Florence on the fly : buongiorno, grazie and arrivederci

Arrived in Florence early Friday afternoon. Flight was no longer than a trip to Sydney and we had been transported to another world! Taxi trip from the airport to Il Bargello (our B&B) reminded me of a taxi trip in Bali - stop, start, in and out the traffic - obviously traffic lights are for guidance only! Il Bargello is on the third floor of a 15th century building, but the ceilings are so high there are two full flights of stone steps between floors. It has a homely kitchen and lounge, with guest essentials like a communal fridge, wine glasses, laptop, books and magazines, and a wooden staircase to a rooftop terrace with sensational views. Our room also had a private terrace overlooking central Florence.


















30 degrees on arrival and Florence was teeming with tourists. The streets are cobbled, mostly one-way and winding. One moment all is quiet; next minute the street turns into a stream of fiats, renaults, motor cycles and even a bus or two. The buses are the size of mini-buses - I assume so that they can get around the corners. Walked through the Piazza del Signoria, along the Arno river, across Ponte Vecchio to the Giardino di Boboli (gardens of the Palazzo Pitti) and Giardino di Bardini (villa and Gardens).

























































Thunderstorms started to roll in while we were in the Giardino di Bardini. "It's just a summer storm," I said, "It won't last long." When we saw the lightning we made a dash to the gates and huddled in a doorway with another couple - for an hour and a half! - waiting for the rain to abate. Not only was there thunder and lightning, but two showers of hail - and we thought Melbourne was changeable! This was the beginning of a cool change that lasted throughout our stay in Florence, which was probably much more comfortable than exploring the city in the heat.

Saturday, visited the Galleria degli Uffizi. Fabulous. We had pre-booked tickets, which meant we simply collected the tickets and walked on in - no queueing. The gallery building is just beautiful. It is built in a u-shape with a wide connecting corridor, lined with windows that provide sweeping views of Florence and surrounds. We wandered around works by Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Caravaggio, Michelangelo, Albrecht Durer and sculptures dating to the 1st century. Indescribable. We had coffee on the rooftop cafe which once was the terraced hanging garden where the Medici clan got together to listen to musical performances in the square below.





















Sunday, visited the Galleria dell'Accademia which is home to Michelangelo's 'David', and he is truly breathtaking. Also visited the Museo del Bargello which houses a collection of Tuscan Renaissance sculpture by Michelangelo, Danti and Donatello. The Bargello was the original justice building and its beautiful courtyard is where the city's gallows once stood.




















We spent the balance of our days exploring what we could and drinking in the Tuscan colours of the city; the sounds of the voices, the crazy traffic; and wondering how so many leather goods stores co-exist in one city. Brent dropped a coin in the Fontana del Porcellino and rubbed the porker's snout - legend says that this ensures he will return to Florence.


Apart from the sights mentioned above, there were two highlights of our Florence experience.

Saturday. A tourist couple, aged in their 40s, tried to sit at the outdoor cafe tables where we were lunching, with their take-away pannini, bottle of beer and plastic cups. The waitress at the cafe shooed them away, and with objectionable tourist attitude the intruders moved away to try a table at a gelato/aperitif cart across the lane. We watched as an elderly Italian gentleman, clad in a pale blue three-piece suit, straw boater and poised with walking cane shooed them away from the gelato tables ... then raised his voice and arms and waved them away ... and then started to beat them with his walking cane, including the bottle of beer which erupted with a fountain of foam all over said tourists. True Italian passion in action!

Sunday. We lunched at a Trattoria called Il Bargello and the ravioli and gnocchi were fabulous, but we kept thinking we were in an episode of Fawlty Towers. Firstly, a couple sitting close to us received their bill and queried the cover charge, to which the maitre d' banged his hands on the paper tablecloth and loudly announced that a cover was for their place in the restaurant. When they further queried the addition of the tax, maitre d' flounced through the restaurant calling loudly over his shoulder, "Next time, get a sandwich!"

A few minutes later, a group of four with a young child arrived. Maitre d' would not allow them to sit where they wanted and kept showing them to a table with four chairs only. He was not happy about making space for the bambino. Initially he wouldn't allow one of the group to take the child to the toilet - they had to place their order first. He left them for a couple of minutes, then returned to take their order. As they paused to read from the menu, maitre d' clicks his heels and loudly states, "Not ready? Later," and turns to take an order from another table. This was too much for the group who left with much arm waving and remonstrating. Maitre d' meanwhile calmly continued about his business.

I should mention too, that the the head waiter was all this time following in maitre d's wake, murmuring "Grazie, grazie" to those who were offended.