Fast-Track Florence....

I never got to tell you about the week that our American guests, Holly and Zack, stayed with us. It was so much fun having them here because:

#1 they were up for most anything we suggested .......

and

#2 we could understand each other.

The day after they arrived, they allowed me to give them the fast-track tour of Florence so they could get oriented to the main sites. We rode the bus into the city and walked to the historic center. Florence is perfect for walking tours - the center is compact and most of the famous sites are within that center.

The first stop had to be the Duomo - its beauty is stunning - plus the Campanile (Bell Tower) and Baptistry (with the splendid Gate to Paradise) are included in the set.

Next we walked towards the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi (the powerful Medici family crib) and headed for the church of San Lorenzo. This was the Medici's family church - and there's a huge daily street market that surrounds the church. The Mercato Centrale (Central Market) is also near - a modern structure (1800's) where you can get ANYTHING to eat (there are some strange animal parts in here).

After warning Holly and Zack to watch their pockets anytime they were in this street market area, we turned towards the Arno River - on the way we went through the elegant Piazza della Repubblica (former location of the old Roman forum and current location of several famous cafès, street entertainment can be good here too). I wanted to show them Il Porcellino in the Mercato Nuovo (New Market), but we must have missed him by a street - I reminded them to return later and rub his nose.

It's not so easy to miss the Piazza della Signoria - the vast public square containing the Palazzo Vecchio (Town Hall), the Loggia dei Lanzi (an open loggia used as a sculpture gallery - and resting place for weary tourists) and other famous statues like the Neptune Fountain and a copy of Michaelangelo's David. This piazza leads into the Uffizi complex - Italy's greatest art gallery. Also a great place for street entertainers and people watching, at this point you are within a block of the Arno River.

We crossed the Arno on the Ponte Vecchio - the oldest bridge in Florence (built in 1345) and the only bridge not destroyed by the Nazi's during WWII. This is the place to buy gold jewelry - if you have plenty of cash!

While on the other side of the Arno Holly treated me to a scrumptious lunch (air conditioning included!) - we sat at a window seat one floor off the street and watched the pedestrian traffic below us. After lunch we trotted over to Palazzo Pitti for a quick glimpse at this COLOSSAL home that Signore Pitti (a wealthy banker back in the day) built to try and "one-up" all the other fabulously wealthy families in Florence, especially the Medici's. Unfortunately he bankrupted his family . . . and the Medici's ended up living there. There's a moral somewhere in that story... The Boboli Gardens are here as well - a really nice green space when the city gets too hot and the crowds too much.

Even though there was so much to see and do, I didn't want to overwhelm them, so we decided to end the tour by heading towards a huge tower near our bus stop that used to be one of the gates to the south side of the city - Porta San Niccolo. Well, this is where having a 12 year old around is fun, because Zack encouraged us to walk up the hill "....just one more level..." until we found ourselves at Piazzale Michaelangelo - one of the best viewing points in Florence.

If ever in Florence, you must catch at least one sunset from here - the sun setting behind all the bridges crossing the Arno is so lovely.