Fascinating Florence

Trip Start Jun 17, 2008

Trip End Dec 17, 2008

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Where I stayed

International Camping Florence

(Florence hotels)

Flag of Italy Florence, Tuscany, Italy
Thursday, October 9, 2008

When we arrived at our campsite in Florence, we again weren't too impressed with how far we would have to walk to get the public transport into the centre, & even though they specified they had Wifi - once again they didn't! We decided to stay there anyway, as we thought it was only 16 Euros a night, & with our 10% discount it would be quite reasonable! It wasn't until we woke up the next morning, covered in mossie bites everywhere, we looked at the price & realised it was 35 Euros a night - oh dear, slightly misread the documentation! Anyway, after discovering this, we checked out & decided to drive into Florence, park up, have a look around for a few hours & then the plan was to head to Pisa instead of staying an extra night in Florence! We were really annoyed, as the campsite we had originally planned on staying at was smack bang in the centre of Florence - anyway we live & learn!

We managed to get a parking spot right by the river, which was handy for looking around the main areas & squares in Florence! After walking down the riverside, we cut into the first square, where a church stood as the main centrepiece - very beautiful! I couldn't help feeling it was going to get better though, as we kept getting glimpses of the Dome of the main church & knew it was going to be something special! So after spending quite a bit of time (& money) looking around the big market, we ate our cheese & marmite sarnies & headed for this huge spectacle! Wow - it is quite a remarkable sight! So huge & the detail so intricate - we kept thinking that was it, but then we'd turn another corner & another part of the church is revealed - very exquisite! It's just a shame about the scaffolding that you seem to see on so many of these buildings - but with the age of them I guess it's to be expected! In fact, I struggle to remember anywhere we have been on our travels where there hasn't been any scaffolding holding something up - suppose we'd prefer it to be there than to be falling down on top of us!

So, after our short but very nice walk around Florence, we had seen enough for now to get a feel for the place, & it definitely feels a lot more like the traditional Italy you would imagine! The only thing I would say on a negative note is the amount of cars & mopeds in particular on the roads & down the side streets do slightly spoil the beauty of the place. Also, the council could do more to clean up certain areas, as who wants to see graffiti on the walls in the centre of Florence! Other than that, we really enjoyed our time here & thought it had a lot to offer as a city!

So, off we trundle to see the famous Leaning Tower - that's got to be a unique spectacle!