It's a wanderful life, so it is

After leaving Como, we travelled further south to enjoy 2 ½ weeks in Florence. We were looking forward to Meadhbh and Jamie staying with us during our final week so we saved the big attractions for last.

Our first task in Florence was a simple one – to return our hire car. Driving in most cities isn’t too bad but working our way through these narrow, medieval, one-way streets was an absolute nightmare. To make matters worse, we had somehow contrived to mix up the rental office with the actual drop off point, a nearby garage. Fortunately, there was a slow-moving street cleaning vehicle ahead of us so Gerry had time to run into the office, take a photo of a map of the garage location then run alongside the car and jump in like Starsky. Or was it Hutch? Anyway, we hugged each other on the street like lottery winners having survived our tense ordeal. Only later did it occur to us that we had already been told about the garage location when we picked up the car!

Relieved of our troublesome burden, we were free to aimlessly walk the streets of the city. Now, anyone could tell you we’re not shoppers: if shopping was an olympic sport, we’d be Vatican City (which has never even competed). But there’s something immensely liberating about looking through the windows of every shop in those narrow, medieval streets while fully knowing you can’t buy anything because there’s nowhere to put it. On the rare occasion that we do buy something, it’s only to replace a piece of clothing from our rucksacks.

The first church we came across while wandering in Florence – il Chiesa di San Salvatore in Ognissanti – was a stunning place of art and devotion , including a crucifix by Giotti dating back to 1315. The city is overflowing with statues, paintings, architecture, frescos and murals. Poor Perseus has to stand outside the Uffizi Gallery as if there is no room left inside and he has to survive as best he can on the street. Fortunately, modern day art is also thriving in Florence such as the mural by street artist Zenro (above) and the statue of”Time unfolding“, which must be the only smartphone in Florence not taking a photo of something!

We spent the rest of our time before Jamie and Meadhbh arrived by getting used to living at the top of heart-attack hill (don’t worry, there was a bus); experiencing the birthplace of the renaissance and its food and drink; having a few lazy days; and visiting some nearby locations.

We saw the classic sights, of course, the Ponte Vecchio and the Duomo, where we shared Brunelleschi’s view. Mhairi also showed grumpy Dante how to smile in the piazza outside the door of the impressive Basilica di Santa Croce di Firenze.

Siena was enchanting, especially the main square where the annual horse race is held (as seen in James Bond’s Quantum of Solace). There is also the imposing cathedral and its beautiful streets and we even saw students celebrating their graduation by dressing up as Roman soldiers and driving around the city standing on their pimped up rides. Sadly, because there was a Celtic game in the afternoon, we had to cut our time in Siena short. Another few hours in the “Medieval Pompeii” or watching Tony Ralston chasing a football? No contest! 😄

We took a local bus up to Fiesole for the spectaular view of Florence and weren’t disappointed. Gerry was tickled by Fiesole buying the statue of Garibaldi meeting King Vittorio Emanuele II in Teano – a key moment in the creation of the Italian state – just because the town where it actually took place couldn’t afford it!

A real highlight of our first week was, of course, Conclave. To be in Italy on such an occasion was a special treat. We were on the phone to Meadhbh, planning the details of their trip, when every church bell in the city rang out. And there are a lot of church bells here. Conclave had started!

Two days later, we were almost back in our apartment after a day of trekking the city streets when the church bells once more rang out in unison. “Habemus Papam!” A new Pope had been chosen! We had watched the Conclave film the night before so, of course, we were experts on the whole process, but it was still exciting to see the new leader of the Catholic world emerge while we were in the country.

Overall, the first half of our Florence stay was pretty chilled but we knew we had to save ourselves for the whirlwinds that are Meadhbh & Jamie…coming next!