Making the most of Florence & Tuscan Taste

We’ve reached the end of our stay in lovely Florence and it’s been a real experience. This was one of the stops I was most looking forward to and I can honestly say that it’s totally lived up to my expectations, helped by beautiful warm weather and sunshine, which has shown us the city in its best light.

The colours of the buildings are what struck me immediately - predominantly light terra cotta and dark honey colours, colours of the Tuscan earth, coupled with the beauty of the architecture of the magnificent palaces and churches.

The B&B we've been staying in is in a fantastic location literally a minute's walk from the majestic Duomo. I had heard this is a real landmark in the city but I hadn't realised how massive it is nor appreciated it's unique style.














The first full day (Tuesday) was focused on finding our way around. The centre is actually quite small but there are so many narrow streets, hidden squares and stunning buildings appear from nowhere and it takes a while to construct an internal map of what’s where. I love cities and don’t really mind the crowds of people, and there are lots of people here, all out in the streets making the most of the wonderful weather; however, my husband was getting a bit tetchy about having to negotiate the crowds and rushed over the Ponte Vecchio (old bridge) leaving me ambling behind, looking in the windows of the exclusive shops and soaking up the atmosphere. As luck would have it, only a few minutes later when we’d reached a less busy street, he spotted an interesting shop called Tuscan Taste, which was advertising wine tasting in the window and we decided to find out more. It was a lovely shop, an oasis of calm in the busy city, and besides, for 10 Euros each we could taste 3 wines and a liqueur, with the help of the lovely Carmen, and nibbles kept being brought to the table, such as little bruschetta with pecorino cheese and truffle honey, so we came out of there a good hour later with spirits high and any negative feelings left behind.

We also found, in the afternoon, the University quarter and discovered the Botanical Gardens which are part of the University. That was another beautiful and restful place to while away a good hour and we enjoyed the gentle sounds of birdsong and water fountains among vivid pink and red flowers and lush trees.

We’ve been using the Rough Guide to Europe which our daughter bought me for Christmas as an invaluable source of information for accommodation but also for sights and restaurants and bars. The guide strongly recommended Florence market for eating. The market hall looks like it’s been modernised fairly recently and on the first floor there are loads of stalls selling a massive range of food and drink - pasta, pizza, grills, soups, curries, breads and cakes, prepared fruit and salads, ice creams in every flavour imaginable, wines and beers, soft drinks, teas and coffees. You choose your food and drink and take a seat at one of the many trestle tables in the hall to enjoy your meal, which we did! Steak, pork ribs, roast potatoes, roasted onions, ice cream and drinks all went down well.

This morning we were at the Uffizi Palace for 8am as we’d taken advice to book ahead and avoid the queues, and that proved to have been a wise move. Of course, it is wonderful to see all this fabulous art in one place, but it is a bit overwhelming and in an ideal world you could spend an hour then go back on other days to see more of it. However, that isn’t an option so we spent nearly 3 hours. My highlight was definitely the Botticelli Birth of Venus - what a beautiful face, followed by the Caravaggio section.

Apart from that today, we’ve walked, had a picnic lunch, walked, seen more sights and lovely gardens, walked and been to a little unpretentious, but good value, trattoria for dinner. On our route back to the hotel we heard music in a street nearby and found a live band out on the pavement playing a combination of Chuck Berry/ska stuff, and playing it pretty well. After a couple of numbers they had lots of people, including me, up dancing! An upbeat end to the day.

Tomorrow (Thursday) will be the end of our first week away and we leave Florence for Rome.

Summary of Florence: sophisticated and stunning

We stayed at the Relais del Duomo, Piazza del Olio, a very comfortable & central small B&B (just 4 bedrooms) & I would definitely recommend it.