I left my heart in Venezia and took a very comfortable train trip to Firenze. Most of the seating in my car was with tables, so it was easy to shove my suitcase in the gap between forward/backward seats. I left at 1.30 pm and there were very few passengers, even on the last (and most frequented) leg from Bologna, I don't think more than 1/4 of the seats were taken.
After getting settled, I had a little walk around and then headed to a restaurant recommended by one of my waiters in Venice, for good, typical Florentine food. I eat vegetarian and a little fish - that doesn't fit with Florentine apparently. The menu items without meat could be counted on one hand. I had a wonderful appetizer called onion under ashes. A whole peeled onion, doused with red wine and liberally sprinkled with herbs is wrapped in aluminum foil and baked under embers for 7-8 hours. Then I had my first "with bread" soup. It was like a porridge and might have been good if it had been hot and better seasoned. Lastly I had grilled vegetables. That's what they were, unadorned slices of zucchini and aubergine that had been grilled. I had a half bottle of very good local red wine (but maybe not 20E good for 375 ml). The service was designed to give diners a leisurely meal. From seating to check took 2-1/2 hours, not what you want when you're alone, tired, and still have to go home and unpack.
Yesterday was much better. I had a lazy morning, walked through the central market and browsed some of the leather stalls in the surrounding streets, then ambled around the Duomo, window-shopped in expensive via Roma, had a look at the sculptures in Piazza della Signoria - I believe some are originals, and tried my luck at the Uffizi. 10 minutes in line and I had my ticket. I was ready to check my jacket and small backpack, they refused (only large backpacks are accepted). There's a fairly strict one-way route through the galleries, with arrows and exes above each doorway. If you go through one the wrong way, there's an electronic beep, but none of the guards seemed to react. I only heard the beeps in the first few rooms. The building is U-shaped, the stairs are in the middle. You walk through one side, return to the middle, walk the other side and backtrack again. At the end of the second side is the cafeteria. Yesterday was warm (about 17C) and sunny and it was time for some food and relaxing. There was one table open and an English couple just behind me. We agreed to share which was great, getting to chat with other people who love travel and art, while rejuvenating with an Aperol spritz. I spent about 4.5-5 hours there, including an hour lunch break. When I left, I decided to abort my plan for then next day (today) to go to 2 other museums. I felt like a philistine for feeling overdosed on art, but the forecast was for 21C and clear skies. What a shame it would be to waste the beautiful weather . . .. .
With absolutely no plan I left my hotel and meandered to the Duomo, thinking to have a second look at a couple of leather bags I'd seen, when a plan suddenly leapt into my head to take the bus to Fiesole. I finally found the bus stop just missing the bus. 25 minutes of standing in the sun . . . I wandered a bit uphill in Fiesole for a view, then back to the piazza (maybe the only one?) for what turned out to be an amazing lunch (tagliatelle with fresh porcini mushrooms to die for and okay house wine, a bottle of sparkling water and cover charge for 20E), a hike up to the classic viewpoint (so hazy you could hardly make out the Duomo) and back down to just miss another bus.
I'm running out of space and it's really late. To be continued . . . .