Lucca to Florence

So this morning we trundled our cases through the streets of Lucca to the station, and let me tell you, cobbles and a wheelie case are not a match made in heaven!!!!! We arrived with time to spare and sat in the sunshine on the platform where a young lady was very loudly giving someone on the other end of her phone quite a large piece of her mind. Either that or she had forgotten her medication that morning, it was hard to tell !!!

The train arrived on time and after a bit of a fight we found seats which would accommodate our luggage, the Italians don’t seem to go in for luggage storage on their trains so you either have to take up seats with your cases or try and squeeze them between your legs which is not at all elegant and really not on as far as I am oconcerned.

I must just give a word of praise for the rail system though. All the trains have been clean and punctual, with regular updates as to our position and the next stop.... all delivered very courteously with a message beginning “dear passenger”!!

And so we reached Florence.

Santa María Novella station was busy and noisy. Luckily I knew where to go and we didn’t need a taxi as the queue for them was massive. By- passing all the bemused and very confused Japanese tourists with their designer cases and very odd headgear , we made our way outside and aimed for the Duomo.

After the relative peace of Lucca the streets of Florence were chaotic. People, cars, buses, scooters and bicycles all fighting to move through the narrow roads. Oh, and then there were the pedestrians who meandered along, taking up the whole pavement, weaving from side to side leaving no room for overtaking....I apologise unreservedly to all those whose feet I ran over or whose shins will bear the bruises caused by my suitcase for days to come......I was on a mission and you were in my way !!!! Luckily I knew how to find the entrance to our hotel which was behind a very large wooden door, through an unprepossessing

hallway and up several flights of stairs, an oasis of calm after the mayhem outside.

Florence is undoubtedly a city of culture. The Uffizi ,beautiful churches, art galleries and classic architecture are everywhere.Around every corner are sculptures large and small. If you like seraphim and cherubim you will be in 7th heaven here.And if you are a fan of the male form in all its glory then you will very much enjoy wandering around the museums as they are a positive willy fest.

Later, as evening approached, we crossed the Ponte Vecchio (very crowded and lined with expensive jewellery shops!!! ) and walked up the steep hill ( I am NOT joking about the gradient of this incline, it was like climbing a staircase to the top of Everest!!!) to the Piazzale Michelangelo. There we joined the throngs of people sitting on very uncomfortable stone steps ( I would have sold my children for a cushion, those steps and my behind were not meant for one another ) and looked down on the whole city as the sun slowly set behind the hills and a pony-tailed busker murdered Queen’s greatest hits on an electric guitar. Each time he finished a song everyone clapped..... more in gratitude that their ears were getting a rest than in appreciation for his musical talent, I did wonder at one point if he had a brother in Lucca who played the trumpet.....

It seemed appropriate after such an ear bashing to have some refreshment, and from then on it was all downhill,....literally!! Once again we arrived at our hotel tired out ( and I was a little tipsy again, but we won’t go into that!!! ) after another busy day..... this travelling lark is bloody hard work!!!!