Is Florence turning into Venice

- February 29, 2016

Florence...the city of art, architecture and love...

Florence, 2016

Wait,wait haven't I wrote that about Venice? Yes, I have and I must admit that this description suits well both places. Florence, just like Venice, is full of remarkable works of art and architecture. The wealth of former republics, have created the great environment to built this beautiful, powerful and influential cities. And nowadays both Venice and Florence are filled with this atmosphere of excitement and mistery, that derives from the good (for some), old days.

But when making such a comparison similarity of a rather different nature occurs to me. It seems that Florence is turning into the city-museum, a sort of a ghost town, that's alive mainly thanks to the countless tourists that are wandering tirelessly the narrow old streets.

Just like Venice, the city center is being abandoned by the original residents, the Florentines, who choose to live outside the city. The reasons are always the same: the high costs of living (driven by the tourist business) and the constant and rather loud presence of the visitors from all over the world. In fact it's not easy to meet a Florentine in Florence. (The city seems to be taken by Americans - they are everywhere, in pubs, language schools, art classes, restaurants, shops and museums).

Some visitors search for fun, others need relax or simply an escape from boring life. Some want to discover Florence, its history and architecture, others want to have fun, take few fabulous pics and try some lampredotto & cappuccino (please just don't mix it altogether). And Florence for sure can meet all of this and many, many more needs.

Santa Croce, Florence 2016

Florence is a city of romance, buzz, and inspirations. The city where great people lived and worked (just to name a few: Donatello, Boccaccio, Machiavelli, Brunelleschi, da Vinci, Dante, Savonarola plus the Medici family). It's the real renaissance city and I think it would be simply sad to loose it for a bad fast food, chain stores and crappy souvenirs.

Since I am a tourist myself saying that I don't like that Florence in turning into open-air museum would be pure hypocrisy. I am one of the reasons it's happening. I am among those people, that come to Florence, Venice, Barcelona or any other place simply to check to what level the reality meets the expectations created by movies, photos and travel magazines. Mass tourism is changing Florence, Venice and Krakow, and no matter if you travel in an organized group or you are a lonely-backpacking-wolf, you are contributing to this changes. And it's kind of disturbing...

For sure I will back in Florence again, there are so many things I haven't discover yet. And I hope I will see a city which hasn't lost its uniqueness. Now, take a look at few pics taken during my trip in February.