Tuesday 4 June 2019, a day in Florence

Today, Laura got up early and drove Dan to Florence airport as he had to return early. We missed him.

We had a late breakfast before taking the car and the local bus from Bargino to Florence. It arrived 20 minutes late and was a slow journey.


On arrival, we were hot and dying for a coffee so we found an outdoor cafe near the bus station and Santa Maria Novella train station. Then we went to look round the church, which had some beautiful frescoes. We also walked through the cloisters.



We then had lunch at Bracieri Malatesta, a very pleasant restaurant  suggested by Laura, with good service. I had a large pizza.

The Baptistery, Duomo and Campanile

After lunch, we walked towards the Duomo. There were very long queues to go in, so we just looked at the impressive Baptistery doors and the beautiful facade.


Then we walked along by the River Arno. We also visited Orsanmichele, a former granary and church. Inside we sat down for a welcome rest and admired the painting of the Madonna in the tabernacle.


Next, we walked along to look at the famous Ponte Vecchio and walked halfway across it. It was very crowded and we just looked at the shop windows.  We had a welcome drink on the Piazza della Signoria.

We had some trouble finding the bus stop for our return journey, and eventually walked to the bus station where we found a bus to Bargino. From there we drove home to the Castello.




For supper, we had snacks and nice wines - some Tuscany white blends. Then straight to bed after a tiring day.