A Day In Florence

A leisurely hotel breakfast, a stroll down past the Duomo, across the Ponte Vecchio, along the Arno then through cobbled Medieval streets before the climb through the rose garden to the Piazzale Michelangelo from where the classic view in the main blip was taken along with some of the extras.

Two people carrying their dogs to the top of the hill and waving their dogs’paws when we smiled at them.

A drink in the shade at the rose garden cafe before the descent to cross the river again.

Lunch of mixed salamis, cheese, olives and white bean and onion salad in a side street off the Piazza Santa Croce, where 4 Australian girls shouted their way through spritzes, trying to outdo each other with stories of amorous conquests.

Into the cavernous silence of Santa Croce to admire the tombs of geniuses long dead: Dante and Machiavelli, Donatello and Rossini, Galileo and Michelangelo (in extras). Marvellous stained glass and ancient gold icons, a peaceful cloister and a statue of Florence Nightingale.

Back through the streets and market, picking up souvenirs.

A pre-dinner drink watching the style: a girl in tight pink shorts and matching bra top, men in sharp suits, a man with a tabby cat on a leash, sitting on his shoulder. Another great meal.

That’s Florence for you! And us: off to Bologna in the morning