Two days in Florence

We had a beautiful view of Florence from our campsite which was above the city on a hill, only 300 metres from the Piazza where all the tour buses stop to take photos. I was very excited about the two days ahead.




The booklet we had gave us the top things to do in Florence, and here they are:

1. Eat an ice cream, enjoy the many different flavors of gelato, sample a different flavour each day.

-even in the rain!




2. Drink some Chianti

Sooooo easy. I actually had a nice glass with my lunch and a wonderfully authentic restaurant where nobody spoke English. The Italians do like their food. The menu has first courses, second courses and then pizzas and desserts so you do feel it would be rude to go in and just share a pizza! I indulged in a four seasons with a second course of roast potatoes and sausages, and it was truly divine!

3. Stroke the nose of the Wild Boar in the Il Porcellino Market for good luck.







4. Buy some Florentine leather








Double check;)

Leather shops and markets stalls are everywhere in Florence - like St Emilion with their wine. But, the quality is good and it's all 'Made in Italy', so what more does any self respecting tourist need? I was so tempted to get more than one handbag but Alex does still remember packing about 56 handbags to put into storage so I couldn't really get away with it;(

5. Take a stroll over Ponte Vecchio







The Ponte Vecchio ("Old Bridge" in Italian) dates back to 1345, and it's the only bridge in Florence that was not destroyed by the German troops in the Second World War. It's built practically at street level, so when there are lots of people around you hardly even notice when you start crossing the bridge. There is also a space in the middle of the bridge where you can stop and take photos down the river. It has shops on both sides, mainly jewellery shops (which was one of the other things to do, I think, buy jewellery, probably something you do when you don't have children with you, dragging you to Hello Kitty shops).

And we did so many other things!

The Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens. There were five museums rolled into one building and I think we did them all. Very beautiful, but you do get a sore neck after a while from gazing in amazement at all the fresco ceilings!!










We also visited an incredible and extensive exhibition of wax models of the
human anatomy which were all made in the eighteenth century. They even had all the stages of growth of a pre-natal baby - fascinating.




We did the open top tour bus - Naomi and Benny are collecting the headphones and using them for 'ipods'.




The cathedral, of course!




And Naomi and Benny even had a portrait done!




And if that wasn't enough, we also managed to visit Michelangelo's David, but I think that will have to be a separate blog, all of it's own!

Loved Florence. Alex said it was his favorite place up to now, high praise indeed!

Love
Est xxx