I went to Florence a weekend a few years ago with a couple of friends to celebrate Women's Day.
We had taken a Friday afternoon off from work and left by train. With Italo and Frecciarossa today it's really a no brainer to reach certain capitals, and if you book in advance it's not too expensive.
The hotel chosen on this occasion was the Joli**, a small pension very close to the SM Novella station, so much so that we managed to get there on foot in the evening.
As soon as we settled into the room we immediately went out to the center on foot to take a first tour of the city, then to bed to be a nice morning person the next morning. In fact, after breakfast we were immediately ready to wander...
First stop of our weekend... Piazzale Michelangelo, to see the city from above. Beautiful view.. I recommend it to everyone. To get there we took bus no. 12 from SMN station and also because as usual luck wasn't on our side and the weather wasn't the best!! In doing so we also saw some glimpses of the city that you might miss on foot because you can't pass by or simply skip because it's inconvenient to reach. Once you reach your destination, you first see a large statue that acts as a roundabout, in the middle of the square. This is a bronze copy of the famous David by Michelangelo Buonarroti, hence the name of the Piazzale. Behind it there is a panoramic terrace where you can take photos and enjoy the view. A few steps from the square you will find the Abbey of San Miniato al Monte with the Cemetery of the Porte Sante, a monumental cemetery where many famous people of our era and those of the past are buried.
We did the return journey on foot, also stopping to visit the immense Boboli Gardens. Here the entrance is paid but since it is not an exaggerated sum I can say that it is worth a visit. Here...maybe if you can choose a day with good weather so that with a ray of light everything is much more beautiful.
Leaving the Garden we found ourselves in Piazza Pitti with its homonymous Palace. From here we started the classic walk through the center passing through the famous Ponte Vecchio and arriving at the very famous Piazza della Signoria with its Palazzo Vecchio and the magnificent Neptune Fountain.
After this tour we headed towards the hotel as it was already almost dinner time, so we could freshen up and go and eat something. Obviously you can't miss a stop at the Hard Rock!! I'm now an avid Hard Rock frequenter and every time I go to some city where I know this chain exists I take the opportunity to buy a shirt for my brother and why not... maybe even have dinner!
On Sunday we woke up and immediately after breakfast we checked out, leaving our bags in the hotel hall... in fact, we would have picked them up in the late afternoon before heading to the station to catch our train to Milan.
The tour of our last day in Florence started from Piazza Duomo...we saw the enormous Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in the sunlight (finally!!) and we climbed to the top of Giotto's Bell Tower for a view of Florence from above. Once we came down from the tower we still had enough time to go and see the real David by Michelangelo located in the Accademia Gallery where many works by this artist are exhibited, including the original statue of David! Among other things, being under 25 at the time, we paid a reduced price for the ticket!
We left the Gallery with time for just a bit of shopping and then we headed towards the hotel to collect our suitcases and return to the station to catch the train back home. What a shame... there is certainly too much history and too much culture in this city to be able to visit it in just one weekend!! But anyway... as I said before... with today's trains it's really nothing to reach it!
