We fried in Florence

#3 daughter wanted to take the children to Florence as it made such an impression on her when we took her as a child. However it is much hotter now, and there are many many more tourists.

We had about a mile to walk from the car park so Nathaniel was wilting by the time we got to the Duomo. The queues snaked all round, so we didn’t consider going into the cathedral. We headed for the square with the statues where he perked up counting all the willies though was a bit cross as James had said some were chopped off and he couldn’t see any.

#3 daughter is very good at looking ahead to find restaurants so we had a nice lunch down a back alley (pictured - I took loads of photos but it was too hot to do the sights justice) en route for the Ponte Vecchio. After that we headed back to the car, stopping for ice cream. We were all shattered.

We got back just in time for daughter to leap in the pool fully clothed, before she, Luke and I had a wine-tasting at the host’s vineyard. They are very concerned by the climate crisis. They feel that making good wine - they are licensed for producing Chianti Classico - will be unsustainable due to the sudden cold spells, the much hotter temperatures and the lack of rain when needed.