Trip to Autumnal Florence

Autumnal Florence entices with pleasant temperatures for city tours and fewer tourists than in high season, even if “fewer” still meant a rather lively old town and large groups in front of and inside the sights. The reason for my trip to Tuscany was indeed the photo project with the Duomo Santa Maria del Fiore, but beyond that, there was so much more to see in the city.

After exploring the Duomo, I strolled through the old town and to Piazza della Signoria, the city’s living room and a meeting point for visitors from all over the world. The proportions and architectural style of the “Old Palace” with its towering spire impress me anew every time. The architectural style – as with the Duomo – is an impressive blend of Romanesque, Gothic, and Renaissance elements. Here too, some of the most famous architects of their time were at work, such as Arnolfo di Cambio, Michelozzo di Bartolomeo, and Giorgio Vasari.

Another major attraction is the copy of Michelangelo’s David statue. I remember, at 19, on my first trip to Italy, standing reverently before the well-defined and proportioned statue of the youth. Sam Anderson felt similarly, as I had read in his informative travel report about Florence and the David statue in the SZ.

Facing the sun, the naked figure seemed to long for the few hours of sunlight in the cooler half of the year, as direct sunbeams only fell on its body around midday between the Uffizi buildings.

Finally, I spent the early evening watching the sunset on the banks of the Arno and admiring the famous “Old Bridge” (Ponte Vecchio). Small shops are lined up above the medieval bridge arch, their rear sides protruding like balconies over the actual bridge. The recently re-opened Vasari Corridor runs above the floors with the shops, connecting the Palazzo Vecchio with the Palazzo Pitti.

The ochre, yellow, and orange colours of the facades glowed even more intensely in the golden twilight. Above them, the Earth’s shadow arc with red and purple tones soon rose in contrast, slowly transitioning into the night blue. In the end, the bright moonlight covered the city with a silvery veil.

From my vantage point on the Ponte Santa Trinita, I not only saw this incomparable panorama, but I could also observe the numerous professional photographers posing their clients – predominantly young Asian couples on their honeymoon – against this impressive backdrop.

The luxury boutiques and shops in the pedestrian zone were still busy at this time. There were many international tourists in the city. In Florence, too, one can feel the international trend of extending the travel season into November and avoiding a visit during the overcrowded and too hot summer months of July and August.

Past the lively Cathedral Square, I headed back to the campsite and then early into my warm sleeping bag, as I wanted to experience the old town at dawn the next morning. Fortunately, the first bus left the campsite for the old town, three kilometres away, early enough.

I entered the wide and still quiet Piazza della Signoria with its palaces and artworks just in time for the first daylight. In Hamburg, there’s a police station called “Davidwache” (after its location, Davidstraße). But wouldn’t such a name be much more fitting for those police officers who kept watch over the (copy of the) David statue at night?

I continued to the Ponte Vecchio, where this time the Mediterranean colours of the eastern side of the bridge glowed in the twilight. My destination was again the Santa Trinita Bridge, as at the time of my trip, the sun would rise exactly behind the Ponte Vecchio. When the sun finally emerged from behind the Chianti hills, the professional photographers also reappeared with couples classically dressed in suits and gowns for their honeymoon shoots. I didn’t see people with flowing, colourful dresses, like during the Flying Dress shoots in Santorini.

Thus began an eventful day in Florence, during which I intensively engaged with the Duomo photographically. I climbed the dome and the bell tower and took shots of the facades following the path of the sun. Nevertheless, I had plenty of time to discover the Florentine flair in other parts of the city.

Even this time, I didn’t manage a visit to the artworks in the Uffizi and had to skip sights like the Basilica San Lorenzo. So there’s plenty of reason for another trip to Florence. But before such a long-term plan, the return journey over the Alps and the tour to Lake Federa in the autumn-coloured Dolomites were immediately ahead.