Florence

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I spent a week in Florence with my daughter Sarah, an Art History student, at the end of the summer, in order to expand her knowledge of Renaissance art - and mine. We booked flights with Thomsonfly and after many hours spent researching the web, arranged to spend the week at the Hotel Casci, right in the city centre.

I don't propose to add too much text to my report, as it could easily extend to dozens of pages if I start on historical facts, but there is plenty of info available on the web for anyone interested in further detail. I recommend this guide book, the AA Spiral Guide, which was tremendously useful. I took it everywhere with me. It's divided into useful sections and includes maps and lots of information about the city and the sights, both famous and lesser known. Museum opening times can be quite complex so make sure you read the info properly, especially if you are on a short trip and want to pack in as much as possible.

30/08/05

Our flight was between Bournemouth and Pisa, direct flights into Florence being very few and far between. The flight was fine and we arrived in Pisa at 3pm, where we caught a bus into Florence. The hotel, part of a 15th Century palace, lived up to all expectations, very well located, exceptionally friendly service and spotlessly clean room (if a little small). It was once part of the home of the composer Rossini and still has some original frescoed ceilings. We went out in the evening to find somewhere for dinner and hadn't appreciated quite how central the hotel is. We ate a lovely meal at the Ristorante Accademia at the Piazza San Marco and took a rather lengthy walk back via the Duomo, not realising until a few days later that we were actually only a few hundred yards from the Casci! I tend to rely on my husband Martyn for map-reading but this time had to cope with it on my own, Sarah being even worse than me at that particular skill. I certainly improved during the week. 

31/08/05

After breakfast, which is included and is a fairly basic but adequate buffet, we picked up some brochures and spent an hour or so planning our week and some excursions further afield. These were booked for us at reception, which made it much easier for us. We had already booked tickets for the Uffizi and Accademia Galleries. We then set off to explore the city, first going to the Duomo, the magnificent cathedral at the end of our road. There were long queues so we carried on walking to the Ponte Vecchio, the famous bridge across the River Arno. It's lined with shops, especially jewellers. 

Across the river, in the Oltrarno district, we had a light lunch and then went to the Pitti Palace, hoping to visit a couple of the 6 museums housed there. However, the ones which most interested us (Modern Art - 1784-1924!! and the Costume Museum) are both closed in the afternoons so decided to change our plans. Opening times can get very complicated and I hadn't studied my guidebook closely enough. So we took the longish walk up to San Miniato It was incredibly hot and a relief to reach the Piazzale Michelangelo, from which there are stunning views across the city. We carried on, up more hills until we reached San Miniato. It was worth it - the church is beautiful, cool and peaceful and the views from here even better. And we treated ourselves to sorbet on the way back down. 

01/09/05

We had 10am tickets for the Uffizi Gallery - fortunately, none of the main sights were more than 15 minutes walk from our hotel, and found the streets very quiet at that time of the day. The Uffizi is full of religious paintings, and after 3 hours, you do wonder if you really want to see yet another Madonna and Child. It was a treat to see Botticelli's Birth of Venus, for a change! It's certainly an incredible treasury of Renaissance painting and a must-see for anyone with an interest in the subject. We had ridiculously expensive drinks on the rooftop terrace but felt we deserved them. We then went through the Piazza della Signoria, with its huge statues and on to Santa Maria Novella, passing some very exclusive shops on the way. The church was beautiful and full of incredible frescoes. Then back to the Duomo, which still had a huge queue - so we had ice cream instead. After a rest back at the hotel, we went back out to climb the Duomo's dome, the rest of the building now being closed for the evening. We climbed 463 steps to the top, taking a breather to admire the inside of the dome with its frescoes. Looking down into the Duomo, we agreed that even if we never did face the queues, at least we had seen the inside. Once at the top, we could see for miles, despite it being rather hazy. Unfortunately the dome is covered in scaffolding at the moment, which detracted a bit from its beauty. 

02/09/05

We went hunting for markets today, not having realised there was a really good one just yards from us, down a road we'd frequently crossed but not looked down properly! Sarah indulged in a little retail therapy and then in the afternoon we set off on one of our trips, to Pisa. In retrospect, we would have been better off arranging this ourselves as it wasn't very well organised and not cheap. The drive is just over an hour and then we walked to the Piazza dei Miracoli to see the Duomo and Leaning Tower. We only had a few minutes in the Duomo (bad organisation) but it was stunningly beautiful and then we were whisked through the Baptistry and on to the large Campo Santo cemetery, full of Roman sarcophagi.  

After a drink and time spent watching the world go by, we went back to the coach - the journey took nearly 2 hours this time, half of that getting through Florence. 

In the evening we had arranged to meet up with my Australian niece and her boyfriend, who were backpacking around Europe. It was a bit of a rush, but we got a reservation at ZaZa, arranged by the hotel for us. The place was packed so we were lucky to get in at such short notice. But it was worth it, great food and reasonably priced. A lovely evening and great to catch up with the Aussies' travels. 

