Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Ravenna to Florence

This will be a short blog tonight, because I am exhausted.  This is the 5th city I've been to in 4 days...not counting cities in which I just changed trains.  What was I thinking?  Apparently I was thinking I've still got enough youth left in me to attempt such a schedule.  Foolish me!

I had the morning in Ravenna and then in the afternoon I began my train journeys to Florence.  I had to take one train back to Bologna and change to another train coming to Florence.  By the time I arrived, I was so tired that I just got off the train and took a taxi (which I rarely do) to my apartment.  Usually when I arrive in a new city, I spend a little time in the central station getting a transportation pass, a tourist map, and a map of the bus, tram, or train lines so I have a little info about how to get around.  But, in my hurry to get here, I failed to even pick up a tourist map.  That will be at the top of my list of things to do first thing tomorrow morning.  I did look up a map and some sights to see on my tablet, but I don't carry it around with me during the day.  I travel light when I'm on foot all day.  It was nearing dusk anyway by the time I got back out, and without a map to guide me, I just did a short tour of my surrounding neighborhood...so, I won't really have anything to report about Florence until tomorrow.

Until then, here are some final pictures of Ravenna and a few of my apartment in Florence...

This is Basilica di San Apollinare.

Inside the basilica.  This one is unusual in that it has the tile work above the side arches, but the altar is much more traditional looking. 
 
A closer view of the tile work above the arches.
 
 
The altar...done in marble without any tile.
 
This is inside the Basilica di San Francesco.  It's noteworthy for two things, one of which is inside the little archway below the altar that these school kids are clamoring to get a look at.  See next pic... 
 
It's a baptismal well...right under the church altar.  And it has goldfish in it!  Holy goldfish, I'm guessing.

This is the other noteworthy thing at San Francesco: it's the tomb of Dante Alighieri.  Dante lived in Ravenna after he was exiled from Florence, died here, and was entombed at this church.  Oddly enough, Florence also has a tomb for Dante...but his actual remains lie in this one in Ravenna.

I saw these signs in Ravenna and thought they were cute.  This is parking for pregnant mothers...with a little heart in their belly. 
 
This is my studio apartment in Florence.  It feels very Italian with the brick tiled floor and large windows with wooden shutters.  It was warm enough when I arrived to have them open.

The kitchenette.  Check out the gigantic lock on the door to left of the counter. 

The very small, but cute, blue-tiled bathroom.  The shower is across from the toilet.

These are my windows from the outside with the interior doors closed.  There are additional wooden shutters that cover the glass part of the windows from inside.
 
 
 
 

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