Florence trip
On Sunday 25th May, Sam and I awoke to a dreary Essex morning, gathered our belongings and paddled through puddles to a taxi which took us to the station. We made our way by train and Tube to St Pancras International, where we boarded a Eurostar train to Paris. The speed with which we whizzed past the Kent countryside to the coast amazed us, and a mere 2 hours and 15 minutes after leaving London, we were pulling into the Gare du Nord in Paris.
We didn't really see much of Paris; just a gentle meandering walk by the river, through some parks and gardens, and back on the Metro to the Gare de Bercy to catch our train to Florence.
While we were dining in the restaurant car, our compartment was turned into bunk beds. I got the top bunk, and I was so excited I didn't even stop to change into my pyjamas!
After grabbing about 5 hours' sleep and a bit of dozing on-and-off, we were woken properly by the conductor bringing us back our passports and tickets, and a coffee and croissant for breakfast. We pulled into Florence at about 8am and set off to explore straightaway.
Most of the first day was spent following a walking-tour route from our Lonely Planet guidebook, veering off and pausing whenever we fancied having a proper look at churches or wanted an icecream. After a bite of lunch, we checked into our hotel and had a rest to recover from the journey.
In the evening, we finished off the bits of the walk we'd been too tired for, visiting the Piazzale Michelangelo which overlooks the city, and a charming church, Chiesa di San Miniato al Monte, just a little further up the hill. After taking pictures of the stunning views we wandered back down and had a traditional Tuscan meal in a lovely trattoria.
On Tuesday, we got up early and climbed Brunelleschi's awesome dome on the Cathedral, and took a good long time to recover at the top and enjoy the stunning views. Then we descended, and walked to the bus station just in time to get a coach to Siena.
We saw the main sights, including the cathedral with its giant liquorice-allsort-like tower, and the beautiful main square. We could have spent longer and seen more, but it was a very hot day and after getting a slice of pizza we got the coach back to Florence.
On Wednesday, we decided to visit the Palazzo Pitti, where we got tickets to an exhibition of scientific instruments, and the costume museum where there was a special exhibition of buttons. Our tickets also gave us entry to the Boboli gardens, where we spent a short amount of time before going to the smaller Bardini gardens, which were shaded, quiet and gave lovely views over the city. We would have stayed longer, but the cafe was prohibitively expensive so we set off to the supermarket instead.
On Wednesday evening we had a lovely pizza at Borgo Antico, an eatery I'd visited before. It was every bit as good as I remembered, and a fitting choice for our last meal in Florence.
Thursday was our last day, and after checking out of the hotel, we headed to Pisa to see the sights before getting our evening flight home. It absolutely chucked it down, and going from the station to the Campo dei Miracoli where the Cathedral and leaning tower are, we were offered the chance to buy an umbrella about 30 times. Perhaps they didn't realise just how used to being rained on we are!
Everyone else had umbrellas. The marble was very slippery. But by the time we'd visited the cathedral and the baptistry, the rain had almost stopped, and we had a very pleasant walk through Pisa and a lovely lunch in a trendy little eatery with handwritten menu off the beaten track. After a visit to the botanical gardens, some excellent icecream and a coffee, we got the train back to the airport to come home.
More pics here
We didn't really see much of Paris; just a gentle meandering walk by the river, through some parks and gardens, and back on the Metro to the Gare de Bercy to catch our train to Florence.
While we were dining in the restaurant car, our compartment was turned into bunk beds. I got the top bunk, and I was so excited I didn't even stop to change into my pyjamas!
After grabbing about 5 hours' sleep and a bit of dozing on-and-off, we were woken properly by the conductor bringing us back our passports and tickets, and a coffee and croissant for breakfast. We pulled into Florence at about 8am and set off to explore straightaway.
Most of the first day was spent following a walking-tour route from our Lonely Planet guidebook, veering off and pausing whenever we fancied having a proper look at churches or wanted an icecream. After a bite of lunch, we checked into our hotel and had a rest to recover from the journey.
In the evening, we finished off the bits of the walk we'd been too tired for, visiting the Piazzale Michelangelo which overlooks the city, and a charming church, Chiesa di San Miniato al Monte, just a little further up the hill. After taking pictures of the stunning views we wandered back down and had a traditional Tuscan meal in a lovely trattoria.
On Tuesday, we got up early and climbed Brunelleschi's awesome dome on the Cathedral, and took a good long time to recover at the top and enjoy the stunning views. Then we descended, and walked to the bus station just in time to get a coach to Siena.
We saw the main sights, including the cathedral with its giant liquorice-allsort-like tower, and the beautiful main square. We could have spent longer and seen more, but it was a very hot day and after getting a slice of pizza we got the coach back to Florence.
On Wednesday, we decided to visit the Palazzo Pitti, where we got tickets to an exhibition of scientific instruments, and the costume museum where there was a special exhibition of buttons. Our tickets also gave us entry to the Boboli gardens, where we spent a short amount of time before going to the smaller Bardini gardens, which were shaded, quiet and gave lovely views over the city. We would have stayed longer, but the cafe was prohibitively expensive so we set off to the supermarket instead.
On Wednesday evening we had a lovely pizza at Borgo Antico, an eatery I'd visited before. It was every bit as good as I remembered, and a fitting choice for our last meal in Florence.
Thursday was our last day, and after checking out of the hotel, we headed to Pisa to see the sights before getting our evening flight home. It absolutely chucked it down, and going from the station to the Campo dei Miracoli where the Cathedral and leaning tower are, we were offered the chance to buy an umbrella about 30 times. Perhaps they didn't realise just how used to being rained on we are!
Everyone else had umbrellas. The marble was very slippery. But by the time we'd visited the cathedral and the baptistry, the rain had almost stopped, and we had a very pleasant walk through Pisa and a lovely lunch in a trendy little eatery with handwritten menu off the beaten track. After a visit to the botanical gardens, some excellent icecream and a coffee, we got the train back to the airport to come home.
More pics here
posted by Fluffy at 8:47 pm
3 Comments:
Fantastic. Doing similar ourselves.
Glad you had such a great time!
Jenny
*is jealous*
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