Our first full day in Florence!
Blue skies seemed to have followed Ash, Jo, Brad and Nez from Rome so were pretty happy to be out and about.
We wandered down to the Duomo and took some photos. The crowds were huge .. long lines waiting to go up the dome, to go into the duomo and to climb the bell tower. It was also amazing to see that the side closest to our apartment was filthy yet the front facade was very clean!
We walked through the streets up to the Uffizi where there was an outdoor gallery of large statues. A young student approached Todd and asked if we would like a free tour with explanations in english about each statue. So very interesting! I loved the one with Medusa's head cut off and Todd really loved the centaur.
There is also a copy of David in this piazza. Apparently a pigeon almost always is sitting on his head. Even in the art text books there is a pigeon on his head. Just not the day we visited!
We walked through the Ufizzi corrider and over to see the Ponte Vecchio. Lots of artists were accumlated along this walk, beautiful water colours and charcoal drawings. We should have bought one when we got the chance!! I went back at a later date and the artist we loved was gone!
The Ponte Vecchio was truly bizarre. Essentially it's a bridge with shops along it ... not what I expected. It looked like something from a Harry Potter movie. Turns out all the shops sold beautiful gold jewellery. There was a huge crowd on the bridge as it was about midday ... peak tourist time! ... and everyone was trying to get a shot off the side of the bridge.
We found a little sandwich place for lunch which Todd had tracked down. The porchetta roll we ate was possibly one of the nicest things I ate on the trip!
It was such a gorgeous little sandwich place! You could pick your type of bread, then add your type of meat and then they added pickled eggplants. It was so delicious!!
We sat outside on the little stools and had a rest.
Onwards to the Palazzo Pitti which houses the Boboli gardens, something Mum had highly recommended we see. Most strange was the concrete piazza leading up the palace. It didn't stop people sitting on the bitumen to soak up the sun or feed the pigeons. European's sure know how to sit and stop and soak in the view.
We entered the palace and then wandered the gardens. Mum had recommended a view, from up near the porcelain gallery which looked over Florence. She says it was one of her favourite views and very true of what Tuscany looks like! She was right, it was stunning. There were climbing roses in flower and neatly trimmed box hedges. The view over Tuscany was so beautiful - you could see wisteria flowering, the tall Tuscan pines, a castle, olive groves and jet vapour streams crossing the sky. I don't feel like the photos do it justice!
It was fairly hot too! Most of us were stripping off our warmer layers and guzzling the water!
One our way out Ash and Jo, Brad and Nez bought some art from a local street vendor. She was so talented. A mixture of water colour and ink pen where she sketched over her drawings. Very clever.
We then went on a mission to track down the "best gelato in Firenze". Todd had a lead and we made it there to enjoy some seriously good ice cream!
On our way home we saw a photo booth! Todd and I loved them in Berlin so we snuck inside to take a few more photos.
That afternoon I went for a walk to find the San Lorenzo markets and wander through the leather markets. They were pretty full on! Lot's of "hiiiiiii, come look, come look" ....
But I did manage to discover these amazing food markets hidden away in a tall, multi-story building! We ended up heading back there for a few feeds later in the week.
For dinner we went to Buca Lupi - which was so well rated online however I'd forgotten to check the price. Oops!
It was so expensive but really delicious!Later Brad, Nez, Todd and I walked off in search of a bar to have a drink. I'd worked out there was a Brew Dog just opened in Florence but I wanted to keep it a surprise. I think Todd was pretty chuffed when we rocked up outside! He usually was the navigator so it was probably odd for him not to know where we were going.
We drank some yummy beers and cocktails and had a bit more fun in a photobooth later on. Let me tell you, they're not made for four people (two of those four being over 6 foot!)