Florence - worth the hype?

So when talking about my upcoming trip, whenever i mentioned Florence the person said it was their favourite city and i would love it. That set pretty high expectations when i arrived via train from Venice.

My hotel is just around corner from station, i checked in and was provided with a city map and some suggestions of where to go for both sightseeing and meals. The hotel is fairly old fashioned and basic, but the staff are very friendly, room is fine and the breakfast which is included is good buffet style.

They recommended Piazzale Michelangelo as a good place to start as it provides a great view of the city. Actually, i went up a little higher to a church - Abbazia di San Miniato al Monte which as well as being interesting in itself, also provided excellent views. After a brief walk around city, i ended in up San Lorenzo market which was one of the recommended areas for restaurants.

I then had two full days. The first consisted of a walking tour (you can see a common theme here) which was as good as the other tours on this trip. Informative as well as providing some interesting personal perspectives. More general sightseeing and getting lost in the afternoon, was followed by an operatic performance at a local church - a few short performances by soloist accompanied by pianist

Day two was to be split morning/afternoon - the Uffizi museum first and then Duomo in afternoon. Both are very popular attractions, with often long queues, but you can pre-book an entry time for just a few euros. Uffizi hosts art/sculptures which are generally earlier than i am interested in, but the quality is amazing and you find yourself easily spending a few hours there.

The Duomo is the cathedral that dominates the centre. You can book a ticket that allows you in cathedral, to walk to the top, to walk up the bell tower and also to get into the Bapistery (where baptisims historical took place). As there has not been many chances to exercise other than walking, i took the opportunity to walk up the 463 steps to the top of the Duomo and shortly afterwards the 414 steps of the Bell Tower. Both provided sensational views of the city and were well worth the trip.

Overall Florence is a great city - everyone was right saying what they did before i came. It has a good vibe, amazing history and architecture and good food. What more could you want. One certaintly add to the "i need to go back" list.

Photos - be warned they are not edited so may contain multiple/poor photos:

Florence general

Uffizi 

Duomo

Currently reading :  Agent in Berlin by Alex Gerlis

 

Venice

Another overnight train - this time Vienna to Venice. This was due to be a slighter better journey as i had booked a 1st class sleeper with shower and wc. Unfortunately.................. when the train arrived there was only 2nd class carriages and my seat number turned out to be a couchette in a six berth carriage - albeit all to myself. The guard was very apologetic explaining that he had only found out 10 mins before time that the train was not its correct set up - whether they had not sold enough 1st class tickets or there was some form of mechanical breakdown i guess i will never know. Anyway you dont buy these tickets for the quality of the accomodation - it was somewhere to sleep, coffee and breakfast was provided just before arriving.

Transfer to my hotel was by bus, boat and then brief walk to hotel which is just off St Marks Square- so i arrived around 9am to drop off bags. Then spent sometime seeing some of the sights - my ticket gave me free travel for 24 hours so i decided to get boat to Lido to get my bearings, one stop back and then a walk back to hotel to check in properly.

 I am staying at a old fashioned (non chain) hotel - Hotel Montecarlo. You benefit from more interesting rooms, old fashioned service from a more mature staff and a more unique experience. You also find areas where the hotel is a bit tired, so there are pluses and minuses. 

Afternoon was some more wandering and a stop at Peggy Guggenheim which had some excellent modern art and a specific Surrealism exhibition.

Tuesday was my only full day in Venice, so spent the morning on another walking tour. Once again a small group and an interesting guide who provided details on the main attractions but also went "off piste" a bit to some more unique areas. I seemed to have been very lucky with my guides this trip, like today's host Valentina, they have been informative, enthusiastic and all provided personal observations/perspectves. After that i had a general walk around - its an interesting city where its easy and pleasurable to get lost (with google maps saftey valve when required). You see both history as well as how modern life goes on across its unique infrasructure. It truly deserves its title as "Birmingham of the South".

Photos of Venice - be warned they are not edited so may contain multiple/poor photos

Podcast of the day : Parenting Hell

Currently reading :  Agent in Berlin by Alex Gerlis