A little background- in Italian, duomo means church, so there are many duomos thoughout Italy, but as there is really only one in Florence, it's just called the duomo. The full name is the Santa Maria de Fiore (Duomo/Cathedral). There are many parts to this church: there is the main cathedral section, which is open free to the public everyday; pictured below from my wanderings a few days before:
There is the Campanile, or belltower, seen here from the midlevel of the duomo (which will have to wait for another day;
there is the Baptistry, another site for another day; and finally there is the Cupola del Brunelleschi (Brunelleschi's Dome) which is what my friends and I were off to see.
We met Ari, SJ, and Allie on the front steps and then went to get our tickets. After Allie and I fought with the ticket machine, we were finally ready to go. A sign near the entrance warned us that it is 463 steps to the top of the dome. We started up the first section of stairs and were doing alright. One stop on this level showcased some of the tools that were used to build the duomo.
and in case you were wondering, from right to left are the tops of Julia, Ari, Allie, and SJ's heads. haha. :)
We made it to the first level of the dome where we could take pictures of the frescos on the inside of the dome.
I can't even begin to imagine the time it took Brunelleschi to paint this masterpiece, and I honestly think the only place that could rival it is the Cystine Chapel.
Anyway, the next round of stairs were some tightly wound spiral staircases. After about 5-10 minutes of these, I was starting to get REALLY dizzy. Luckily, there were a few landings in between where we could take pictures as we scaled the duomo.
Finally we made it to the top, and every single one of those 463 steps was worth it!
The view from the top was AMAZING! We could see every part of the city in every direction, which helped us in making a list of future destinations: Piazza de Michaelangelo, Santa Croce, the Boboli Gardens, Palazzo Vecchio, the San Lorenzo Market, the list goes on and on!
We even found our apartment!
And of course we had to get a roomie picture! :)
and last but not least, all of us!
From left to right: Allie, Sara Jane, Julia, Ari, and Me!
After taking WAY too many pictures, we began our descent. Walking down the stairs was obviously better than the way up, but about half way down, our legs started shaking. Upon reaching the bottom, we decided it was time for some food. So, Julia and I took our friends to Giovanni's cafe for lunch. We all got cappuccinos and coffee, but then we also got sandwiches. I got a ciambettone toscana, which was two pieces of flatbread with tomatoes, cheese, spinach and other tasty veggies in the middle. It was AWESOME. Our friends liked Giovanni as much as we all do! :)
The rest of the day was rather uneventful. Julia and I checked out Ari & Co's apartment and then headed back to the apartment to cook dinner. On the way home, we found a really cool bookstore called Giorni, which had a bunch of really old books, maps, posters, etc. We will definitely be going back.
Julia and I (and when I say Julia and I, I mostly mean Julia) made some capellini with prosciutto and some toasted bread with parmesan for supper. Afterwards, we met up with Ari & Co, along with their friends Brent, Brian, and Momo (she's Asian lol) to go to the Lounge.
The Lounge which we never found, because turns out it was one the SECOND floor of a building of the Piazza della Santa Maria Novella, where we wandered forever looking. Oh well, it was still the most fun I've had doing absolutely nothing in a really long time! :)
As previously stated, there are MANY more pictures from the top of the Duomo, which will be on my Picasa page, so check them out!
Ciao! :)
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