Florence

Whilst I still have photos from my exchange to work through, at mum’s request I’ve skipped ahead to the family holiday to Italy. We left Florence just this morning to travel to Il Paretaio, a dressage school near Siena in the Tuscan countryside, we’ll spend a week here and then finish up with a week in Venice. Before I get ahead of myself though, here’s a recap of our brief time in Firenze.

We only spent three nights in Florence, just enough time to get over our jet lag and see some of the major sights. To start us off we had a walking tour of Florence. The highlight for me was getting to see the final resting place of Galileo Galilei in the Basilica of Santa Croce (his tomb lies opposite that of Michelangelo and Machiavelli) but the remarkable medieval architecture of the Piazza del Duomo was also a favourite.

Our second day began with an early start so as to beat the crowds and the heat to the Uffizi Gallery. It was everything it promised; painting and sculpture by some of the most famous Renaissance artists, stunning frescoes and elaborate gilded mouldings. I could have spend days there but we unfortunately only had hours.

Much to dad’ disgust, the afternoon was spent wandering shops and eating an unhealthy quantity of gelato before we made our way to the market for dinner. At the market the lower floor houses fresh produce while the upper level offers ready to eat meals. We enjoyed fresh bruschetta, pasta with freshly shaved truffle, grilled sea bass and calamari skewers and, the highlight, bistecca alla fiorentina. 1kg of t-bone steak, cut over three fingers thick from chianina cattle, seasoned and served blue. I was in heaven.

Our car to Il Paretaio left at 11am but in an effort to make the most of our brief time we snuck in an early morning visit to the Boboli Gardens before departure. While the grounds-keeping budget was possibly a little smaller than required, the gardens were none the less impressive. Long avenues lined with trees and hedges gave way to sweeping views over Pitti Palace and the Florencian skyline with an abundance of marble statues dotted throughout. Certainly an inspiring testament to mans dominion over nature.