03/09/05

We had an early start as we were going on a walking trip with Walking Tours of Florence - 'A Perfect Morning in Tuscany'. We skipped breakfast and met up with tour at 8.15 - then walked back to the bus stop opposite our hotel and caught the local bus at 8.50! The bus took us to Fiesole, up in the hills just North of Florence. We were a small group, the Australian guide, Peter, a family of 4 Americans, 2 Maltese and us. We had a 2hour walk in the wooded hills and saw the quarries from where the limestone for the great buildings was taken. We also stopped at the place from which Leonardo da Vinci was said to have tested his flying machine. The views were lovely, if rather hazy (it was very hot again). We finished at the lovely Villa de Maiano and had a tour of the house and gardens. It's now used for functions and films and is famous for the olive oil it produces from the estate. We had a lovely gourmet lunch at the nearby Fattoria di Maiano (where you can rent apartments, now there's a thought). We were joined by another 3 Americans. It was a wonderful meal, with antipasti of cheese, meats, crostini, olives etc, then pasta, with plenty of water and good Chianti. The company was excellent and it really was the perfect way to spend a morning and lunchtime. 

We then returned to the city on the bus and had a rest and Sarah taught me how to play Backgammon, before going out to the nearby San Lorenzo Church which was unfortunately closed. So we visited the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, just a few yards from the hotel. Yet more riches and fabulous frescoes of Gozzoli's Journey of the Magi.  

04/09/05

We had 10am tickets for the Accademia today - just a few minutes from the Casci so a relatively leisurely start to the day. In fact we preferred it to the Uffizi as there's more variety, and lots of info printed by the exhibits. We were primarily there to see Michelangelo's David, However many photos you have seen, and however many replicas, nothing quite prepares you for your first sight of him as you round the corner. He's simply breathtaking. We found the place quite quirky - there are a number of very modern exhibits thrown in amongst the traditional, which we really appreciated by this time. There was also a gallery dedicated to musical instruments. We moved on to the Duomo and had drinks at a café whilst playing Backgammon and waiting for it to open. We joined the queue around 20 minutes before opening time and once opened, it only took a 5 minutes to get in. It's a huge space - big enough for 20,000 people - and it felt odd to look up and see where we'd walked around the dome a few days earlier. Then we moved on to Santa Croce, stopping for an excellent late lunch at the Yellow Bar. Santa Croce was lovely, full of treasures including Michelangelo's tomb. But full of internal scaffolding unfortunately. There was a lot more to see than in the Duomo so we were quite tired by the time we had finished looking at everything.

 That evening we had another excursion, for a Tuscan dinner and a concert. There were only 4 of us on the tour, the others being a very nice Irish couple. We had an excellent dinner with wine at Il Cantinone, a cellar restaurant just across the Ponte Santa Trinita. And then on to the concert up the road at St Mark's English Church. It was wonderful, with the pianist Brian Marble and soprano Atsuko Isami. Few people there - we were in the front pew, but well worth a visit if you're in Florence and enjoy classical music. A magical evening, rounded off by walking back across the Arno, seeing the city lit up. 

05/09/05

Today we had a trip to Siena and San Gimignano and I'm glad to say this was far better organised than the one to Pisa. I'm not keen on being herded around in a large tour group but we were spilt into 3 groups, albeit all big ones, and had an excellent guide in Siena. Starting in Siena, we walked through the town and visited the Duomo and its museum, where I felt we learned quite a lot from the guide. We were fortunate in that the Duomo floor was uncovered, which only happens for 6 weeks of the year in order to preserve the beautiful marble. The frescoes in the library were especially beautiful. We went to the Piaza del Campo, a huge space in which the famous Palio horse race takes place twice a year. During our free time, we had a light lunch and a little shopping before the drive on to San Gimignano. 

We had around an hour and a half free time in San Gimignano, a beautiful medieval town known for its towers, although only 14 of the original 72 survive. We found a fantastic modern art gallery and spent quite a while there, and spent the rest of the time browsing the shops. The drive back was very picturesque, through typical Tuscan countryside and the traffic wasn't as bad as last time. 

For our last evening, we chose a nearby restaurant called Buca San Giovanni, which had been recommended by the Maltese couple on our walking trip. We had a lovely meal, it's rather a special place with lovely friendly service and fabulous food. But it's different to the other places where we ate, where a pasta dish is a meal in itself. Here portions are considerably more restrained (and fairly expensive). If you're hungry, I'd recommend the special gourmet dinner. We were given champagne and dessert wine on the house. A great way to finish our visit to Florence. 

09/09/05

We had a little time before our bus back to Pisa for our flight home, so we visited San Marco's Monastery and museum, which were both very interesting. The museum is housed in the monastery and you can see the monks' cells, each adorned with a fresco. 

Our bus was due at 12 but it didn't turn up and we had to catch a train to Pisa and then a taxi to the airport, which was rather annoying - especially as we had return bus tickets. But we made it with just a few minutes spare to check in. The flight home was excellent, with a lovely low flight over the southern coast of Britain. It had been an excellent trip and I feel I now know my way around Florence fairly well (with my trusty, well-worn map in my hand!)

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