Glorious Florence

 

We had originally planned to travel to Florence on our own on the train, and I had carefully printed out all the directions and maps, so we were feeling very confident. However, at the last minute Deb had a cancellation on her tour to Florence and Pisa so we decided to take up the offer of a stress free day.

Once again, our driver/guide was Fabrizio, from All around Italy, and this was our third trip with him. He is a fountain of knowledge about the area, and seems to know everyone, although the jokes are a bit stale the third time around – everyone else was laughing with him.

Our first stop was at the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and of course, the obligatory photo trying to hold it up – we couldn’t get it right so I think our photo looks a bit off. We wandered around the Field of Miracles, the park where the tower is located, there is also a stunning church and baptistery on the grounds, but unfortunately they were not yet open. We were just walking away when the bus groups started to arrive and descended down the road like a surging pack – we love to be ahead of the pack.

After about an hour drive, our next stop was at the park overlooking Florence for a quick photo stop and the chance to orientate ourselves with the main landmarks.

The Accademia, the museum which houses the famous Statue of David, has two ticketing systems, regular tickets and ‘book ahead – jump the queue’ tickets. Fabrizio had already booked ahead, so there were some astonished faces in the long queues (many from our ship) when we walked straight to the front of the line and walked in.

Lunch time loomed so we decided that we would just have some free time to explore the centre of Florence, the Duomo and San Marco markets and buy lunch on the run, rather than wasting time sitting down for an extended lunch. After so many European ports, we have come to know that the markets all sell the same old, same old stuff – just the name has been changed, so we spent more time in the piazza and them wandered down to the Ponta Vecchio, the famous bridge lined with gold merchants shops – so much bling in one spot and so many dreaming customers!! The railing was covered  with a series of love locks, the legend is that if you and your lover place a lock on the bridge and throw the key into the Arno River – you will be together forever…. this is a tradition that we have seen in Paris, CinqueTerra and Rome … very popular with the honeymooning couple we met.

As we walked back, we both suddenly stopped, wide mouthed, as our attention taken by a stunning mouth-watering dessert display in the window of Gilli – a bakery which has operated in the same spot since 1733 – I am not sure what happened next – but suddenly we were magnetically drawn inside and before we knew it, a beautiful concoction of cream, custard, strawberries and chocolate had materialised with two spoons on the counter in front of us ….. and it was amazing …. I didn’t even get time to take a picture as we devoured the scrumptious light as air pastry… yum, yum, yum!!!

The Uffuzi Gallery was our next stop – we had very limited time but the statues are just so amazing – and the outdoor gallery in the Piazza with a replica of David, Neptune and the fountains are a delight. Florence has such an amazing creative feel to the city that I just love, there is amazing art around every corner and on the front of every building – even the pavement is covered with wonderful chalk drawings.

Afterwards, we sat on the steps in the shade and just watched the wonderful parade of people passing by while we enjoyed another Italian ice-cream – caramel and berry this time – oh so delicious on such a hot day – I have had so many great ice creams in Italy that I am now so confused and can’t remember which one is my favourite now – usually the last one that I had!!!

Despite the crowds, heat and crazy traffic, we had a wonderful time exploring the magnificence of Florence. As we headed back to the ship, we all had a nana nap in the back of the van on the way. After an amazing day, we were blessed with a spectacular sunset as we sailed away from Livorno.

Captain throw off those lines, and lets head to the playground of the rich and famous – Cannes!