When you have been to a place several times and you saw it crowded, suffocated by tourists, its image during the pandemic is undoubtedly shocking! I said it during my previous trips to Paris<\/a>, Istanbul<\/a>, Paris again<\/a>, then Rome<\/a>, Venice<\/a>, Milan<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not to\nstand in queues at tourist attractions, not to crowd to take a selfie at I\ndon’t know what statue or church, not to step on each other’s feet you and other\ntourists on the crowded streets, it’s a luxury! A luxury generated by a\nmisfortune, it’s true, but if you manage to get over the fear that you are the\nonly tourist left on the planet due to the pandemic J, you are happy as\na child that you are the only tourist on the planet due to the pandemic…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Florence,\nlocated like all of Tuscany in the red zone at the time of my visit, has closed\nthe gates of museums, the restaurant doors and many of the shops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But it\nseems much more relaxed than Venice, for example, where a tension seemed to\nfloat over the city. The stress there perished here right from the first\nminutes, when I noticed that the police do not come to you to scold you if you\ntake pictures, you can eat in the shade of tourist attractions and you can lie\nin all the famous squares without fearing you’ll be chased away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\nwalked through the historic center, which I saw from one end to the other every\ntime I got here. You can’t imagine how curious I am to see now, during a\npandemic, the famous places!<\/p>\n\n\n\n No\nqueuing at the entrance to the Cathedral, no crowds at the Baptistery, just\npassers-by here and there, a few people jogging and many deliverers. Oh, and\nthe army, which is in a strategic position, carefully watching the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At\nfirst I’m afraid to spend too much time there, to film, to take pictures, but I\nsee that, as long as I have the mask put on properly, no one cares about me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nstone benches on the edge of the Dome are the perfect place to eat something. I\nchoose ice cream \u2013 an opportunity to get rid of the mask for a few minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A\npolice car passes by us, all those who are eating. The policemen in it look at\nus attentively, they see our masks hanging from our elbows and leave us alone, to\nenjoy the tastes…<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is\ndifficult to describe the silence in the Dome area, an (forcefully) abandoned\ncity silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n People\nstill stop to take pictures from time to time, because it is a\n“landscape” that must be remembered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I heading\nto Piazza della Repubblica<\/strong>, a place\nalways full of life thanks to tourists, stall vendors, street artists and fans\nof the carousel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I remember evenings when you could barely move around. Evenings when the terraces were full of customers eager to eat and drink, staring at the strangers roaming in the square, full of joy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now… the wind is blowing here. And some workers arrange the cubic stone, to make the walk of the future tourists smoother. That’s about all the noise. That of a construction site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However,\nas in other cities, here too they full advantage of the pandemic, to repair the\nstreets, to restore the buildings or to recondition certain spaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That is\nno problem for me at all. I explore the city with an even greater curiosity\nthan in the past, because now I see a really unique face of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I admit\nI had a shock. No, not when I entered the square and saw how deserted it was (I\nsuspected it would be so), but when I searched my archive and saw videos made\nhere on previous trips. You must see the video at the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is\none thing to remember the echo of the noise of the past and it is another to\nhear the commotion, to understand what times we have lived and what times we\nare living now! It’s like I’m in the middle of a demonstration and I suddenly\nwear headphones!<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\nwalked and I rested in Piazza della Signoria so many times, in different years,\nin different seasons, in the morning, at noon and in the evening. I have always\nlived the same joy of a tourist on vacation, who does not care about the hustle\nand bustle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now\neverything is different, from what I see to how I feel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Oh,\nsorry, there is a constant: the crane hihihi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Seeing\nthe pictures taken with Palazzo Vecchio<\/strong>\nin different years, I noticed the eternal crane in the frame and I feel like\nplanning a new trip to Florence, just to find out what in God’s name is that\ncrane working on that never ends? J<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n The famous “loggia” in the square, full of valuable statues, is now closed to the public. Not that there was a public to visit the statues:<\/p>\n\n\n\n On its edge, a few of us rest, some with the phone in hand, some with an ice cream (guess who…), some known to the guards \u2013 as they talk to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For me, Piazza della Signoria is the place of a million pictures hihi. Considering that, every day or evening when I pass by here, I stop to take some more selfies or to photograph (again!) the palace, the loggia, the buildings, the statues, the cisterns, the police and… that is all, because I feel like they are going to take me to the police station.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From\nPalazzo Vecchio, I go to Ponte Vecchio, passing by the famous Uffizi Gallery<\/strong>. The Gallery once\nboasted with endless queues of art enthusiasts. Now, nobody is here. Me and the\nstatues are the only ones that still populate the space…<\/p>\n\n\n\n On a\nnearby street, where people pass by, I see the only beggar I’ve met since I’ve\nbeen here. He’s a young man in power (at least he seems so). He sits on the\nsidewalk, legs crossed, with a dog as an “accessory”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His way\nof begging is original: on the cardboard meant to arouse the pity of\npassers-by, he wrote \u201cFor beer and weed\u201d<\/strong>\nJ)).\nPeople are having fun, but I don’t see anyone taking any money out of their\npocket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (I was\nembarrassed to photograph him).<\/p>\n\n\n\n I love\nthis place, even if I don’t have a gold ring attached to it… (I often did\n“window shopping” in front of the shops with hundreds of more and\nmore precious jewelry.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ponte\nVecchio has always given me a good vibe. Maybe due to the permanent hustle and\nbustle, maybe due to the talented singers that perform in front of the\ntourists, maybe due to the view, I don’t know…<\/p>\n\n\n\n I admit\nthat now the wilderness here hits me hard! Man, you might think that someone\nhit the “erase” button and, one by one, the people on the bridge were\nwiped out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I’m\nalso afraid to step on it. What if I disappear into another dimension? J<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jewelry\nstores \u2013 closed. Some even with locks on doors!