Florence - Art, Churches and Food

It had been 24 years since Rob and I had been to Florence. Then we were on a three centre visit to Rome, Florence and Venice. Whilst we had been back to Rome and Venice we had not managed to revisit Florence. We decided to address this and so made a return.

On our previous stay, not having much money, we stayed on the outskirts of the town in a small hotel, walking in every day, even though I was 6 months pregnant. This time we stayed in a hotel by the Ponte Vecchio (the famous bridge in Florence lined with jewellery shops).

Florence is a lovely city and fantastic for art lovers. We managed to mix and match flights to Pisa, so we went very early on Saturday morning and came back very late on Tuesday. This meant we had four full days.

The journey from Pisa to Florence is very easy with a bus going from the airport to Florence central train station. It took just over an hour and was inexpensive. After checking into the hotel and having lunch we started to explore the city. It didn't take us long to realise we had remembered very little! Florence is great to explore on foot with its narrow streets, piazzas (squares) and numerous ice cream shops.

The highlights of our stay were the Uffizi Gallery and in particular the Boticellis (my favourite was the Birth of Venus - Rob preferred Primavera). Obviously as most posters, books and cards depict the Birth of Venus, mine was the more popular choice. A must see is the original statue of David in the Accademia. There are replica Davids in Piazza della Signoria and Piazzale Michaelangelo but these are not the same. For both the Uffizi and the Accademia we booked in advance which was more expensive but gave priority queuing at a set time. The general queues were horrendous and could take hours. The main cathedral, the Duomo is magnificent although more from the outside than the inside. There are no shortages of basilicas (churches) with the Santa Croce being one of the better ones. We found, unlike Rome, that everything had an admission price.

The Piazzale Michaelangelo and Chiesa San Miniato al Monte (a church up in the hills above Florence) provided great views of the city at no cost (other than a 30 minute walk from the south side of the Ponte Vecchio). Also free to go into is the Farmicia di S. Maria Novella (on the via fella Scala near the train station) although things are expensive to buy when you are in! This pharmacy dates back to the 17th Century when herbs were produced for medicinal purposes. They now, in addition, sell beauty products, herbal teas and infusions.

Whilst in Florence we had supper in some lovely Trattorias recommended by the hotel. They really were family run with fresh ingredients and a friendly atmosphere. We particularly liked Pandemonio which is still run by the Mama of the family who makes sure every guest is having a good time - the complimentary Limoncello certainly helped!

On our final afternoon we visited Pisa. We went by train and left our luggage in the left luggage department in the station before going to see the Leaning Tower. I had visited when I was 17 but Rob had never been. We got there quite late but still had time to buy tickets and climb the 280 odd stairs to the top. It was a lovely way to finish our trip.

Having now returned to all three centres Rob and I both decided that Rome is our favourite then Venice and finally Florence. This is not as it was 24 years ago.