Travel – Page 4 – Under The Cypress Tree

Florence is a city rich in cultural history, art and beauty. The acclaimed Duomo dominates the skyline from all angles, and the terracotta-coloured tiles on the roofs absorb the sun creating a warm, orange-ish hue that envelops the city. The streets are reminiscent of Venice: small, cobbled and crowded; and they all appear to lead to the main Piazza. Food in Florence is typically Tuscan and generally wonderful, a restaurant to highlight is ‘Fuoco Matto’, just off of Piazza Indipendenza. This is a modern, but relaxed, restaurant with a chilled vibe but traditional (and excellent) Tuscan food.

This itinerary includes the ‘must-sees’ of the city, but it is tailored towards the art-lover. The art is the primary reason we decided to visit Florence, and we were certainly not disappointed. This is a busy itinerary, and the days do tend to be quite full, but it ensures that key parts of the city are visited, and all the important pieces of art and architecture are included. Having said this, this itinerary is flexible, and allows time to break in the day and relax in the evening. There is also the possibility to re-arrange parts of the day to whatever suits best. This itinerary is not set in stone but offers a guide to the best places to explore on the same day. Comments are always welcome.

Day One:

Fly into Rome
Take the train to Florence
Arrive at the hotel. Enjoy the pool, atmosphere and local surroundings.

We decided to fly into Rome primarily because the flights were cheaper, easier and available. Taking the train from Rome to Florence was clear and affordable. We bought first-class tickets for the same price as many UK standard tickets, and it was still rather luxurious. The journey itself was picturesque as we sped through the Tuscan countryside and enjoyed the views of Vineyards and farmland.

Day Two:

Visit Galleria dell’Academia
Walk to Piazza del Duomo
Visit the Baptistry
Visit Museo Dell’Opera di Santa Maria
Have lunch in the area
Visit Il Duomo de Firenze

It is essential to book in advance for the Galleria dell’Academia and it should be noted that the booking site is slightly difficult to navigate. Ensure enough time is left to book the tickets for the right day – they are non-refundable and non-transferable. Arriving at the Galleria at opening time would be good for those who wish to avoid masses of tourists and large tour groups. The Galleria holds Michelangelo’s legendary ‘David’ as well as multiple key medieval paintings, friezes and sculptures.

The Galleria is approximately a 9 minute walk from the Piazza del Duomo. Buying these tickets in advance is also helpful; the tickets cover the Museo Dell’Opera, the Baptistry and allows you to book a slot to clime the Brunelleschi Dome. To visit just the cathedral is free. It is important to check the opening/closing times of each location to decide the order in which to visit each location. We visited on a Sunday, and the Duomo was only open after 1:30pm, hence the decision to visit it last. The queue was long but moved quickly: do not be put off by it. There are plenty of cafés and restaurants in the square, and it is a beautiful place to soak up the sun and take in the glory of this architectural feat.

Michelangelo’s ‘David’ at the Galleria dell’Academia

View of Piazza del Duomo

Queueing to enter the Duomo

Front of the Duomo

Day Three:

Visit Leonardo da Vinci Museum
Visit Capella de Medici, San Lorenzo Basilica and Medicea Laurenziana Library
Walk to Piazza Santa Maria di Novella and have lunch in the area
Visit Santa Maria di Novella
Head back to the hotel for an afternoon/evening of relaxing

The Leonardo da Vinci Museum is a little-known gem of Florence. It is a small museum that maps the life and works of the famous artist and inventor. It also featured appliances and machinery built to-scale from da Vinci’s sketches, many of which are interactive. A great place for children and any physics/engineering/architecture lover.

The Medici Chapels and Library are only 5 minutes from the da Vinci museum and are a group of ‘must-sees’. The Medici Family were the prominent bankers, and ultimately rulers, of the city for a long period of its history. The Basilica and library are stunning in their medieval style, while the catacombs within the Medici household exhibit many of the jewels and treasures of the Medici collection.

Santa Maria di Novella is known for its beautiful facade that matches the exterior of the Duomo. Inside is a large chapel and series of cloisters that expand in a tardis style: the size of this church cannot be estimated from the outside.

Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana

View from inside Medici Residence

Santa Maria di Novella

Basilica San Lorenzo

Day Four:

Visit Uffizi Gallery
Walk up to Piazza della Signoria, take in the site and note Palazzo Vecchio
Walk to Ponte Vecchio and over the bridge to Palazzo Pitti
Have lunch in the area
Visit the Palazzo Pitti

The Uffizi Gallery is the main art gallery in Florence. Again, booking in advance is recommended, unless you arrive early enough to queue. The gallery is arranged chronologically, and will take approximately two and half hours to see it all. The Uffizi houses key works by Michelangelo, Raphael, Da Vinci, Giotto, Botticelli, Bellini and Caravaggio. The Uffizi should be a priority for any art-lover or historian. Entrance to the Uffizi gallery also permits entrance to Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli gardens. It is possible to extend the tickets to cover three days to allow visiting flexibility.

Piazza della Signoria is around the corner from the Uffizi, and holds a selection of famous statues. The expansive nature of this square is impressive and the ability to admire the statues close up is a luxury not available in a museum setting. The placing of the statues in this public space creates a tangible connection between city and art that is somewhat lost when statues are enclosed in a gallery or exhibition.

Walking across the Ponte Vecchio provides scenic views of the River Arno as well as the opportunity to buy beautiful jewellery. The bridge is famous for its rows of jewellers, as well as for featuring in Puccini’s ‘O Mio Babbino Caro’. Palazzo Pitti holds a plethora of art and exhibitions, most notably the state rooms and the collection of “Modern Art” (Modern in this sense referring to post-1850).

Queueing for Uffizi Gallery

View of Ponte Vecchio

Statues in Piazza Signoria

Ponte Vecchio

Piazza Signoria

Day Five:

Hop on Hop off Bus Tour – first tour 9:00am, last tour 6:00pm
Hop off at Santa Croce
Get back on bus
Hop off at Piazzale Michelangelo for the stunning views
Get back on bus
Hop off at Palazzo Pitti but walk around the Boboli Gardens + see the Neptune Fountain
Hop back on and return home

I aim to use the ‘Hop on Hop Off Bus’ in each city I visit – it is a fantastic way to see the architectural sights and get a visual impression of the city as a whole. It also functions as an alternative to public transport, and it is easy to use and often tourist-friendly. The “Hop on Hop off” was brilliant in Florence as it allowed us to speedily visit Piazzale Michelangelo without taking half a day to climb the hill, as well as access the ancient town of Fiesole.

Santa Croce is another stunning church in Florence, comprising of this same, iconic facade design. This particular church houses the graves of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Galileo Galilei and Machiavelli, as well as Cimabue’s infamous cross and a tunnel of Victorian graves. Piazzale Michelangelo offers panoramic views of the city and is a prime photo-taking location. We decided to alight the bus a stop early to walk through the Boboli Gardens, up to Palazzo Pitti. This is quite a steep climb but the lush greenery and manicured gardens are well worth the hike.

Santa Croce with my Victorian Art Guidebook

Walking through the Tunnel of Graves

Santa Croce

Galileo’s Grave Monument

View of Palazzo Pitti from Boboli Gardens

Piazzale Michelangelo

Under the Cypress Trees in Boboli Gardens

All pictures are my own unless otherwise credited. Permission must be obtained before any reproduction and credit must be issued in any reproduction.

I am a “Southerner”. I enjoy the semi-seasonal weather, the clear dialect and afternoon tea in the garden. I generally do not feel infuriated by the individualist coldness on the London streets and I value the well-connected public transport links. For me, The Midlands and The North blur into one and they feature the scary myths of Spaghetti Junction, stand-still traffic on the M1, dinner at midday, chips and gravy, and scantily dressed girls on nights out. It is as foreign to me as The North is to the Lannisters. A crime, I know.

Needless to say, my venture to Yorkshire to visit my boyfriend’s family home, as well as the Brontë Parsonage Museum, was an educational adventure. After 4 hours driving northbound, we arrived in Pannel, a small town in the heart of Yorkshire County. The winter darkness had set in two hours into the journey, cloaking the vast, unruly countryside promised to me by so many writers. There was also no sense of crossing a boundary, nor a formal feeling of entering the north – we simply arrived. While it wasn’t raining, the bracing February wind was fiercely cold as it lashed our exposed skin as we raced into the warmth.

