time for another side-trip away from our torrita tiberina base
this journey for 10 days to take in 4 cities in the north of italy
the 4 of us and luggage are packed into our toyota aygo rental
this after both a late night and almost all night work session
a relative flood of calls for assistance from monday down under
so the driving is shared for the 3 hour trip on the autostrade to firenze
otherwise known as florence - city of culture and capital of tuscany
we have booked an apartment near the centre of town but - no parking
so the vehicle is abandoned as close as possible and we walk into town
only a few hundred metres to our digs and our host waiting to set us up
done - all good - back to the car and a drive to a famous lookout point
piazza michaelangelo offers a panoramic view of the city down below
it's a small city of uniform coloured buildings and the dissecting river
the hills surrounding making it appear all quite snugly and inviting
a strange phenomenon though - some wet stuff falling from the sky
we take shelter under some umbrellas at a large cafe over the road
and as the rain really starts belting down so we are ushered inside
a reminder of the incredible run of weather we have had this trip
it is all over as quickly as it began and the skies clear once again
we then strategically park the car for the night and walk to the city
within 10 minutes we are crossing the arno river as the sun sets
the rain seems to have cleared the air and it all looks beautiful
looking up river to the iconic ponte vecchio shopping bridge
plenty of selfie-snappers making the most of the conditions
we walk into the heart of the city towards santa maria del fiore
this stunning cathedral also looking glorious in the fading light
there's a lot of people out and about - summer holidays have begun
we have been warned regularly that come august and come the crowds
tonight here it appears that certainly the tourism buzz has intensified
all the cafes and bars are doing a great trade and empty tables are rare
we spot a couple on last drinks, hover, then swoop as they stand to go
as you do - we now have a perfect position to enjoy the activities
and as a bonus the food from this cafe is of an excellent quality
we remind ourselves (pinch) of how fortunate we are to be here
how good is this - how much better could it be - well - ahem
this is the move on cafe/bar - which also hosts a record store
the entire first floor taken up by racks of vinyl and books
a superb range and layout with reasonable prices - tempting
but luggage restrictions are an issue (yea right) so looking only
it's a long, slow wander back across town to our home base
but so much to see and soak up in this most amazing city...
