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Published: August 6th 2009
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On with the story...
So after our 1 hour stop at Pisa, we continued on our merry way to Florence. In the car on the way there we ummed and ahhed about where to stay - the only camping in the book was 35 euro and that is way over budget for us. But after a quick ring to the tourist office and a check of our tomtom, we realised there was plenty around Florence so we would check the guidebook site and then move on if it was no good. And thank god we checked! The campsite is on the top of a hill overlooking Florence and it was beautiful! It was basically right in town and had its own supermarket and bar. So if you need to know, its called Camping Michaelangelo. It's next to Piazzala Michaelangelo and for us it was definitely worth the 35 euro even on a budget. We watched the sun set over Florence and the Tuscan hills and I knew from the get go that I loved Florence xxx
So the next day I got up early (yes you heard me right) and was ready to walk into town by 10 (yes
you heard me right then, too). After a lovely meander along the river, we made our way to the Uffizi Gallery and were immediately shocked by the massive line to get in. Our guidebook mentioned that we should expect to quea but this was unreal! Nearly 3 hours worth of queuing at 10.30 in the morning for a gallery! I don't know if everyone in the queue knew but you can actually walk into the office, reserve a timeslot, and then come back later and walk straight in. So this we did, and I tell you, it was worth the extra 4 euro each. We spent the hour before our reservation walking around the Piazza and admiring the statues in the open air museum. How they carved those things is beyond me - they show every muscle, every vein and every curve of the human body. I had read that the gallery exhibited one of the most important collections of Renaissance art in Italy but I didn't realise it held The Birth of Venus by Bottecelli. You know the one in the Monty Python movies? Anyway that was rather cool although neither of us thought it was that great. A
bit 2D, not enough depth (because you know darlings, we are very knowledgeable art critics!). Anyway, the rest of the gallery was not as great as I hoped, I think mainly because every piece of work was religious and we've both seen better in Spain and in Paris (again showing our immense sophistication!).
So we left a little bit drained but Bretto spotted an awesome little eatery with home cooked food served up by 2 big fat nonnas - bellissimo! For a fiver each, that was the best lunch we've had so far! After that it was back to the campsite and Bretto very graciously (but with plenty of pissed off undercurrent) drove me 45 minutes out of town to a designer outlet store called the mall. I spent 3 hours looking around Valentino, Gucci, Balenciaga and Burberry for a new handbag (the only one I liked happened to be 2200 euro even at half price) before spending just 32 euro in Diesel and 20 euro in Miss Sixty. Bretto called it a waste of time, I called it an enjoyable afternoon well spent.
The next day was another early rise (my god I'm getting good at those!)
and a fully planned day. In the morning we walked through the town to the Galleria Academia to make a reservation to see the statue of David by Michaelangelo but we were so early (bless my little cotton socks) that we walked right in. David was an impressive piece of work - did you know Michaelangelo carved the whole statue out of one block of marble that 2 other artists had already tried to work with and rejected before he was 29? Impressive indeed. Afterwards we searched for a place to eat a quick lunch and settled on a little cafe near the Duomo. Our only requirement when eating out is not to eat anywhere with an English menu - makes it so much more fun! Anyway, we were only stopping for a quick bite but then we started chatting with an English couple sitting next to us and they had so many great tips for us and we had so much fun talking to them that we stayed for 3 hours! This ended up being a very good thing, because although the Duomo is the 5th largest cathedral in the world and very impressive on the outside, it's the
plainest thing i've ever seen on the inside, kind of like a big hall you'd have a school dance in. Ben and Vic very generously gave us his map of Venice (which is our next major stop) and we chatted about our trips so far and our lives in London. Awesome - so nice to meet some other people like us and not just a bunch of retarded drunken Australians on van tour. Not that there's anything wrong with that, its just that they're always so completely drunk and so YOUNG (do I sound like an old fart now??). Anyway I don't care, I'd rather hang out at a cafe in the streets of Florence and drink rose than hang at the campsite and drink a goonbag til I pass out.
But enough of that, the moral of the story is, Florence is beautiful and we loved it. Not too big and not small enough to walk over the same streets again and again, and the shopping - my god the shopping! Even Bretto was into it (although he would never admit it!) I bought my one luxury item for the trip - the most amazing leather jacket with
zips and buckles and all the works. When I wear it I am the epitome of sexy biker chic!
By the way, because Florence was so incredibly freakin hot, our fight tally went up by 2 in one day, so if you're going to Florence, air conditioning is a necessity, not a luxury, unless you want your trip to end in divorce! Being the wonderful caring souls that we are, we got over our cranky fights and I am know getting used to having a permanent sheen of sweat all over me. Ahh, the romance of it all!
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Dad
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Have I missed something? No entry since 4 August!