Our itinerary for the weekend was busy, exploring the cobbled streets of local towns and cities, tasting “Northern” fish and chips (and scraps), taking Betty’s Afternoon Tea, and, most excitingly, visiting the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth. I am a Brontë enthusiast: Jane Eyre taught me to be strong and resolute, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall encouraged me to be independent and Wuthering Heights introduced me to a world of wild passion and expansive emotion. These iconic texts not only caused trembles in the patriarchal world of Victorian authors, but they also continue to shape and encourage young minds in this modern world. They offer an essential insight into the constraints of Victorian society, the issues revolving around the married/creative/emotional woman. While these novels are steeped in epochal issues, they are timeless in their impact as they continue to promote equality.

On approaching Haworth, the scenery is breathtaking. The expansive rolling moors, divided only by the rustic stone dykes, and the crepuscular rays illuminating sections of the green grassland, elicit a solitary, but liberating feel.

Elizabeth Gaskell traversed this same Yorkshire terrain and explains in her biography of Charlotte Brontë that ‘all round the horizon there is this same line of sinuous wave-like hills, the scoops into which they fall only revealing other hills beyond, of similar colour and shape, crowned with wild bleak moors – grand from the ideas of solitude and loneliness which they suggest’. Gaskell perfectly depicts the rise and fall of the horizon and captures the vast, expansive nature of this countryside. Gaskell also comments on the ‘solitude and loneliness’ of these moors. While the clear lack of people does support this sense of isolation, it is not lonely. It is, instead, peaceful, serene and glorious. By no means do these Yorkshire moors live to their bleak and grim reputation in the South; the epithet of ‘God’s Own Country’ is certainly spot on.

Scenery, setting and description is synonymous within Emily’s Wuthering Heights, as the untamed moors emulate Heathcliff’s primitive nature and Cathy’s impulsive emotions. While Emily illustrates the moorland and Yorkshire countryside in such an evocative manor in her text, physically being elevated in the depths of the hills, encircled by the bitter (but invigorating) wind, provides a connection to Emily, to the text and to Cathy that was quite unexpected. I was half anticipating to see the ghosts of Heathcliff and Cathy wandering the moors.

Entering the site just the two of us through the bottom of the graveyard, the atmosphere is incredibly suggestive as the tall evergreens somewhat block the light, providing an eerie hue, while the skeletons of the trees tower over the graves and physically signify the corpses in the ground. These elements undoubtedly perpetrate the sensations of the supernatural – if I were a ghost-watcher, I am sure I would have have sensed a presence.

We first visited the church before heading up to the parsonage. The connection to the author was epitomised at this point, and my fangirling surfaced as I exclaimed to my boyfriend: ‘This is it! They lived here. They actually walked these paths, breathed in these rooms, and this is where they lay!”. When did I become such a stereotypical, fanatical tourist? I am somewhat ashamed to say that this excitement lasted the duration of our parsonage visit – indulging in the manuscripts, pouring over letters, marvelling at outfits and admiring the original set up of the house. While I was slightly disappointed by the few amount of original ‘Emily artefacts’ on show, I realised that this was probably due to her early death. Only three months after Branwell’s passing, Emily also died, aged only thirty. At the parsonage, death is omnipresent; not only does the house look over the cramped churchyard, the parsonage itself would have been dark, damp and dank, creating an environment that fosters disease and, ultimately, death. These sinister undertones are apparent at the very core of Wuthering Heights, as the bleak setting and tragic plot perpetrates the sense of loss and desolation that occurred on the doorstep of the parsonage.

Despite this sinister atmosphere of the past, the present Howarth is charming. It allures the international tourist by its quintessentially British set-up, and pleases the seasoned British traveller with its shops, tea-rooms, pubs and sloping cobbled streets. After a warming cup of loaded hot chocolate, a plate of ploughman’s and conversation with the fellow tables we were fully satisfied. Brontë country had served us well.

My first trip “T’up North” taught me many things: that it is anything but bleak, that it may be cold but the sun does shine and that Northerners really are very friendly. It grounded my interest in the Brontë’s, their lifestyle and literature, and sparked an idea that has developed into my MA thesis. A second visit is now in the making, and I look forward to exploring more of this rich cultural heritage in the future!

All pictures are my own unless otherwise credited. Permission must be obtained before any reproduction and credit must be issued in any reproduction.