As I didn’t have a clue where my hotel was I decided to get a taxi which involved leaving the bus station, going through the shopping centre and out to the train station where the taxi rank was. The ride to my hotel took me past all the historical sights, a mini tour in itself. One of my requirements for my Florence stay was to have ‘a room with a view’ and preferably a view of the Arno (yep I know, I’m an old romantic and I love the Merchant Ivory film, watching it only days before I went to Italy and seeing it again when I returned, with a whole new perspective). I had booked the Ville sull’ Arno as it was an original Florentine Villa overlooking the Arno and it had a swimming pool. It really was a beautiful hotel and I had a lovely room that was actually on the river, opposite the rowing club, although it was a little further out of town than I had expected. Having spent a few minutes unpacking, I sat down on my balcony over the river to watch the rowers and ate the roll I had bought the previous day. Eventually I headed towards the town centre to explore and find the office of the trip I was booked to go on that evening.
It was when I started walking towards town that I realised just how far out it was (it turned out to be 3 miles). According to reviews I’d read they’d said it was 15 minutes from the old town, and it was – the very outskirts of the old town, however to get to the Ponte Vecchio took another 30 minutes of walking in 90 degree temperatures without any shade, although to be fair it was a pleasant walk along the banks of the Arno. I finally managed to find the office for the tour, but had some time to wait so wandered to the Piazza della Republica where I stopped at one of the restaurants and had picci pasta with wild mushrooms and a beer. It was delightful to sit under the canopy that was spraying water to cool you down and just watch the world go by. Soon it was time to meet for the tour that was run by Artviva.
The tour I had chosen was an evening walk around the Oltrarno (the other side of the river). It was a relaxing tour with a small group – only 5 of us, the others being Americans (a mother and daughter and a married couple). The tour guide Christina was incredibly knowledgeable about Florence and the Medici’s. She took us over the Ponte Vecchio, stopping to explain its history (and to warn us not to buy any gold from there) and through ancient cobble stoned streets, where we saw the Palazzo Pitti and heard scandalous tales of murder and mayhem. We saw a medieval hospice in the Piazza Santo Spirito where Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci used to do secret autopsies and saw artisans workshops virtually out of the Renaissance. She took us to the Piazza della Passera, which she said contained the 3 best places to eat in the whole of Florence and finally to a wine bar where we had a glass of Vernaccia di San Gimignano. We had all enjoyed the evening so much that we decided to stay together and headed back to the Piazza where we got a table at one of the aforementioned restaurants and enjoyed a lovely meal with another bottle of the Vernaccia. I had the Florentine steak, which was cooked perfectly and sliced thinly over a green salad.
Eventually, we made our way back over the river and said our goodbyes and I walked back to the hotel, stopping at an outdoor bar in the local park for a last glass of wine.I was amazed at how busy the place got on a Monday night, soon a large group of people had arrived and they started talking to me, a bit of a problem as none of them spoke English and obviously my Italian hadn’t improved any. However, they soon had me sitting in their group and all took turns to try and talk to me and make me feel at ease in the bar, which was a really nice thing for them to do. I didn't stay long, but felt it was a really good end to the evening.
(Note: the pictures were taken on the last day of my holiday just before the monsoon started. the original photos were lost with my camera)
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