Tuscany’s Florence: The Jewel Awaits


Florence1Photos by Steve Wright

It’s a place so ancient that parts of the old, defensive wall still remain here and there. But its essence was distilled from the glory of Europe’s Renaissance, when oligarchs and craftsmen, artists and clergy made the city the fantastic place that still draws art and history lovers from all over the world.

Florence, Italy, is a jewel decorated with stunning art and soaring cathedrals that begs to be explored. But how can wheelers enjoy a place with cobblestone streets and buildings constructed when Michelangelo was sculpting the great statue of David? My husband and I (he, a walker; me, a wheeler) yearned to see this beautiful city but worried about access. We did a great deal of research ahead of time. The planning was well worth it. Over two weeks, we immersed ourselves in Florence, which was our home base. We also made several day trips to nearby towns, savoring every moment and not breaking the bank.

On our day of arrival, a woman with Turismo Senza Barriere (Tourism Without Barriers) picked us up at the airport in a wheelchair-accessible van. The organization promotes accessible travel throughout Italy. Wheelers can also take cabs from the airport to the city. The train station is right in town, so if arriving by TrenItalia, you will not need a transfer to the city center.

Florence8To avoid inflated hotel rates, we booked accommodations in a renovated 13th century palazzo in the city’s Otrarno neighborhood. The palazzo contains several small apartments, one of which has been made accessible, and includes a roll-in shower and easy-transfer toilet. There’s one step at the palazzo’s main entrance off of a charming side street. It can be entered via a small portable ramp that the manager left in place during our stay. Our apartment was plenty roomy, had a small galley kitchen, a dining table, bed and sofa sleeper. We were enchanted with its vaulted ceiling but glad we brought a portable white noise machine. Vespas and motorcycles sped by just outside our windows at all hours, a minor trade-off for the chance to experience European city life.

Florence: The Ancient City
Florencehomepage Florence9Dense, walkable Florence offers much to see and do within a relatively small area. As with many ancient cities, the sidewalks and roads are often made from cobblestones and pavers. Some are smooth, others quite rough-hewn. My joint and nerve pain can be aggravated by too much jarring of my wheelchair, so we picked our paths of travel carefully. If you have a chair that handles bumps well or bumps don’t really bother you, you’ll be in good stead. Otherwise, you may need to take cabs to most of your in-town destinations. Cab drivers generally don’t respond to the New York-style street hail, so it’s best to call ahead for one or find one of the many marked taxi stands in the tourist areas.

Our digs were within easy walking and rolling distance from many sights, shops and restaurants. The Pitti Palace — the Medici family estate — was five minutes away and easy to access via chair. The art and furnishings inside are spectacular and readily-accessible via modern elevators. The grounds containing the Boboli Gardens are beautiful but challenging because of the sloping hillside.

Florence2The richly-colored Ponte Vecchio Bridge crossing the Arno River was a 10-minute walk away. The jewelry and knick-knack shops along the bridge were too touristy for our taste, but walking the bridge made for good people-watching as well as easy access. Once across the river, the world-famous Uffizi Museum is approximately a half dozen blocks away. Florence has so many spectacular museums that it can be hard to choose. If your time in the city is very limited, then see the Uffizi first.

You know how art books always have iconic paintings on their covers? This is the place where you’ll see such works. The Botticellis alone — including The Birth of Venus and Primavera — are worth braving the crowds. And for travelers with disabilities and their companions, the Uffizi, along with all of the city’s museums, are free of charge — plus wheelers are expedited to the front of the admission lines that sometimes snake around the block. And  you can visit each museum as many times as you like. Consider making two or three shorter visits rather than one marathon stop in order to conserve your energy.

The other two museums that made the top of our list were the Accademia and San Marco. The Accademia is not a huge museum but its signature artwork is. Here Michelangelo’s sculpture of David — the original, as opposed to the copy outside the Uffizi — enthralls with its grandeur. Note the expression of bravura on David’s face. It was meant as a warning to the Medici family never to return to the city during a period when they were in exile.

San Marco is a church as well as a convent-turned-museum. The principal displays of art are splendid — including Fra Angelico’s depiction of the Deposition of Christ from the Cross — but it’s the meeker works that drew us to this place. Within the monks’ cells are frescos of scenes from the life of Christ, by Angelico and his assistants, intended for the monks’ contemplation. We were especially drawn to the cell that was home to Savonarola, the Dominican friar who launched a puritanical campaign that included bonfires of the vanities in order to reform a sinful Florence. An outdoor life provides access to the upper floor with the famous cells, colorful books and art.

Florence3Italy’s reputation as a civilization through the millennia is unparalleled: standard-setting architecture, ingenious feats of engineering, art as awe-inspiring as gazing into the face of God. But let’s not forget two of the best things about contemporary Italian culture: tasty things to put in one’s mouth and gorgeous things to wear.  That’s why Caffe Giacosa was a must-see on our list. Nestled in Florence’s famed fashion district centered around Via Tornabuoni (the boutiques! the bags! the Pucci prints!), Giacosa is part coffee house, part salon, and 100 percent famed Italian designer Roberto Cavalli.

Florence7Cavalli, a Florentine by birth, saved and re-imagined the spot that was the former location of an antique shop turned cafe. The designer synonymous with bold animal prints has created a space — once known as Florence’s drawing room — that gives a nod to both the past and the present. Think Old World luxe crossed with contemporary chic: a gorgeous wooden bar and padded banquets; walls covered with black and white photos of fashion models, working the all-important contrast of light and shadow, like the chiaroscuro in Renaissance paintings.

