Florence.
Earlier in the spring, on our first visit to a wet and windy Florence, we failed to find a good local campsite.
The drive from Sienna only takes an hour and parking is very easy in spite of what the tourist office tells you.
Mercifully flat (why is EVERYTHING in Italy UP a hill?) everything is easily reached walking. The 13thC Duomo with its famous Brunelleschi dome is a revolting pink and green marble on the outside and somewhat bleak and unadorned on the inside. We make a classic tourist boo boo and buy tickets for the Dome. This is not the Duomo as we thought (free entry) but a rather demanding claustrophobic climb into the Dome itself.
Determined not to waste my 8€ ticket, in spite of the heat, I make it to the gallery just underneath the painted dome but leave Andy to continue the steeper and narrower climb to the cupola at the top.
Overcome by heat exhaustion I sit in soaking sweat glugging water for an hour before I can get my arse into gear again. The 14thC Campanile by Pisano and the 7th C Baptistery are a delight.
Wander to the Piazza della Signora and enjoy the statues and Neptune fountain. The Uffizi is heaving and we are advised to pre book our tickets. At 10€ admission and 4€ booking fee it feels like a shake down but needs must. Lunch in a great little bakery come café, tiny portions (the rule seems to be the more you pay the less you get) but home made and gorgeous.
Home to our girl and a refreshing dip.
Duomo.
Dome.
Campanile.
Babtistry.
Neptune.
Thank you for all your posts darling they've been a delight to read.
ReplyDeleteLots of love
Fi
xx