Florence day 2

After the ‘whirlwind’ tour with Francesca, we planned a slightly easier pace on our second day in Florence (the harsh heat was a major influence as well). We walked to the train station after a leisurely Italian breakfast (a cornetto and a cappuccino). From here we caught a bus to Piazza Michaelangelo. This overlooks the city of Florence and makes an excellent vantage point to see the city. Once again, the weather was hot!

Fantastic Views of Firenze.

A perfect place for wedding photos.  We counted 6 wedding couples in the 30 minutes we were there.  Those brides must have been sweltering in those dresses!

We walked down the hill back to town, and discovered a grotto. Cameron spotted several fish and a turtle. He was disappointed that he couldn’t take his shoes off and catch the turtle and bring it home with him!

We walked back into town via San Crocce, and then Braddagio, where Cameron had seen a building he was interested in seeing. It was glassed off, so we had a look from outside, before finding a lovely little trattoria for lunch.

Given the heat, we thought we might escape into the Uffizi Gallery. However, letting in 13 people every 20 minutes, the kids had calculated that it was a 2 ½ hour wait! We were not too fussed about going in (We were only really going in to escape the heat, they had been to the Accademia Gallery the day before, and we had planned the Vatican Museum later in the week, we didn't want to overload them with gallery visits).  We abandoned this idea, and headed north to find a park with some shade and a place for the kids to run. Most of the gardens are private and behind giant walls, but we eventually found a great park to relax in. Cameron once again found a turtle in the fountain (2 in one day, what is with that??) and wanted to hop the fence and take him home. A gelati and then a visit to a department store (air conditioning and free toilets are an inviting proposition!!). We strolled through town, grabbed a coffee (and a Sprite for the kids). We headed back to the hotel, and sat for 30 minutes in the air conditioned foyer before heading for the station to catch our train to Rome.