To get the full flavor of Giacosa, we went first for breakfast, then returned for afternoon highballs. Our morning visit included aromatic, perfectly foamed cappuccino and an assortment of scrumptious pastries, including some dark, near bitter chocolate delights and a blueberry-filled croissant. For the cocktail hour, the drink of choice is the Negroni. The mystical union of Campari, sweet vermouth and gin was invented on this very site at the start of the 1920s, back when it was Bar Casoni.

The Tuscan Countryside
The Tuscan countryside is gorgeous, and Italy’s train system is convenient, wheelchair accessible (including onboard bathrooms), and very affordable; perfect for getting to and from many Tuscan towns. I boarded in my wheelchair, then transferred to a standard train seat. The trains we used had roomy, wheelchair-accessible single-user bathrooms on board.

Florence4If you plan to travel by train, plan ahead. Sala Blu (the blue hall) is a program within TrenItalia and serves as the main point of contact for wheelchair travelers. They coordinate assistance services such as help with boarding and bags, as well as connecting services. The assistance is available in many stations throughout the country.

We took the train to beautiful but very hilly Siena. Visiting wheelers need to be proficient on steep slopes or travel with a strong companion. We were drawn to the city’s Museo Civico with giant frescos depicting scenes of good and bad government. Just outside sits Siena’s iconic main plaza, the site of Il Palio, a summertime horse race shown in the opening sequence of the Bond film, Quantum of Solace. When the horses are racing, Siena’s true spectacle is its cathedral. The medieval duomo is a gigantic, gorgeous structure of striped white and green-black marble, with some red marble on the façade. Siena’s duomo, more beautiful and serene than Florence’s tourist-choked duomo, is accessible via a ramp on the side of the building.

Florence6Upon arrival in Lucca, we took a short cab ride into the old heart of the town. It’s still encircled by a centuries-old, amazingly well-preserved stone wall that runs more than four kilometers. In the 19th century, the top of the wall was planted with trees and plants and turned into a scenic park. We met up with a guide, who took us on a walking tour of various cathedrals, piazzas and landmarks. After several overcast days in Florence, we were entranced by the sunlight bathing everything in a golden glow. Dapples of shadows and light played off the ochre of walls, the indigo of an awning, the vermillion of window box geraniums.

The beautiful marble San Michele church — built between the 11th and 14th centuries — is located on a scenic square originally the site of a Roman forum. It has a massive, striking Romanesque façade. Lucca’s cathedral San Martino is located on a lovely piazza surrounded by medieval structures. A tall 12th century bell tower stands adjacent. We enjoyed the ancient sites, but found ourselves developing a bit of “historical fatigue.”

This led us to Via Fillungo, which runs along the main commercial district of restaurants and boutiques. The street is mainly pedestrian and had excellent, smooth surfaces for wheeling.

Florence5The nearby town of Fiesole is an oasis of tranquility. In the 1500s, affluent Florentines came to Fiesole to escape the bustling city in their countryside villas. But it’s the more ancient attractions — including a barrier-free outdoor Etruscan museum and ancient Roman amphitheater — that enchanted us. The Etruscans settled here nine centuries before the birth of Christ and built a temple on earth foundations overlaid with stone. The Romans were relative newcomers, conquering the town in 283 B.C. The Roman theatre — built in the first century B.C. — has been extensively restored.

When we first arrived and saw the cascading hillside, we were skeptical about wheelchair access. We figured we’d only be taking scenic photos from the top of the hill. Soon we discovered that access has been provided via a series of ramps and reliable lifts. We wheeled down each level, certain we could go no further.

Amazingly, we made it safely and pleasantly to the bottom. We were also able to navigate through all levels of the museum, where we viewed its collection of ancient ceramic artifacts. With its gorgeous Tuscan hillside vistas, we understood why both the ancients — and more recent residents such as Frank Lloyd Wright — fell in love with Fiesole.

If You Go
• Accademia, Via Ricasoli 58–60; www.polomuseale.firenze.it/english/accademia
• Café Giacosa, Via della Spada, 10; www.caffegiacosa.it
• City of Florence site (much n in English); www.firenzeturismo.it/en/florence-accessible/florence-without-barriers.html
• Palazzo Belfiore, Via dei Velluti, 8; www.residencebelfiore.it
• San Marco, Piazza San Marco 1, +39 055 238 8608
• TrenItalia, Piazza della Stazione, 1; www.trenitalia.com. E-mail Sala Blu at service@italiarail.com.
• Turismo Senza barrier; www.turismosenzabarriere.it
• Uffizzi, off Piazza della Signoria; www.uffizi.firenze.it

Best Dining
• Cibreo, at the San Ambrogio Market, off Via de Macchi, near Santa Croce; www.edizioniteatrodelsalecibreofirenze.it.
• Dei Frescobaldi, Via dei Magazzini; www.deifrescobaldi.it/en/restaurant-wine-bar-florence/menu.html
• La Cucina del Garga, Via San Zanobi; www.garga.it/english.html
• Trattoria Baldovino, Via San Giuseppe;  www.baldovino.com
• Trattoria Benvenuto, Via della Mosca; www.trattoriabenvenuto.it
• Trattoria Pallottino, Via Isola delle Stinche 1 r; www.trattoriapallottino.com


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