Another beautiful city on the list and another public transport adventure. Blogs are so useful for finding out tips on getting around and places to park. So thank you to the blog that suggested the massive coop car park next to the Nenni Torregalli tram station north of Florence. 45 minute drive from our hillside retreat and then 15 minutes on the tram. This time it all worked perfectly, phew. The tram system in Florence is much easier to use than anywhere else we’ve been, ticket machines at every stop instead of the random ‘you c
an only but tickets from a newsagent or tobacconist??’. You pay €1.50 for 90 minutes and validate the ticket when you start your journey. Simple.
We arrived at the central station, which was central for a change and headed straight for the Duomo. Wow. You see pictures of these places & think they are amazing and then you see them for real and are completely blown away. The Brunelleschi done sits on top of the cathedral, which seems to be made of marble. It has an unreal quality, you think you’re looking at a pop up book made of paper, it’s bizarre.
The piazza is crammed with awesome buildings, and crammed with people queuing to get in to the awesome buildings, we’re not great at queuing so we just enjoyed the exterior 😉
Next on the list was the Leonardo de Vinci museum, it featured in every article of things to do in Florence so off we trotted. Si & I we’re a bit sceptical, it looked like a tiny shop & the entrance to the museum was at the back behind a black curtain. I had visions of a couple of pictures on the wall and a five minute experience for our €30 but we shouldn’t be so cynical. It is fairly small for a museum but it’s packed with interactive models of many of Da Vinci’s inventions, so great for kids. They get hold of the replicas of the machinery and can really see & feel how it all works. Brilliant for budding engineers.
As a result of their interest being sparked in this fascinating man they wanted to find out more about his painting, sculptures and human anatomy studies. Fascinating stuff.
On to our next mission, a photo of the boys with Michelangelo’s David. The gallery where the original lives was closed but the replica in Piazza della Signoria is always open so we headed there.
Another glorious piazza, Neptune fountain and more fabulous buildings and a peek of the duomo tip, perfect. Another one on the list to visit for a weekend sometime.
And the David pic requested by Baba ‘my 3 favourite boys’ sorry Mike you’ve been replaced by an Italian fella with his bits out (Ollie couldn’t get over all the willies!)
We spent a bit more time wandering and eating ice cream, Ollie counting scooters on the way. There were 73 on this road!
And this is a doorbell!
We then headed back to the van on the tram. Another beautiful city and an interesting view of real Florence life crammed in with the commuters.
Our last night at our lovely campsite as we planned our next trip to Pisa.
This was intended as a bit of a smash & grab. Go to Pisa, take the famous picture and then head off towards Genoa and decide on the last leg.
Pisa wasn’t having any of that nonsense, so much more to see than just a wonky tower. It’s stunning.
We parked just outside the city walls and walked in. Not far in the searing heat before we spotted the tower.
It is great fun just watching all the people with their funny poses. Of course we had a go.
You don’t often see in the pictures of Pisa the cool buildings surrounding it, they would be worth a stop on their own. Here’s a few non leaning buildings.
We didn’t venture further in to town though there was plenty more to see. The combination of blazing sun and a couple of days sightseeing meant we’d all had enough and just wanted to get to our next stop and chill.
A campsite on a marina this time, brilliant yacht spotting just outside an Italian seaside resort. The first time we’ve experienced people being rude, receptionist was grouchy and the restaurant on site couldn’t have made it clearer that they would really prefer us and our noisy kids to eat elsewhere. I’m not sure how much of my complaint they understood but I got it off my chest anyway 🤣
Big decision tonight – Turin & up to Switzerland or across to Monaco.
Tom decided it with a great idea about hiring scooters and doing the Grand Prix circuit. No idea if we’ll be able to do it but hey let’s give it a go. Monaco here we come (we’re doing Turin as well…)
Our travels, mostly in the van 