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One of my favourite places. I could go on about Renaissance art and le mal de Stendhal, but that's what all those stacks of tourist guidebooks in your bookshop are for.

Firenze

Gaby
2004-01-25 13:26:36

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side of the river), we crossed the Ponte Vecchio and had our evening meal in Ristorante Bibó. Our soles were filleted in front of our noses, the side dish was spinach with garlic and olive oil.
Time Out recommended another restaurant, l'Osteria della Santo Spirito, much prized for its extraordinary interior. The interior was special indeed, with strong colours on the walls and contemporary furniture. We are not so certain about the food. We received two enormous plates of greasy gnocchi with a quarter of a truffle for Jack and not even a sliver of truffle in mine and two plates of brill fish which four people would have had a hard time finishing. We probably chose the wrong things, but isn't restaurant staff supposed to advise you a little?

On Tuesday, we took the ATAF bus to Fiesole. We walked through the hills for a long time, passing an Etruscan tomb, admiring the view. Sometime before noon we turned back into the center of Fiesole and went to restaurant Aurora. We had our aperitif in the veranda overlooking the hills. I tried the local specialty: tripe.

We went for a last walk along the Roman ruins, then headed back to Firenze and dragged our weary legs up the long stairs to hotel Pendini, where we slept for a couple of hours.

On Wednesday, we tried to find Alba Forzoni's house where I stayed a couple of years ago when I did my Italian course. It was a long walk along the Arno. I couldn't remember the street, so we gave up and stopped to have a cappuccino somewhere.

There is something friendly about Italian bars. Maybe it is just the openness of the places, with the sun shining in, or is it the smell of coffee, or maybe just the cheerfulness of the staff.

Jack wanted to go to the top of the Duomo, but was put off by the queue in front of the entrance. Even in April, the tourists are swarming Florence. So, we had spent five days in Florence without visiting anything remotely cultural at all - unless gastronomy is considered culture. It was quite an achievement. We had looked at the city from the outside, delighting in the first sunshine we had had all year, admired the views and the people and the shops. Now on our last day we would go to Casa Buonarotti to look at paintings and sculpture and buy postcards of Leonardo da Vinci. It is a small museum, of course, and you've seen it in no time. But who wants to stand in line for the Uffizi when you only have a couple of days in Florence?

We passed the Piazza di Santa Croce and had our last lunch at 4 Leoni, inside, as it was raining. Two hours later our plane arrived in Florence airport.