Florence and Pisa

 Florence is a beautiful city. We know that now, but yesterday we were wondering what all the fuss is about.

We didn't get off to the best start. The pushchair being in Barcelona meant we were all on foot on our first day. Not great with ratty children who were desperate to walk in big crowds and didn't feel like walking in quiet streets. Having come from slightly cooler and definitely less crowded Spain, we were a touch frazzled too!

The view from our balcony

We have a great view of the dome of the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore from our hotel room and small balcony. Much better than a TV! It is the only room in the hotel with a view, so we are very lucky indeed.

Our peaceful spot overlooking the dome from the back of the hotel did not prepare us for walking out onto the Florence streets. We are not the only people who thought September would be a good time to visit!

The cathedral

The cathedral is an amazing building; no wonder it took almost 150 years to finish! The outside is incredibly intricate, quite a contrast to the simple interior.

We spent the afternoon at the Uffizi Gallery, which displays the Medici family's private art collection. Included are works by Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael and many other well known (to people who are more knowledgeable about art than us!) artists.

The building itself was apparently government offices built in the 1500's. Camden offices are just fine, but somehow not quite the same. Eleanor managed to convince us to have a quick game of 'monsters and screamers'. She found fast-walking her made up chase game down the corridors absolutely hilarious!

Adrian collected the pushchair this morning after my failed attempt last night (I forgot the passport needed to get through security to collect it; grrrr!) and we caught the train to Pisa. Seeing the tower has been on my travel list for years. Tick!

Pisa

The tower leans five degrees, which really is a lot. It leaned much further until the early 1990's when work was done to stabilise it. Eleanor's theory is that the clouds pushed the tower over, but historians seem to think it was poor design.

As children under eight are not allowed up the tower, Adrian and I took it is turns to climb the 300 steps to the top. The view from the top is pretty impressive.

The cathedral at night

Tonight we both went for evening strolls around the central city, in turns while Eleanor and Leo slept. That is how we came to understand what a wonderful place Florence really is; it is much quieter, still warm and all the amazing buildings are lit up at night. If you ever want a romantic holiday destination, give Florence a try. Especially at night.

The only thing we weren't sorry to leave behind were the persistent insects that thought I (mostly) tasted pretty good. Some of the bites caused swelling that lasted a few hours. On our last morning I was a right mess with my eyelid, chin and forehead all swollen. Lovely!