Thursday, 6 June, Florence
Having realised how little of this city we could do at our pace we decided to target the Ufizzi Gallery in the morning and then do the red hop- on-hop- off bus tour which we'd already paid for before. The Gallery is just a 10 minute walk from us down by the River Arno. Our hotel concierge assured us we would not get in as we hadn't booked. But being Kiwis, we bowled along anyway. And got in. Sure we had to pay a bit extra for priority entry but it was that or give it a miss. The vastness of the collection was far, far beyond our experience.  We gasped in awe for 2 1/2 hours and then needed a coffee. An overwhelming experience.

So then off to a bus-stop but had to wait 50 minutes for the next red bus to arrive. It's this sort of constraint that limits what you can achieve in a day. Our backs and feet were so just so relieved to be able to get a top deck seat and sit on it. The weather was overcast today which was so much better, allowing us to see much more. Also miraculously we picked a seat with sound and English commentary.  Not a common occurence.

Florence , known as the jewel of the Renaissence, used to be the capital of Italy. It is a city of flowers and romantics.  I was thrilled by the luxurious greenery , bright beds of flowers and vibrant birdsong. Of course we're in Tuscany now so think "Under the Tuscan Sun". Melodious music surrounds the traveler and lures her further into the hills above the thronging city. We wished we had time to alight at every one of the stops on offer but we must be content with a superficial coverage.

When we had completed the 2 hour circuit,  we walked down to the Ponte Vecchio which spans the River Arno. It is here that gold merchants built their house-shops, and it was packed with tourists craning their necks to view the billions of Euros of gold jewelry  on display. No price tags were attached and the doors were all closed to the ogling tourists. Through these glass doors, we could see genuine buyers seated at elegant tables with sophisticated sales assistants enticing wealthy clients. Fascinating. I did manage to gain entry to one shop to view a pretty little simple gold bangle, but was not offered a seat. I even got to try it on and so glanced at the price tag of €380.00. I hummed and hahed for an appropriate time and then said it wasn't quite what I was looking for. Peter was relieved when I emerged.

Tomorrow we need to be at our pickup hotel by 8.00 am to join our Backroads tour of Tuscany.