Typically, on booking a weekend in Florence in order to luxuriate in all the artefacts my daughter is currently studying for History of Art, we failed to notice that today is a national holiday in Italy and consequently the city is absolutely heaving. That said, I was organised enough to pre-book the Ufizzi Gallery, so, apart from worrying that the Ponte Vecchio Bridge might collapse under the weight of all the people (and gold jewellery in the incredibly Harry Potter-esque shops along the bridge) especially as we walked back over it full of the most delicious ice cream (bought from the Gelataria Ponte Vecchio) and eaten at their little terrace, whilst people watching.
I am here with my friend and her daughter too so we make up a happy little mother and daughter combination and we are having an amazing time combining art with food and drink!
It’s a little bit of a hectic schedule, so not much time to write, but here is a photo diary of what we have done so far:-
We are staying at the three star Duomo hotel – not particularly luxurious and located via a teeny weeny lift up to the 4th floor. There is not much of a communal area, but the breakfast was good and the staff are all very friendly, but MORE TO THE POINT, it is all about the location darling. My daughter is studying the Dome of the Duomo Cathedral itself and whilst the view from our bedroom window looks straight out onto the central area of the hotel, rising above it in all it’s glory is the Duomo itself so my daughter was able to sit and revise at the desk this morning whilst comparing her notes with the real thing:-
Be warned though, the bells and tourists make for quite a lively little buzz!
From the Duomo it’s about a 15 minute walk to the Piazza d.Signoria where you will find Michelangelo’s David and the most wonderful square of statues. Here we are in front of him and his abnormally large hands (not mentioning the abnormally small other bit):-
We got involved in their National Day parade – need to look into what exactly it was all about – liberation from the Nazis I believe:-
The Uffizi Gallery is astonishing but worth picking out what you want to see and focusing on the important bits as it can get a little overwhelming on the religious paintings front (or maybe that’s just me). Love this sculpture of father and his son’s with a serpent – daughter told me all about it but can’t remember. Look at the snake biting into the side of the son on the left:-
The cafe is well worth a visit – gorgeous views and delicious coffee and it was HOT. Here is me and my friend:-
The astonishing views from the second floor of the Gallery:-
Then we walked down to the river and across the bridge and ate icecream and dawdled back to the Duomo Cathedral:-
Off out for dinner now, so more later!
