Day 13 – Florence

Today we explored Florence some more although the extreme heat (36 degrees according to a pharmacy sign) did its best to slow us down.

We had breakfast at the hotel and then headed for the Galleria degli Uffizi (full of famous Rennaisance art) only to find that a 4 hour queue awaited us. We thought better of it ad will try again on Tuesday.

Instead we headed across the river up to the Piazzale Michelangelo which appeared to be not much more than a coach park but nonetheless had very good views of the city.

Upon descending the hill we went for lunch (a calzone, or folded pizza, with ham and cheese – yummy). After this we decided it was time to sort out the ferry to Croatia, our next major hurdle. We managed to sort this out without problems on an overnight ferry (twelve and a half hours) to save on accommodation. We also booked accommodation in Split.

After such hard work we decided we deserved an(other) ice cream so headed for what the guide book recommends as the best gelateria in Florence. Eventually we found it and you could tell it was in the guide book – it was packed! It was worth it however with about 50 different flavours. The chocolate was so chocolatey it was more like frozen mousse! Good though (but not as good as Venice)!

After a swift shower back at the hotel to cool down we headed out for tea. We found a place that did pizza and a drink for €10 (about £8) in the main square. It was pretty good for the money.

On the way back we were briefly entertained by a man dressed as Laurel (or Hardy?) being ‘entertaining’ with balloons – a strange sense of humour these Mediterraneans have!

Today was a little disjointed and we didn’t seem to get much done. The heat here is almost unbearable which means we slow down a lot. Florence is a lovely place though.