So today is another one of my “bucket list” & first’s in life – a day trip to Florence.  Once again I know very little, or to be honest nothing about Florence apart from the iconic photos you see of the town.   It’s an early start as it’s a 2 hour train journey which I have to say is a nice change after bouncing around on a coach around the twisty roads which make you feel quite sick!

Every day, we never know what the weather is going to be like and a few of us check at least 3 different web sites looking for the best forecast as none of us what to do doing sightseeing in the rain!    Luckily the forecast for Florence is sunshine, 26 degrees & no rain!  Fingers crossed the web site is correct!    We arrive in Florence to be greeted by another tour guide who will be taking us round the city for 2 hours.  I think everyone is getting a little bit sick of tour guides as some are good…..some not so good….sometimes it is hard to hear / understand their English and sometimes they just overload you with too information.

As some people have already visited Florence they don’t join the tour and head off independently.   Our tour guide I have to say falls into the “not that great” group and throughout the 2 hours people keep dropping out and heading off in their own.   When you only have 5 hours to cover a city you want to cover as much as you can and by the end of the tour we were down to just 4 people!!   I felt so bad for the tour guide I just didn’t have the heart to drop out!

What was incredible was how QUIET Florence was!  Everyone had warned how busy the city is and pretty much the same or worse than Rome.   Even our Tour Manager & Tour Guide could not believe how quiet everywhere was and how we could just walk into key sits.   For me it was just bearable so was very pleased.   There is so much to see in Florence from Catherdral’s, Museums, Art Gallery’s, Palaces I felt there was no point in me trying to going into them and with the last 3 hours just to walk around the city and see what I fall upon.

For starters though it was time for lunch!   I decided to head back to one of the squares, or as they call them Piazza’s and just sit in the sunshine and relax.    I know you pay a bit more in these popular sites but hey I’m on holiday.  I get a prime front table, enjoy the view, people watch and listen to the most incredible opera singer…..oh enjoyed a few glasses of Prosecco!   My favourite drink & let’s face it, it’s Friday so a perfect day for Fizz!   The opera singer was amazing & at times brought tears to my eyes with her singing!

But I couldn’t sit around all day drinking as I had a city to investigate!   Now I like to think I’ve learnt a few things while in Florence but to be honest I couldn’t really understand the tour guide so here are a few facts I did pick up…

• Florence was once the capital of Italy (not sure when or why Rome took over!)
• Florence means “Flower”
• Gucci originated in Florence (so many designer shops!)
• St John the Baptist is the patron saint of Florence
• In 1966 the city was hit by floods which damaged a lot of the buildings, statues etc
• During the wars, the Nazis thought the city / bridges were so beautiful they didn’t bomb them but targeted outside the city instead
• It’s more expensive than Rome – it costs 1 euro to use the toilet! (vs. 50c in Rome!)

 

With a city of such history I should know more but I’m afraid that’s all you’re getting!   I will say it is an incredible city and you really need 2 or 3 days here to get round all the sites.    I was a bit disappointed with the Ponte Vecchio bridge though…..it’s the oldest bridge randomly filled with jewellery shops but nothing to shout about.    The beautiful Duomo with its terracotta roof is incredible though and if time permitted I would have climbed to the top to see the city views…maybe one for another visit.

Before you know it, it’s time to get back to the train station to head back to Chuisi.   With the sun beating down another gelato was called for.  They truly are delicious so with the holiday coming to an end in a couple of days I’m trying to get as many in as possible!

A great day….sunshine, music, history & some fizz to welcome in the weekend!

Cheers!

Lou Lou xx

PS – more photos will be uploaded when I get home & download from my camera!