When we first started talking about coming to this part of Italy people warned us about coming in July or August. Too hot and busy they said. What they (and us) didn’t bank on was that this year, July / August weather has come two months early. And so it is that we find ourselves taking on the challenge of Florence in a day in 30 degree heat. We take the train from Figline Valdarno into the centre of Florence after we read that 90 traffic violations per minute are issued in the city centre, many for vehicles inadvertently entering the traffic free zone (ZTL). We don’t wish to become a statistic ourselves so opt to let the train take the strain.
First stop in Firenze is the Basilica di Santa Maria Novella which is almost on the doorstep of the train station of the same name. Anywhere else this would be a major draw, but here it pales into seeming insignificance against the next stop, the Duomo of Santa Maria del Fiore. The cathedral is enormous, accommodating 25,000 people inside for services. It’s indescribable in both size and decoration so I won’t even try – just look at the pictures. In fact, I find it all a little overwhelming – it’s not something that you can easily take in, partly because of its sheer size, partly because of the level of detail of the decoration, partly because of the heat of the day and partly because of the crowds milling around it. We opt for a drink at one of the cafes in the surrounding square just to sit and take in the sight.
From there we head on to the Palazzo Vecchio, the seat of power of the Medici family in Florence for a trip up the tower which gives a good overview of the city, including the classic view of Brunelleschi’s massive red brick dome of the Duomo.
By this time we are in need of lunch so cross the river, taking in the Ponte Vecchio to find the hidden gem that is Brac bookshop and cafe. This place needs no help with marketing, so we’ll leave it there, suffice to say that we had some of the more innovative and interesting food of the trip (no scrambled egg carbonara here!) and comparisons with Ottolenghi’s outlets in London are not misplaced.
It’s worth pointing out that during the course of the day we haven’t been able to fit in the Uffizzi Gallery (a full day in itself), nor the Accademia Gallery to see the original David (although we have seen many copies and many other Renaissance statues), we have also missed out the Boboli and Bardini Gardens – the former by design – we just couldn’t fit it in, the latter by accident as it was closed due to an event. Despite this, we still don’t leave Florence until after 5pm, having arrived just before 10am.