More than just ice cream! (Florence (Tuscany))

Member Name: Muzzy

Product:	Florence (Tuscany)
Date:	31/03/01 (196 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Wonderful art and architecture

Disadvantages: Poor value hotels

Italy was my first love. My first independent holiday was to Italy with my best friend and we had a wonderful time: some rather hairy adventures, too, but we were both smitten by the romance of the place. Rome, Capri, Venezia… bellissima! But best of all was Florence…

This is why I was so happy to get the opportunity to go to Florence with my husband and daughter for a short trip, combining a conference with sightseeing.

My memory for details of places is not good and it was seventeen years since my previous visit, so I only had a vague remembrance of the layout of the town. But the scenes and landmarks came back vividly: the Ponte Vecchio packed with tiny jewellers’ shops; the elegant Duomo partnered by the Baptistry with its golden doors; the statues on the Loggia dei Lanzi (including a copy of the wonderful David). Florence is a small place and we easily covered many beautiful sights on foot, but it is packed full of the best of Italian art and architecture. The fact that it also has fabulous Italian food and ice cream was of no interest to me whatsoever(!)

I can’t possibly do justice to all of Florence’s attractions. To get the most out of your stay I recommend you buy a good guide book and plan before you go, taking note of opening times. We took the Eyewitness Travel Guide to Florence and Tuscany and found it very useful: it covers everything we needed to know; has nice colour pictures; and is a handy size for carrying around. I think our high points (literally, in some cases) included slogging to the top of the Duomo (cathedral) dome and the neighbouring Campanile, or bell tower. The view was fantastic. We spent the best part of a day looking round the Uffizi art gallery, which has a wonderful collection of Renaissance art including Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael. We enjoyed impromptu music on the Ponte Vecchio at dusk. We took a day trip by train to Pisa to see the leaning tower, now held up
by guy ropes. And, of course, I renewed my acquaintance with Michelangelo’s David, the original of which stands in pride of place in the Galleria dell’Accademia.

OK, I’ll come clean and admit that we did eat really well too. We tried a different restaurant each night and weren’t disappointed by any of them. One of our favourites was the Trattoria Nella, where we had warm welcome and traditional Tuscan food at a very reasonable cost – under £30 for the three of us including a litre of house wine.

Any down sides? well, that would have to be our hotel. We had already found that Italian hotels tend to be poor value for money, but the three star Gioconda we booked looked like a good bet: reasonable quality, and pretty central – just a few minutes’ walk from the Duomo. Well, it was basically clean and hygienic, but after climbing three flights of stairs to the top of the house our hearts sank when we went into our room. Tiled floor, saggy beds, an air conditioning unit with the pipe hanging out of the window so the shutters didn’t shut…..and when the chain broke on the ancient toilet, the attendant’s first suggestion was that we tie it back on ourselves! (To be fair, he did running repairs himself and it was fixed properly the next day.) But the lack of home comforts did put a slight damper on our stay. We used to press our noses up against the glass door of the beautiful Sofitel just along the street, but the prices were wildly extravagant! I really recommend you check out your accommodation very carefully, and it may be worth while to splash out on a more expensive hotel than you would elsewhere.

Visiting Florence is, like all city breaks, a busy trip rather than a relaxing holiday. If you’re interested in Renaissance art it’s hard to beat; eating and shopping are also good, as well as just enjoying the cosmopolitan atmosphere. It probably won’t be the most exciti
ng trip for children, though the pasta and ice cream help, there is a big Disney shop, and my daughter happens to quite like looking at pictures. The climate is warmer than England, and although it did rain on a couple of days when we went in October, it was still pleasantly warm for sightseeing. I very much hope that I’ll be able to go back again, while I can still manage to climb all those stairs but when I’m rich enough to stay in the Sofitel!

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