Day 31 - Florence

Today we are off to Florence, we took the car to Signa station, prayed to the Italian gods it would still be there in the same condition as we left it (Been reading some horror stories)

We had to walk to the next station which was 15 minutes away as I had not researched a heap on this train line that after 9am they become every 1.5 hours or so.
We finally got a train in and got to Florence by 10.30am. We went to a 99cent shop to finally pick up some supplies we left at home - we now have a bottle opener - Yay wine!

First tourist stop was to Farmacéutica di Santa Maria Novella the oldest pharmacy in the world which you can still purchase candles, perfume soaps and scents for lavish prices.

Next stop was central market too see the food stalls and of course, the street vendors selling somewhat leather goods, amazing that they all spoke fluent English asking if we wanted to buy from their Italian leather products.

We went on and as we were making our way through town stopping at a couple of shops. We got to Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, a 1200’s Cathedral and one of the oldest in the world. We walked around it opting not to go in it or up it due to the lines and price.
We made our way down towards the river, stopping off for a visit to Zara, another leather market, and see the replica of David and as Katie called the other statues, ‘David’s Mates’. I will write to Florence to see if there will be a new sign installed with that!
We then got to walk along Ponte Vecchio, a medieval arched river bridge with Roman origins, now lined with Jewellery shops. We did over hear a guide say only one was originally there so we looked in their windows and dreamed of other lives as there was no prices on items and the cats need food on the table we agreed.

We stopped off at Babae for lunch, this has a wine hole in the wall, we ended up sitting near where this is operated and took all the mystery out of hole in the wall wine. Also being 30 degrees, why pay to stand in the street when you could sit in AC and drink to your hearts content? It was good lunch and fun watching the wine window behind the scenes.

We went through some more leather shops and Katie couldn’t decide whether to buy a bag or not (this discussion is still in progress and Milan has great shopping I hear and am told we will get to encounter)
After a bit of a break we walked up to Piazzale Michelangelo, a 19th century piazza with panoramic views of the city.

To say we were buggered was an understatement, we headed back into town for some Gelato for the walk and then to Matto Matto for dinner, spritz and wine’. We opted for the Antipasto board which was good but nothing like Montepulciano board… that will live in my memory forever!

We headed to the train station, the train we wanted got cancelled so ended up waiting 45 minutes for the next one, made it to the car to see it in tact and took the death defying trip back to the accomodation. It’s somewhat better at night as you can see headlights - still don’t want to do this every day!

Overall Florence was good, we walked over 30k steps today. We don’t see what some people rave about regarding Florence but I guess it comes to personal preference. We are glad we opted for one day in Florence so no regrets there!Leia mais