I can't believe that it has taken me so long to get to Italy. I studied Italian at school and have always wanted to visit Rome and Venice but I have to admit that Florence wasn't necessarily on my radar. However, when my friend Sarah asked if I fancied going I thought, why not! We had both heard good things about it and so we booked our flights and started planning.

The easiest way for us to get to Florence was actually to fly in and out of Pisa which I was rather happy about as it meant that we could sneak in a quick visit to the leaning tower. It did mean, however, that we would need to navigate our way on to Florence via train. It was actually much more simple than I had imagined, thanks to this excellent blog post.

Pressing straight on to Florence, we arrived mid-afternoon and almost immediately found ourselves standing in the shadow of the impressive Duomo. I could have stopped and looked up at it for hours but we needed to get to our AirBnB as we were being met by the host.

After getting settled in we were eager to get out and explore. We made a beeline for the Piazzale Michelangelo which we had heard offered the best panoramic views of the city. Our walk took us back past the Duomo. I'll warn you now, we visited the Duomo A LOT - in fact, the Duomo dominates the skyline so much that you probably can't even really say you've been to Florence unless you have seen it from multiple angles and taken a million photographs! 

We also passed through Piazza della Signoria catching glimpses of the recently refurbished statue of Neptune (known locally as Biancone or "Big White"), the Palazzo Vecchio and the Uffizi Gallery. We crossed the river Arno by walking over the historic Ponte Vecchio which was just as busy as expected! 

In my naivety I hadn't realised quite how hilly it was on the outskirts of Florence and, of course, to get a good panoramic view (let alone a great one) this meant climbing some pretty steep hills! The view, however, didn't disappoint!

We spent a relaxed couple of hours watching the world go by whilst sipping wine - we even managed to nab ourselves one of the best spots at the outdoor cafe overlooking the city from on high!

The next day, our plan was to return to the Palazzo Vecchio and climb the tower. Having researched Florence in the run up to the trip, I was keen to find some viewpoints which looked out over the Duomo and by all accounts this was one of the best. We also benefitted by being able to look around the museum, including the historic Salone dei Cinquecento (Hall of the Five Hundred). It was all really interesting and I loved finding out more about the Medici.

The views were amazing and I was expecting the climb to be pretty difficult (for me at least)! Thankfully, the museum was spread over a number of floors so you actually end up climbing a decent amount before you even really realise. The remaining climb is split into sections so that you can stop for a breather (and to take in the spectacular views) at regular intervals.

Returning to ground level, our legs a little jellified(!) I was glad that we had taken the decision to arrive early - it was definitely much busier when we left and I didn't fancy facing the climb whilst being pushed along by the throngs of tourists that had now arrived! After a quick detour to La Rinascente, a department store with a relatively quiet rooftop terrace with amazing views of, you guessed it, the Duomo, we decided to head back over the river and explore the Boboli Gardens. Another recommendation but I have to admit to being a little underwhelmed. Yes they were impressive but they weren't quite as luscious as I was expecting. They were already looking rather dry and dusty (only to be expected for a mediterranean climate I suppose) and I have to admit that the sloping gardens weren't really agreeing with my already wobbly legs! Don't get me wrong, they are definitely worth a visit but I feel that we should have perhaps set a whole day aside to explore them in more detail (and at a more relaxed pace!).

Enough exertion for one day - we decided that the time had come for a well earned gelato so off we went to find yet another recommendation. Top tip - try and find places that are off the beaten path. The brightly coloured gelato that you see piled high in many shops isn't as good as their paler counterparts that you will find tucked away inside some places. Thats the good stuff!

Although we had already done a lot of walking (and I mean A LOT!), we were still eager to head back up to Piazza Michealangelo to view the city by night. 

Not content with having done so much walking (and climbing!) the day before, we decided to book ourselves onto the first tour of the day to climb the cathedral dome! Although it is free to visit the Cathedral itself, you need a ticket to climb the dome. The combined ticket, however, also included entry to the museum, bell tower and baptistery which meant that we pretty much had our entire day planned! But first - to Brunelleschi's dome! Vasari's depiction of the Last Judgement is certainly imposing - the photos don't really do it justice! You get the chance to view the frescos at a couple of different levels before disappearing to continue your ascent literally between the inner and outer shells of the dome. It's a little eerie viewing the dome from this angle with the walls beginning to arch over the top of you on one side whilst arching away from you on the other! I'm so glad I did it (and I was pretty proud of myself too) - the views were amazing! But, I have to say, I'm so glad we chose to book the first ascent of the day. You see, for a good portion of the climb, the route to the top is the same as the route back down. During our descent we passed some of the later groups making their climb and there isn't a huge amount of room to do so! So my top tip - go early!

We next decided to try our luck by visiting the main part of the Cathedral itself. Because it is free to visit the Cathedral (the same for almost every Cathedral in Italy) there is normally a long queue at the entrance. With the queue looking a lot shorter than we had seen it, we decided to give it a go. Our wait time was probably around 45 minutes which, for the famous il Duomo, was actually pretty short! 

Next was the Baptistery - I was eager to view this part as I had just been reading all about it in Dan Brown's novel "Inferno". Once again, it is all about the artistry on the ceiling - this time in mosaic

Our final stop was the bell tower and yet another long climb. I found this one the hardest of all. Thankfully there were stopping points on the way up but they do lull you into a flash sense of security as the longest flights of stairs are to be found towards the top of the tower! I made it but I did struggle (it probably didn't help that we seemed to have chosen to do nothing but climb during our time here!). The view made it worth it. I loved looking back over towards the dome and seeing the tiny people wandering around outside - it really put the whole scale of the Cathedral into perspective.

And so onto our final day. It was so sad packing up to leave as I had really enjoyed my time in Florence. I suspect it won't be too long before I return! With an early evening flight, we planned to do some final sight-seeing in Florence before jumping on the train back to Pisa. We decided that it might be nice to check out the Boboli Gardens (you can actually get a combined ticket for the Bardini and Boboli Gardens but we were too bushwhacked to do them both in the same day!). I think that I may have slightly preferred the Boboli Gardens. They were much quieter and also a little prettier, especially with the Wisteria starting to bloom.

We were extremely lucky with the weather in Florence. Yes there was some rain but it fell whilst we were indoors. That is, it did, except for our final morning when we sat out a passing rainstorm whilst drinking rosé under the awning outside a restaurant in the Piazza della Signoria. We simply remarked to the waiter that "we're British" and he smiled and left us to it!

We weren't so lucky in Pisa! It rained and rained and rained some more. We were still determined to at least *see* the tower but, in hindsight, it probably wasn't the greatest idea to walk from the train station - 20 minutes each way meant that we were soaked through by the time we made it back! But, we saw it and even took a couple of typical touristy photos.

The pictures above are rather deceptive - it may not look like it was raining but believe me, it was torrential. Below I've included the one and only selfie I took whilst there (a case of quick smile, done, now RUN FOR COVER!) 
So there you have it, a whistle-stop tour of Florence. I loved it - I found it such an amazing and inspirational place and I know I'll be back in a few years. I took far too many photos so if you would like to see more (lets be honest, most of them are of il Duomo!) then please take a look here. I'd love to hear about your own experiences or suggestions of places to visit for my next trip!