Florence was the fourth city in our city a week trip. Our apartment in in Florence was almost perfect, three block from Santa Croche, three blocks from the Arno, four block from the station and just outside the no car zone. It was spacious with a separate bedroom and a loft bedroom for our girls. It was furnished in homey Italian antiques and the cookware and plates were generous. Our bedroom fronted a narrow quiet street and the kitchen and living room faced the courtyard. The only downside was five flights of stairs and no lift. No problem as we're all fit and healthy. Florence has always been one of our favorite places and it still is. It was just as hot as Rome getting up to 36 and 37 most days but Florence has narrow streets that are always shady on one side or the other.
Posted by
OP
Salem, Oregon, USA
209 posts
Florence Part II We fell into a siesta routine, touristing early, breaking for lunch and a nap and then touristing late. I like to cook and playing with new ingredients was a large part of the pleasure for me on this trip. I London we had lamb. In Rome we had salted capers and many new cheeses. In Florence we had everything we found in Rome plus rabbit, duck and quail and wild mushrooms. The market in Florence is fun. Florence is especially fun after the crowds in Rome. There are scams, pickpockets, beggars and trinket salesmen in Florence, but they aren't nearly so in your face as in Rome. We had reservations for the Uffizi and the Academia. They were worth it, particularly the Acadamia which had an amazingly long line which we avoided. We took two day trips from Florence. The first was an organized tour of The Cinque Terra by Florence Tasting. It was my idea of the perfect tour. What they did was take care of the transportation and logistics and let us loose in village after village to let us enjoy on our own. The second trip was to Lucca where be biked the city walls, a happy shady experience. We also climbed a tower with oak trees on top and visited the cathedral and a couple churches.
Posted by
Lake Oswego, Oregon
1315 posts
Nice report, Jenny. Thanks for posting!
Posted by
St. Louis, MO USA
1976 posts
Florence is one of my favorite cities in Europe. Glad you had such a good time!
Posted by
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
265 posts
Ralph, yes Florence is a nicer city than Rome. But how can you compare that big nasty city that Rome is, to a smaller city like Florence? Rome has it's elegance and so does Florence, just in different ways. I think I get what you mean though.
Jenny, I know how tough it is to travel when you have kids in school. Traveling is left to the summer when the kids are out of school, but 37? WOW!!! It must have been brutal? I usually travel in spring or fall, so it's usually very pleasant. I remember visiting Neuschwanstein Castle in a cold German spring, and seeing a sign that read "three hours from this point". I asked a gentleman there when people had to wait three hours, he replied "in the summer"? I asked him if it was hot in the summer up there? He replied "about 35". Three hours in the heat, just waiting in line? WOW! But I did that when my kid was in school.
Posted by
OP
Salem, Oregon, USA
209 posts
Yes traveling high season is different. We actually avoided most of the lines by getting reservations in advance. Well worth the time especially in the heat. It's funny though. We traveled in the summer because we have school age children. But most of the people we saw did not have kids with them and could probably have chosen anytime of year. So I wonder what it is that makes traveling in the heat so attractive to so many.