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Several\npeople cross from one side to the other, carrying shopping bags or answering a\nbusiness phone, the suppliers with the colored backpacks pedal to the hungry\ncrowds from other neighborhoods and two policemen are watching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I film\nquietly next to them, but with a limit, so as not to force my luck…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two\ncyclists stop to take a picture of the river, in a place where, until the\npandemic was heard of, it was full of tourists, so you somehow stood in line to\nreach the edge for a good selfie:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now you can take pictures in whatever way you want, you can also film yourself jumping around; and I think you could also fish, judging by the peace and good place you have here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At\ndusk, a helicopter flies over the city. I’m surprised to see how low it flies!\nI think he wants to see what drawings we have on the masks, we, these few people\non the bridge J.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Anyway,\nit’s the dose of “noise” we have in a city that was silenced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I take\npictures of Ponte Vecchio from all the banks and from all the bridges, at any\nhour I get to this place…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then I\nhead to a place that has always fascinated me!<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this\nBasilica are the graves of some Supermen!!! From Michelangelo, Galileo Galilei,\nto Machiavelli or Rossini.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\nalways felt so small and insignificant when I came here and realized what these\npeople left behind. Anyway… let’s avoid existential crises…<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nsquare is like a quiet neighborhood square on a Sunday afternoon when people\nare asleep or out of town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some\nItalians are sitting on benches, some reading the newspaper, others are eating\nice cream, the police explain something to some passers-by, the pigeons sway in\nthe flowing water, because it is already too hot. The truth is that it’s 27\ndegrees at the end of March and you don’t know how to throw your jacket off\nfaster to enjoy the sun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In\nfact, I know: I lie on a stone bench as if I were on my own property and I lie\nlike that until I feel like I’m frying. The sun is strong and I realize that,\nsince wearing these masks on the face, “tanning like tractor drivers”\ngains a new value. God, how we are going to laugh at each other when we see one\nanother with half-tanned, half-white faces…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every\nplace I know looks like it’s hibernating now. And it’s not the first city where\nI feel that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nclosed gates, the lack of tourists, the disappearance of illegal water or\nsouvenirs sellers give you the impression that time has frozen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nstreet with the Galleria della Accademia<\/strong>\n\u2013 the site of Michelangelo’s original\nDavid<\/strong> and many other masterpieces \u2013 reconfirms me the new reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nlast time I was here, there was a long queue, plus many guided groups, waiting\nto enter the museum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now\nit’s just me, no queues, no guides, no access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A small\nbookstore near the Gallery is open. Yey, there is life on this deserted planet!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n I’m\nglad to go in to buy… anything, no matter what.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nseller looks at me as if I were something precious. It makes me feel special J, a\nfeeling I had in any store I entered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/piazzale-michelangelo_me-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nTHE CATHEDRAL OF SANTA MARIA DEL FIORE<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/piazza-della-repubblica-1024x576.jpg\")
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<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nPIAZZA DELLA SIGNORIA<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/piazza-della-signoria_1-768x1024.jpg\")
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<\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/piazza-della-signoria_6-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/florence_signoria_neptun-1-1024x768.jpg\")
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<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/piazza-della-signoria_loggia_1-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/piazza-della-signoria_by-night-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/piazza-della-signoria_3-1-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/ul>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/piazza-della-signoria-1-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/piazza-della-signoria_loggia_1-1-1024x683.jpg\")
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<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/piazza-della-signoria_me-1024x768.jpg\")
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<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/uffizi-no-queue-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nPONTE\nVECCHIO<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/ponte-vecchio_1-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/ponte-vecchio_1-1-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/ponte-vecchio_pandemic-times_1-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/ponte-vecchio_2-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/ponte-vecchio_pandemic-times_2-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/ponte-vecchio_balcony-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/ponte-vecchio_statue_pandemic-times-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/ponte-vecchio_me-1024x768.jpg\")
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<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/ponte-vecchio_5-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nSANTA CROCE<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/santa-croce-florence-1024x768.jpg\")
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<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/santa-croce-florence_me_3-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a>OTHER TOURIST SPOTS DURING THE PANDEMIC<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/santa-maria-novella_florence-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/san-lorenzo-florence-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pitti-palace_florence-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/accademia-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/galleria-dellaccademia-di-firenze-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a>SHOPPING IN FLORENCE. THE PANDEMIC FLORENCE…<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/florence-street-during-the-pandemic_4-768x1024.jpg\"){kind=link}