MacsTravel Blog

At one point or another on this trip, all ten of us squeezed in a visit to Firenze (Florence). Whereas most of the group fit this in before our villa week (more on that week in the next blog post), Sarah, Ian, Robin and I went to Florence immediately after, which I must say produced a type of travel shock that occurs when you shift gears from serene to chaotic.

It started with our trip into the city on the tram from the airport. After dropping Lisa and Pete at the airport for their flight home, and our rental car off at the depot, Robin and I hopped on the tram, thrilled at the cost (under 2€ each!) and the vast amounts of space we had for ourselves and our luggage. By the time we got to our stop near the train station adjacent to the historic centre we were penned in with our bags by a sea of bodies. It took some manoeuvring before we were disgorged onto the platform.

This was followed by a 15 minute walk to our accommodation that turned into a 30 minute walk. Unfortunately someone (no names here) put the wrong piazza into Google Maps, a mistake magnified by the heat of the day (30 degrees) and the jaw rattling feeling of dragging suitcases over the less than smooth surface of Florentine streets.

Fortunately, Robin got our course corrected and we finally got to the blissful air conditioned B&B we were staying at, steps down the street to Piazza della Signoria, the square which hosts the Uffizi museum and the imposing Palazzo Vecchio. Unfortunately, our direct window view was a series of walls and roof tile. If you leaned out a bit, you could see the square.

Sarah and Ian, who had rented a small apartment off a different side street, had a slightly better view.

However, one of Florence’s best sandwich shops was directly across the street from our apartment, and the breakfast at the B&B was hosted at a lovely patio about 20 steps into the square!

We visited Florence in 2010 and again in 2017, both times in August. It’s a city of mind-boggling beauty, so it’s no surprise that it has attracted tourists in vast numbers over the years. I’m not sure what we expected, but it seemed even busier on this visit in early June.

You could certainly feel this in the heat of the day, when giant tour groups of 30 or more jammed the Ponte Vecchio and the piazzas near the Duomo and the Uffizi. We were a little shocked by the impact of the crowds and the behaviour of numerous visitors while touring the Uffizi the afternoon we arrived.

We had a timed entrance, which was smoothly organized, but on entering this incredible museum of Renaissance and Medieval art we were stunned by the size of the tour groups, who blocked off access to many of the more popular paintings as they clustered around their guides, and by the noise and behaviour of many visitors (people taking selfies with the artwork, talking loudly on the phone, having a conversation with a friend across a room, etc…). This might be a grumpy old guy take, but it really spoiled the visit at times, particularly in the more popular galleries. It was still great to revisit some of the paintings central to the development of European Renaissance art and culture, but I don’t think I would ever go back.

That night we went back to Sarah and Ian’s for a glass of wine and then headed out to explore the riverfront along the Arno before heading back into the centre to find a spot to eat. It was much more pleasant as most of the large tour groups had left town, and the atmosphere was more “busy” than “stampede”.

The next day we had planned to meet Sarah and Ian by the giant gold statue of a young woman on a cell phone, her back to the statues of David and the gang in front of the Palazzo Vecchio. This bit of biting social satire was lost on those who flocked to the statue to take a selfie imitating the selfie taking statue. Or maybe that was a meta thing.

At any rate, there seemed to be some sort of historic reenactment underway in the piazza, with men in traditional Firenzian military uniforms standing in front of the Palazzo Vecchio and the sounds of some sort of military band approaching. As it turned out, this was a long weekend in Italy with a national holiday, the Fiesta della Repubblica scheduled for Monday.

After some speaking, some trumpeting and some satisfying canon fire (presumably fired in the direction of Siena or Pisa), the ceremony came to an end and we set off.

We had a planned visit to see the Leonardo DaVinci Interactive Museum, which had been suggested by Sarah. We had a timed entry for 10:30 am, and I was somewhat dreading it because of the Uffizi experience, and hoping it wouldn’t be too kitchy.

It was great.

Essentially, this was a museum which brought Davinci’s sketchbook drawings of fabulous inventions to life. There were life size representations of many of his drawings and sketches, and in every case you were encouraged to operate the machine using whatever lever or crank was appropriate. The information signs and videos were also excellent.

We spent a very happy hour engaging with the exhibits, and the crowds were very reasonable. We would all highly recommend it!

Wandering the streets of Florence is a little disorienting. Many of the streets are very narrow and twisty, framed by taller buildings that block out the views. Then you merge into a piazza to an incredible view.

