Italy day 17 - Conquering fears at the Duomo

We booked this trip sometime in November or December, I think, and Florence was always on the list.. And on the list of things to do in Florence, climb to the top of the Duomo was, well, at the top of the list. And today is the to we cross that one off of the list.

But this day isn't without some worry and some fear. You see, we were in Paris a couple of years ago for a different anniversary and we decided to do the bell tower at Notre Dame. This was where Kris learned he doesn't really like tight, narrow stairs with people rushing him and I learned I get motion sick or dizzy (I"m really not sure which it is) when I descend spiral stairs too quickly. And while I was excited about the views of the city, I find that I'm more height averse than I used to be. Oh, and it's somewhere between 411 and 463 steps to the top of the Dome, depending on who's counting.

So, with all of this in mind, I did what I could to stack the deck in our favor. I got tickets for the very first time slot in the morning, figuring the crowds would be thinner and it would still be fairly cool, even inside the dome. I made sure we didn't drink too much last night and that we got an early bedtime. Kris left his backpack in the hotel, but I took mine, about half full of water, so we could share. And we worked out a game plan of who would go first, what would happen if one of us wanted to bail, etc. For good measure, Kris played a YouTube video of a fairly young and fit looking couple who made the whole thing sound like torture, although they did exclaim that the view made it totally worth it.

So, we head out the door at around 8:15 for our 8:30 time slot and already there's a fairly good line. Kris joined it while I when to straighten out the tickets (more on that below...) By the time I got back, the line had just started moving. They seemed to be letting people in 4 to 6 at a time. There also seemed to be a LOT of drama surrounding the tickets. Soon enough, we're at the head of the line...And we're off!

The first portion of stairs run in a rectangular fashion like most modern stair cases, but shorter runs. In other words there would be 8 steps, then a landing with a right turn, then 3 steps, landing with a right turn, etc. Soon enough you're at a room at the top of the one drum that houses several of the original statues of popes. This room is a great place to take a quick breather (although the climb thus far hasn't been bad at all) or let faster climbers pass you. From here you enter two long runs of tightly spiraling staircases. The spiral is tight enough that you can't really see anyone in front or behind you, which can make pacing easier. Also, at the top of these stair, you end up on the lower interior ring of the Duomo where you can see the frescos. Here you are walking along a narrow ledge, but there's a high marble rail, so you never feel exposed.

You continue along this catwalk for half of the dome and then head back to the 'behind the scenes area. At this point you start your ascent between the two domes, since the outer skin is curving inward, you may have to lean to your right a bit as you go, especially if you are tall like Kris. This part gets a little tricky because the stairs are quit narrow and for a portion at least, people are headed in both directions; ascending and descending on the same stairs. However, this stretch feels somewhat shorter than the other two and soon enough you are on top of the dome, circling the lantern.

The views up here are stellar! Even though it was very hazy today, it was still fantastic. Much better than the Boboli Garden views from yesterday.You can take as long as you like up here, but I'm guessing as the day wears on it gets more and more crowded. I did okay with the heights, but as more people came up and I started getting jostled, I was kind of done.

Fortunately down is a lot easier than up. However the two tight spiral staircases? Fortunately you're headed down the drum on the other side of the church and there's a mirror image to the pope room except this one contains the tools they used to build the Duomo. I had to hang out there until my urge to hork settled down.

All in all, I thought this was a fairly easy climb. Notra Dame was way worse because a fair amount of what you were climbing on was wood and seemed to sway with footsteps and the breeze. I'm not sure why the YouTubers were saying it was so hard. If Kris and I can manage, so can you!

From there we grabbed a quick breakfast and headed into the Church itself. They definitely shot their was with the dome and the exterior facade here. The interior of the Church is pretty barren, especially in comparison with a number of the other churches we've seen on this trip. We took at like in the Crypt where they showed excavations of the various churches that had been on this site previously. This was a pretty decent exhibit, but it took me awhile to get the 'so what' of the stones in front of us with the line drawings of the site. We then toured the Baptristry (pro tip, if you're pressed for time, skip the church interior and just see the Baptistry.) The mix of styles and materials here is mind blowing. I also highly recommend the Museo that contains the original bronze doors and may of the original statues from the church. All in all, it makes for a pretty full Duomo day.

Now, about those tickets. I did a less than great job of finishing my research for this trip. I knew from being here before that lines are long and reservations are a must. As mentioned yesterday, I didn't figure out the Firena card, so I've been doing one-off reservations or tickets at various sites. The process is a bit unclear and I couldn't find a straightforward answer to many of my questions.

First, make sure you're using the official Duomo museum site (link here). Apparently there are several middleman brokers that look alike, but charge very high reservation fees. Don't be alarmed when the tickets come from different site name. This seems to be normal. Also, make sure to complete the free time slot reservation for the Duomo climb and/or museum entrance. This time slot is the earliest you can arrive, however, we showed up to the museum two hours after our block and had no issues.

Now that you have your vouchers, I found it really unclear what needed to happen next. There was plenty of 'Not valid for entry' or 'Not valid without a ticket' and not much 'How you get your ticket.' Also, there was a ton of 'thall shall print your tickets' but if you're doing this from a hotel at the (relative) last minute, that's not going to work so well. So this morning, while Kris was on line for the climb, I ran to the ticket office to exchange my vouchers for tickets, much to the consternation of the folks in the ticket office.

It turns out that the voucher IS your ticket. If you make reservations for the climb and the museum, you'll get three pdfs. One has your tickets and the other two are 'proof' of your time slot. You just need to download the PDFs to your phone, and then be prepared to do some flipping back and forth at turnstiles. For the areas with reservations like the climb, you generally have to show a guard that you're hear at the right time slot, then flip over to your ticket PDF and scan the bar code to get through the turnstile. The only really tricky thing was that I hadn't sent the file to Kris, so I would scroll to the first bar code and scan myself in, then I'd have to scroll to his and scan again.

Also, this allows you to skip the 'I need ticket lines in places (like the crypt) where you get entry and tickets close together. The process seems to be similar for the Uffizi, so hopefully I worked out at the kinks today and tomorrow will be smooth sailing!