Fabulous Florence

We arrived by train at the Santa Novella Railway Station in Florence. This time we had chosen a private hotel called Setti Angeli Rooms located in the old city and only a five minute walk from the station. The room was spacious with all modern facilities and looked out over the historic streets of the city.

We soon discovered we were in the midst of the markets district including both food and leather goods, clothes and souvenirs, as well as hundreds of hotels and trattorias. On our first day we took the hop-on hop-off bus around two routes of the city - one that covered the historic centre and the other that ventured up into the hills for some of that wonderful Tuscan scenery.

That night we met with Penny's French penfriend Michelle and her husband Serge for dinner at a local trattoria. It was the first time they had met; Michelle and Serge had travelled by train from their home in Lyon, France to spend some days in Florence - and to coincide with our stay there. It was such a thrill to meet them and share not one, but two dinners in their company. Fortunately Michelle speaks good English and Penny speaks a little French. However, Serge doesn't speak any English and Jim doesn't speak any French so there was much translation happening amid plenty of good humour.

The next day we took a tour to the beautiful Cinque Terre region of Italy, five villages built into the sides of the cliffs overlooking the Ligurian Sea. It was a very long day of 12 hours duration, with lots of bus and train travel, and lots of hills to walk, but well worth it for the vista and the atmosphere.

We spent a whole day walking, drinking, eating and taking in the sights of Florence including the enormous Duomo with its amazing dome, the Ponte Vecchio with its shops full of gold and the various piazzas including Piazza della Signoria where the famous statue of David stands proudly in the Galleria dell'Accademia. Also included in our day were sustenance stops at various trattorias and lots of window shopping.

Florence has some of the most amazing sculpture and architecture; on nearly every corner there seems to be a magnificent ancient building. The tiny streets and piazzas are paved with ancient cobblestones and the traffic somehow manages to flow despite the narrowness of the streets, due in part to the size of some of the Smart Cars and electric cars.

We loved Florence and would eagerly return. Here are some of the highlights pictorially:

 

View from our hotel - Pam was a very handy supermarket and at Mo'si we ate complimentary breakfast each morning

 

One of the many markets near our hotel

 

Ancient streets of Florence

Modern streets of Florence

 

An example of sculpture, near the Duomo

Jim admiring one of the tiny electric cars

An example of wonderful architecture - this is a library

The wonderful views from Fiesola - a medieval town in the hills above Florence

 

Michelle and Serge at the first of our dinners together

View of La Spezia, the city in Cinque Terre

 

Village of Manarola

 

 

 

The various villages in Cinque Terre

 

13th Century Church on the waterfront at the village of Vernazza, Cinque Terre

 

Inside the church

 

Decadent morning coffee, silver service with all the trimmings

 

Penny on the Ponte Vecchio

and the crowds ...

 

 

At the Piazza della Signoria, an ancient statue of David

 

At the same piazza, a modern sculpture called Big Clay #4.

I know which I prefer...

 

 

Street entertainment at the Piazza della Repubblica

 

Now its onwards to Siena and the beautiful Tuscan landscape!