Pont de Vecchio, Florence

From the Piazzale we walked back towards our accommodation across the Pont de Vecchio, the Old Bridge, a medieval stone closed arch bridge over the Arno River. Known today as the gold markets bridge, the shops along the bridge were initially occupied by butchers. Believed to have first been built in Roman times, the bridge first appears in a document of 996. It has always hosted shops and merchants who displayed their goods on tables before their premises. The back shops that can be seen from upriver, were added in the 17th century and are built out from the bridge, giving it a very unique and interesting appearance. I would love to see inside some of the back shops, to see if they are actually the homes of the vendors or just more shop and storage spaces.

In 1900, to honour and mark the fourth century of the birth of the great Florentine sculptor and master goldsmith Benvenuto Cellini, the leading goldsmiths of the bridge commissioned a bronze bust of Cellini to be created to stand atop a fountain in the middle of the Eastern side of the bridge, where is stands to this day.

I love the history and the story of the bridge but it now very much for tourists and while I love looking and admiring jewellery while looking for something unique, there was way too much to look at and it was extremely expensive. Still it was nice to have a wander through and just imagine we were rich.

We ended our day with dinner at OBICA, a lovely restaurant we came across in an alleyway. I think the thing with Florence is to not be afraid to walk down the laneways and alleys as they often open up to exciting gardens and eating places. Dinner was a bit posher than we had been doing and it was nice to try something different, and the meatballs and wine were delicious. We really enjoyed the experience.Read more