The most iconic structure in Florence is the Duomo, with its accompanying tower and Bapistry. The complex is so massive that it seems to overwhelm the piazza in which it sits.

In some ways, the most powerful views of the Duomo occur when you spot it looming down a narrow street.

We explored the Mercado Centrale for lunch, a renovated 19th century cast iron and stone warehouse which now houses a thriving and buzzy food hall with a wide range of local restaurants and chefs represented.

Ian and Sarah and Robin and I had split up for the afternoon but we all ended up choosing to eat at the Arincini stall, which was great!

We had a street food tour organized for Sunday evening which fortunately involved a rather small group of folks from India, Switzerland, Sweden, and Australia, plus our group of four. We tried a variety of crostini, schiacciata sandwiches (the famous Florentine focaccia), vin santo and biscuits, and the obligatory gelato and learned a little more about the food culture of the city.

One anecdote, which perfectly sums up the lingering historic sense of grievance which permeates this area of Italy, is the story behind the traditionally tasteless Tuscan bread, which is made without salt. Apparently this was due to the high tariffs Pisa (which is near the coast) imposed on salt exports to Florence in medieval times, which led Florentines to omit salt from their bread. This was not a temporary retaliation. It was for forever, which might seem a little excessive if you have never been in a tariff war. However, they do sprinkle salt on top of their schiacciata bread.

Robin and Sarah both tested their luck with the wild boar statue in Mercato Nuovo. Apparently, through some combination of dropping a coin from its mouth into the grate and rubbing its nose, you guarantee yourself luck and a return to Florence. Mission accomplished.

We planned to finish off the day with a walk up to Piazza Michelangelo, high on a ridge on the south side of the Arno river, which offers incredible sunset views over the city. We did end up taking a rather circuitous route which led us to climb roughly twice as many steps as perhaps were required. Due to a non-disclosure agreement, I can’t reveal who among Sarah, ***, Robin and Rich made this navigational error.

Once at the top the views were certainly worth it, despite the massive crowds.

Wandering back through the city in the evening was certainly a different experience than during the day. While still busy, the massive tour groups were gone and we enjoyed seeing Florence through the interplay of evening lights and shadows.

We finished our day at La Terrazza, a rooftop patio on top of a department store in Piazza della Repubblica which offers incredible views of both the Piazza and the Duomo. Despite the fact that the kitchen was closed and we had to help our frazzled waitress open our bottle of wine, it was a fantastic way to end the evening.

Sarah and Ian only had a half day on Monday before heading to the airport for their flight to Croatia and the next part of their trip. We declined joining them on a morning walking tour and decided to split our day up between hitting a few sites we wanted to revisit and doing some souvenir shopping.

We had seen a number of attractive olive wood bowls and cutting boards and other appealing souvenirs in little shops across Tuscany, but not wanting to lug these around more than necessary I had confidently proclaimed that we would do all of our shopping in Florence, which would have a wider selection and perhaps better prices than we had seen to date. Of course this decision was made without checking to see if the stores I was referencing were actually open on Sunday (stores closed in many cases) or on the Monday, which had turned out to be a national holiday (stores closed in virtually all cases). We tramped around to a number of possible spots, Robin getting increasingly frustrated by the drawn steel shutters over the storefronts and me getting increasingly guilty over my delusional decision to delay this task.

I tried to distract her from the souvenir crisis by suggesting a visit to the Basilica di Santa Croce, a place I had visited on a previous trip while Robin was happily shopping on her own. I took her on an unnecessarily complicated and lengthy route towards the basilica, passing an innumerable series of closed shops, which may not have had the desired “distracting” impact that I’d hoped for. However, we both loved our visit to Santa Croce.

Santa Croce is a fascinating church to visit, with all sorts of side chapels and crannies to explore that are stuffed with frescos and the golden iconography of medieval art.

The exterior cloisters are also nice to explore, and offer a little green oasis in the heart of Florence.

Santa Croce is also the burial place of numerous notable Florentines, including the big three of Michelangelo, Machiavelli and Galileo, three individuals who were among the greatest figures in the Italian Renaissance in their respective fields.

We really enjoyed our side trip to Santa Croce and good fortune smiled on us (probably because of Robin and Sarah’s interaction with the Wild Boar statue the day before) as we found a little shop tucked away in a side street near the Ponte Vecchio that had everything we were looking for in terms of souvenirs.

We spent our last evening going for a walk on the south side of the Arno river looking for a nice spot for dinner. We found an unpretentious little Osteria with good food and a quiet patio. It was a great spot to catch our breath and reflect on what a special month we’ve had in Italy.