Florence trip – It’s a wrap!
Note: Pictures are on my digital camera and I forgot the cable, I’ll put them up as soon as I get to New York!
I have been here since the beginning of June, and it’s amazing how quickly time has passed!
In my time here, I’ve been too strapped (financially and time-wise) to go anywhere outside of Florence, but is it that big a loss?
Florence is a beautiful city and there’s enough to do here to keep me busy a while. I’m not the sightseeing tourist type, so as long as the town has a few good cafe’s, nice dessert places and good people watching spots – I’m happy.
For future tourists to Florence, these are a few of my favorite places here – and since I haven’t done most of the tourist paths, these are in no way meant to be taken as the only interesting parts of Florence, I haven’t even trekked out to Biboli Gardens or Piazza Michaelangelo!
But these are the places I have been to, and really like:
1. Villa La Vedetta
It’s a little hotel nestled in the hills around the main city of Florence, very near to Piazza Michaelangelo!
I didn’t stay there, but we were there for an informal meeting with a film executive (no, I don’t want to get into film, it was a society-related meeting), we sat outside on the terrace and had coffee and the view was amazing.
You can see the Duomo in the distance and all the little buildings and little streets, before Mr. S came down to meet us, we were just staring, mouth’s open at the stunning view.
If you’re loaded and looking for a nice place to stay in Florence, I’d say skip the more central hotels and opt for something in the hills – it’s much quieter and the view is a million times nicer.
2. Vivoli Gelateria
I read about this place when I first arrived, and spent ages looking for it without a map, only to find out that it’s located on a side street beside Santa Croce.
We walked all the way out of historical Florence, and then had to turn back, looking for this place!!!
It’s a little more expensive than other gelato places in Florence, but the quality makes up for it. There were queues every single time I went, but most people don’t realize you have to pay before you get your gelato, so the queue usually goes quickly as they double back for the cash register 
I had the hazelnut gelato and caramel & pear gelato, the first time around and you could really taste the nuttiness and the fruitiness, there were even chunks of caramel in the pear gelato.
I had nutella the second time around, and it was just as good.
Would definitely recommend it, if even just once. You don’t know good gelato, until you’ve tried Vivoli.
3. Palazzo Feroni
(obviously)
Where Ferragamo HQ is located, and where I spent most of my time in Florence.
I had a little office, just me and another girl (who became my favorite co-worker!) and our window overlooked a residential terrace, where usually around mid-afternoon a dog would get let out and he would howl for hours and hours to be let back in.
The building (formerly a palace) apart from offices, houses a Ferragamo creations store and regular store, and a museum of Ferragamo’s history in the basement (which I was lucky enough to get a free tour of!).
They have 2nd hand shoes in the museum owned by famous people like Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe.
The interior of the building is even more impressive than the exterior and really maintains the palace-feel.
AWESOME place to work.
4. Duomo
Saw this when I first arrived in Florence, it’s very hard to miss!
I haven’t been inside, because I can’t be bothered queueing and after a wonderful church tour of churches and cathedrals in Nice, France, I have no interest in seeing the inside of another ancient church ever again!
To me they all look similar. Impressive, but similar.
I’ve heard the view from the top of the Duomo is pretty spectacular – but again, queue’s.
5. Santa Croce
Smaller than the Duomo but still very pretty!
6. Piazza della Republica
My favorite people watching spot in Florence! There’s a carousel in the middle, and always lots of people walking through.
From having had time to sample most of the cafe’s in the area, I can tell you that the cafe’s on the left side of the square e.g. Gilli’s, tend to be much more expensive.
The restaurants on the right have great deals i.e. a pizza and soda for 10 euros, and you can sit there for hours and they don’t mind.
7. Arno river
Is a river that passes through Tuscany, including Florence.
Ponte Vecchio is a bridge that crosses over the river and is lined with jewelry stores, including many antique jewelry stores with very nice things. I only crossed it once, because my neck hurt from trying to see everything all at once, and my eyes hurt from all the sparkle.
The river is really pretty though, and further down the river, past Ponte Vecchio is a semi-beach (riverside) where people lay out to tan.
I worry about my skin ageing, so I didn’t do that, but if you’re an avid tanner, you’d love it.
8. Via de Tornabuoni
Shopping!
Most of the high-end boutiques in Florence are located here! Including Ferragamo, Prada, Gucci, Dior, Cavalli, Hermes, Tiffany’s etc etc.
It’s a pretty long street and almost every single store on it is a high-end fashion brand.
Even if you aren’t in Florence to spend thousands, it’s good for window shopping!
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That’s it! I’ve probably missed out most of the mainstream tourist attractions, but you have Trip Advisor for those.
If you’re planning to stay for over a week in Florence, I’d recommend Firenze Lodging for a place to stay, they were really helpful for my stay – even when the debit card kept rejecting the rent.
If you want to learn some Italian during your stay, I’d recommend Europass, and more specifically Federica – who was extremely patient with me having no knowledge of the language before I arrived. Their rates were the best I could find for 2 hours every week for the 8 weeks I was here.
