Another day of very hot weather, saw 35 on a temperature gauge, as we transferred from Parma to Florence.
Around Modena and also on the outskirts of Florence traffic on the motorway came to a crawl, why we will never know.
Mrs GPS misbehaved as we tried to find our digs in Florence, her instructions on occasions being 50-100m too late by which time the turn is missed - she even has you turning off a roundabout at say the first exit when the second exit is the one you need.
She is definitely not a good advertisement for Garmin mapping!
Our hosts Sandra and Paolo have provided very comfortable accommodation, even though it seems to be close to the railway line and Paolo gave us a very good explanation of the must sees in Florence.
Having literally thrown the bags in the room it was on with the back pack loaded with a couple of bottles of water and out into the searing heat.
We walked into the historic area of the city and were immediately captivated by its charm - I described Venice as enchanting and Florence is no exception, she is Venice on land.
First stop was the Piazza San Marco and the Convento di San Marco
As we went deeper into the centre we came across the market area - row upon row of stalls selling leather goods and the normal souvenir type things.
Just around the corner from the market was the Cathedrale di Santa Marie del Fiore situated in the Piazza del Duomo - this cathedral when built was the largest in the world and has frescos and statues all around the outside (we were too late to enter or climb to the top of the cupola).
Just near the cathedral is the Palazza Vecchio and then onto the Ponte Vecchio which spans the Fiume Arno.
The bridge is jammed with jewellery shops on both sides apart from the centre span, naturally obligatory photos were taken from the bridge.
By the way the 12 million visitors to Venice I mentioned a day or two ago had ventured on to Florence and perhaps that was the cause of the traffic snarl.
Arriving back in the Piazza del Mercarto Centrale around 7pm we had dinner at an open air restaurant before walking back to the apartment stopping for a gelato on the way.
The good thing is we do it all again tomorrow!
Caio!
Around Modena and also on the outskirts of Florence traffic on the motorway came to a crawl, why we will never know.
Mrs GPS misbehaved as we tried to find our digs in Florence, her instructions on occasions being 50-100m too late by which time the turn is missed - she even has you turning off a roundabout at say the first exit when the second exit is the one you need.
She is definitely not a good advertisement for Garmin mapping!
Our hosts Sandra and Paolo have provided very comfortable accommodation, even though it seems to be close to the railway line and Paolo gave us a very good explanation of the must sees in Florence.
Having literally thrown the bags in the room it was on with the back pack loaded with a couple of bottles of water and out into the searing heat.
We walked into the historic area of the city and were immediately captivated by its charm - I described Venice as enchanting and Florence is no exception, she is Venice on land.
First stop was the Piazza San Marco and the Convento di San Marco
As we went deeper into the centre we came across the market area - row upon row of stalls selling leather goods and the normal souvenir type things.
Just near the cathedral is the Palazza Vecchio and then onto the Ponte Vecchio which spans the Fiume Arno.
By the way the 12 million visitors to Venice I mentioned a day or two ago had ventured on to Florence and perhaps that was the cause of the traffic snarl.
Arriving back in the Piazza del Mercarto Centrale around 7pm we had dinner at an open air restaurant before walking back to the apartment stopping for a gelato on the way.
The good thing is we do it all again tomorrow!
Caio!
