Wednesday 5 June, Florence
We arrived at our Borghese Palace Art Hotel at 11.58 last night and were given such an enthusiastic welcome by the receptionist who gave us a map and showed us all the places we needed to visit in our 2 days in this fair city. What I actually wanted was a cup of tea, and bless her, off she trotted to get me that as well.

What a maze this place is. Per courtesy of Maps Me we found our way to the hop-on-hop-off terminal but it's about half an hour's walk from here. Perhaps we'll manage better tomorrow.  It's really hazardous having hundreds of tourists wandering along the narrow cobblestone alleyways with their eyes fixed on their mobiles. We missed so much of the wonders en route to our bus but fell thankfully into the arms of a woman who sold us everything on offer, pushed us on to a bus and sent us on our way telling us to alight at Stop 8. I did ask Peter later what was at that particular stop but he was even more confused than I. It was too hot to sit upstairs so we trundled along downstairs, seeing I don't know what as the earphones didn't work. When we alighted, there before us was a magnificent panorama of the whole of Florence!!!!  Oh my!!!!! Turn around and there was David (just a replica you understand) right behind us. It just took our breath away.

However it was too hot to stand in that sun for any longer, so we hopped on another bus and again stayed downstairs. Suddenly I heard Boboli Gardens announced so Peter found his earplugs pulled out and he was standing on a different footpath. I had read about these gardens in the flight magazine coming up here so wanted to go there. Well, here we were. Peter needed a cappuccino first so we found a delightful supplier and some incredible delicacies which fitted us to explore these gardens, wherever they were. I was able to ask an approachable young woman "Dove Boboli Gardens per favore?" , and off we strode. What a paradise they are, modelled on Italian Gardens from 16th century with a vast array of sculptures. These included a contemporary collection by Tony Cragg, providing a sharp contrast with all the Renaissance figures. Peter just enjoyed sitting in the shade in one of the arbors listening to the shrilling birdsong. Truly remarkable.

When we returned from the city circuit some time later we searched for the Leonardo Da Vinchi museum, tickets for which our guide had sold us in the morning. By then we were more able to lift our heads ( as well as our feet) and take in some of the sights. Eventually we came across the inconspicuous doorway of the museum, handed in our tickets, and were enthralled by this collection of Da Vinci's work. Again we stayed for some considerable time soaking it all in.
I don't think we can do Florence in 2 days.