Italy - Day Three - Florence

We set aside today to ride the tourist buses around Florence. We rise early, so we get breakfast and can walk back to the train station to be on the first bus of the day. The motivation is that we can see some sights before it gets too hot. By 9am it was already topping 30 degrees. So much for that clever plan!

There are two bus circuits, on which we are allowed to hop on and off at any stop, and get back on, all day. We travel around various sites, but most importantly (in my opinion) visit Piazzale Michelangelo which has fantastic views of Florence from a nearby hill. I want to get off, but we have front row seats upstairs on the bus so we decide to stay on. The city is beautiful though, and the bus takes us around the hills where there are many historical buildings, and landmarks, and also many rich people's houses. It's all set amongst trees with a view of the city.

We eventually return to the train station, completing the circuit, and wait for the other bus. We have to wait 20 minutes, in the hot sun. We slowly bake alive! Once our bus arrives we hop on and shortly we leave. This bus takes a longer route, way up into the hills, about 15km away from Florence towards Fiesole, with again lovely hills and just like a postcard everywhere I point the camera.

The double decker bus is open top and many trees hang low, we have to duck to avoid being hit by branches but occasionally get wacked by some low leaves. Good fun! I didn't bring my hat today which was silly and I start to burn on top so have to use our map as a hat. Last stop before the end, the bus parks up in a hot piazza for 15 minutes and we all start to fry. We move downstairs to escape the sun, but the bus is so hot. By the time we get moving we're all hot and bothered.

We get back on the other bus again, and head around to the Ponte Vecchio to see the shops open and soak up the atmosphere. We then walk further along the river, and over to the Palazzo Vecchio. Here, the crowds are immense, the sun is beating down and the piazza amplifies the heat further. The queue to see David is a mile long. We see the replica statue, amongst many others, and decide that's enough. We head for the quieter back streets, where there is shade, and many restaurants and shops (including this little one pictured below). We find a nice place to have some lunch, sharing a calzone and enjoying the true Italian restaurant owners standing outside trying to entice passing pedestrians in, sometimes successfully. Fed and watered, we walk back to our hotel for a wee rest.

Although Helen has her bag now, I've had my eye on a couple of business laptop bags so we head back out to look at them again. It's hard work, even the locals are suffering the heat, but we press on and eventually I purchase a locally made leather bag. We then make a beeline to the hotel to cool off again. How did people survive living here for centuries without air conditioning?

About 7pm, we head out again back to the tourist bus, so we can return to Piazzale Michelangelo to watch the sunset from the hill. The ride up there is nice, and when we arrive it's a busy place. Everyone wants the same photos! There are also two different wedding photo shoots in progress. We wait over an hour for sunset, which was absolutely beautiful, and from here the river glows orange.

Here's another video from Helen.



We then decide to walk home, so head down the hill and walk along the river. The evening slowly cools off, and the river is so smooth with no wind blowing. It's so beautiful. Here's a few pictures to share with you.

Nearing our hotel, it's about 10pm by now, we stop in at the Westin Hotel for a drink. Helen has a Bellini, I have a beer. The bar is nice and cool and the beer is so refreshing. Nice! A short walk to the hotel, and it's time for bed.