster of pretentious Italian art students rolled their eyes at him.

Alec was continuing his church tour of Italy with a stop at the Duomo, yes. He seemed to be one of the few non-locals who didn't seem that interested in climbing the stairs to see the view; he was perfectly content to wander around the outside of the cathedral, and then when he was done with that, he dipped inside to admire the interior.

Eventually he did climb up to see the dome, but only after he'd spent a respectable amount of time checking out the stained glass windows, the art (angel paintings, haaaay) and the crypt.

The crypt was an afterthought. See the tombs of a bunch of mundanes he'd never heard of for three euros? Yeah, okay.

Edited 2013-10-18 07:16 (UTC)

Cade snorted. "Have you checked out the ass, too?"

Because if you're standing in front of a huge marble naked dude, what else are you supposed to do?

"I find that going back and forth between the two maximizes the humor of the piece," Topher said in an exaggeratedly pompous voice, tapping his chin. "Very artsy."

Yeah, pompous people didn't say 'artsy,' Topher.

It wasn't much of a surprise that Isabelle was drawn to the churches too, even though this was her first one during this trip. It was even less surprising that she'd make her way over after spotting her brother.

"Hey, Alec."

Cade snorted.

Pompously or something.

"Have you seen all the statues in fountains, too?" he asked. "From the right angle, they're totally taking a whizz in the middle of a square."

Cade was so, so classy.

"Heh." Topher snorted. "You'd think the builders would have thought of that."

Weirdly, the sculptors had probably been more preoccupied with their art than with thoughts of what immature teenage boys in the future would think.

Edited 2013-10-18 13:57 (UTC)

"Well, look who's done shopping at every store in Italy," Alec teased. Despite the fact that his tone was pretty serious, like usual, it was still teasing. "Fancy seeing you here."

Florence [Friday Daytime, October 18th]

The Hotel: Hotel Savoy Firenze

Rooms

Foods

L'Incontro

L'Incontro Bar

Fitness

Adventures Away From the Hotel: Florence!

Sightseeing!

Uffizi Museum

Accademia Museum

The Duomo

Eating and Shopping!

Eating!

Mod Your Own Adventure!

Shopping!

OOC!

The Palazzo Vecchio

Re: Accademia Museum

Re: The Duomo

Re: Accademia Museum

Re: Accademia Museum

Re: The Duomo

Re: Accademia Museum

Re: Accademia Museum

Re: The Duomo