A weekend in Florence

I was a very lucky girl and spent the weekend just gone in Florence, Italy. 

Now on a side note. I love Italy. I have only been 3 times, but every time has been incredible. The sights, the weather, the food! Love love love. So I'm trying to see as much of the country as I can. I have specifically wanted to visit Florence ever since reading the book Inferno by Dan Brown (great book also!) which is based in Florence. The book kind of takes a tour around the city and made me want to see the sights for myself.

We stayed at a lovely little apartment in the centre of Florence, which is known to the locals as Firenze. I found where we stayed on air b n b. It's the first time I've used that website and had a thoroughly great experience. Our location in the city was great. We stayed on Piazza Santa Maria Novella, which is just behind the main train station into Florence (handy as most major airlines fly into Pisa airport and you get the train from there). 

The SMN piazza is a short walk to all of Florence's major sights! As well as being quite picturesque. 

We arrived on Friday, got the keys to the apartment and headed straight out to explore!

The famous Ponte Vecchio

Spoons!

We decided to visit the Palazzo Pitti. It's a very imposing building set on a hill. Right next to the palace are the famous Boboli Gardens, the largest in Florence with around 111 acres. Huge! The gardens are also set on a hill! Which was hard work! 

The Boboli gardens have many grottos and secret paths that meet up.

It is all very beautiful. As the gardens are set on a hill, if you walk right to the top you find a little museum inside a little green garden building with stunning views of the surrounding hills and the city of Florence.

Worth the walk right!

 

On the walk back from the palace we walked over the Ponte Vecchio. The oldest bridge in the city dating back to 1345 and only one not to be destroyed in WWII. It has a row of shops along the bridge itself as well as a huge corridor called the Vasari corridor which runs all the way from the Palazzo Pitti to the Uffizi gallery. This was built by Vasari in 1565 and allowed Grand Duke Cosimo to commute between the two without ever braving the elements or having to brush shoulders with the common folk. Ha. 

View from the Ponte Vecchio

It had to be done... There are so many gelatorias in Florence and I think ice cream might be my favourite food. The portions are enormous! I think it may be the biggest I've ever had! I went for mango and tiramisu. Amazing!  

After our long walk around the gardens we stopped, on the way back to our apartment, at a little bar in the Piazza Santa Trinita. We got chatting to an Australian couple and sat drinking yummy Tuscan chianti and watching the tourists and horse and carriages sail past. 

That evening we had intended to go for dinner at a little restaurent that was recommended to us by a friend called Sostanza Il Troia. Stupidly we didn't book and they were full. They aren't open at the weekend either (odd!) so maybe if we visit another time we could try again. 

As it happens, luck was on our side and while walking around we came to a crowd of people by the side of the road. I thought they were queing at a cash machine in the wall, but we found that actually it was a small door with steps down to a restaurant in the basement that was opening in a few minutes time. Looking in the doorway it looked like a tiny place and we didn't think we would get a table.

But a young lady (owner possibly as seems family run) told my boyfriend to follow her. I thought just around the courber to another room but we continued past a second room, down a corridor (at the end of which I could see a further room!) and took us off to the left. Seemed funny sitting in a basement with no windows but it is cosy and had a great atmosphere. It's called Buca Mario.

I would recommend the melon with prosciutto or prosciutto with cheese and balsamic vinager to start. Get a pasta to share, then have the veal t bone. This is one of the best things I have EVER eaten, and I've eaten at some fairly nice places. It was so good. We skipped dessert as so full and had an after dinner drink in the piazza Saint Maria Novella instead. 

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Day 2 we went for a wander to find breakfast. Found a little cafe which did delicious coffee near to the Santa Croce church. It is very similar in style to the Santa Maria Novella church.

We wandered around the streets of Florence old town. 

 

Then it was time for lunch. This place was a recommendation from my boyfriends colleague who is from Florence (where we eat this evening is also her recommendation!). She wrote us this note:

When I think of panini I don't know about you but I imagine a squished toasted sandwich. Well. A panini in Firenze is a sandwich which is sometimes freshly made in front of you And this one was incredible. 

It had fresh focaccia bread and any filling you like. As long as you don't mix meat fillings as apparently that is  heresy! They have all sorts of meats, salami, roasted pork, prosctto. Cheeses, sun dried tomatoes, artikockes. Anywho, it costs €5 which I think is a bit of a steal and suggest you have a glass of red wine with it for €2. Amazing lunch. It's called All' Antico Vinaio. It is on Via de' Niri just behind the Uffizi gallery.

After that we wandered on for a while longer. I was looking for a bronze figure of a boar that is meant to be in one of the squares. If you rub his nose you will return to the city. 

Well we wandered into the Piazza della Signoria and stumbled across the Palazzo Vecchio. This is the town hall. 

We only looked around downstairs but there are paintings of Austrian cities on the walls of the courtyard. We even saw two brides walk past. Not a bad place to get married!
 
Next it was off to see the most famous sight in Florence, Il Duomo. That's their cathedral to you and me. Named il duomo because of its enormous domed roof. Which is a sight for the eye. 

It suddenly jumps out at you as you turn a corner. 

Officially known as Santa Maria dei Fiori, the cathedral truely is a magnificent structure. Beautiful. And HUGE! You can climb all the way up to the top of the dome. But I'm terrified of heights (and small spaces and spiral staircases) and the queue was very long and in the sun so we decided to give it a miss. 

But I got to see the gilded doors of the Baptistry opposite Il Duomo. They were once described by an admiring Michelangelo to be fit to be the "Gates to paradise" and the name kinda stuck.

We walked around Florence for the rest of the afternoon. Saw the weir on the river and a rower getting precariously close to it. 

Aren't those just the most picturesque clouds!

For dinner that night we had booked L'Osteria di Giovanni. I'm glad we did as at 8pm when we arrived it was packed! A family run restaurant (that also has another one around the corner) it had a lovely feel. They serve you a glass of prosecco when you sit down which was a lovely touch. The food here was great too. We had the antipasti starter to share. They do lots of specials too. The suckling pig was yummy. And they give you a complementary glass of local dessert wine that is kind of like sweet sherry (I like sherry!) called vino santo with a plate pilled high with freshly made biscotti (they are the best I have ever had, especially good dipped into the wine!). 

All in all we had the most wonderful weekend. 
Thank you Firenze! We hope to return soon (although I never did find that elusive boar!).