Firenze

I remember reflecting on Rome when we visited years ago, and realising how much I loved it there despite, or perhaps because of, its contrasts and chaos.  In many ways Florence is same, same, but different.  This is a city of extraordinary beauty, history and heritage and, because of that, it drowns in tourists (like us) and tourist culture.  Nevertheless, I’ve really enjoyed it here.  
Despite needing to work around the national rail strike, we arrived on Friday afternoon within a few hours of our original schedule, and settled quickly into our B&B.  We caught up with Jeannie Reid and wandered the city for a few hours, taking in the magnificence of places I had only ever seen in photographs and video.
Prior to leaving home, Michelle and I had heard about the Buon Ricordo (Good Memories) restaurant scheme across Italy.  All participating restaurants have a special regional dish or menu which is commemorated on a hand-decorated plate that is particular to that restaurant.  If you visit and order the special menu, you get to go home with a commemorative plate.  There are 3 Buon Ricordo restaurants within walking distance of our digs, and we tried without success on Friday afternoon to book one of them for that evening, but could not get a response to our emails.  Jeannie proposed a walk to one of them in the hope that we could get a table, and we did.  We dined and were greatly entertained by Adriano and Claudio at Trattoria Il Francescano, in the shadows of the Basilica of Santa Croce.  It was a fabulous evening.
Saturday was a magnificent day full of art, culture, and beers in the shade by the river.  We saw original works by Botticelli, Da Vinci, and Carravaggio; walked along the 460 year old Vasari Corridor which was only opened to the public last year; saw more priceless Renaissance art at the Palazzo Pitti; sat in the shade of trees by the Arno River and drank beer; soaked in the views at the Piazzale Michelangelo and dined at a pizzeria back in the city.
On Sunday morning we made our way to our agreed place of meeting with Jeannie, only to find that her arrival was heralded by a parade of drummers, musicians, and soldiers in brightly coloured historical costumes.  Jeannie will do anything to make an entrance!
We had planned to attend mass at the Duomo and listen to the Gregorian chant, but arrived to find the Duomo closed to the public for the day.  So we regrouped and, building on the lessons of Friday evening, made our way to Ristorante Regina Bistecca to successfully make a booking for our second Buon Ricordo menu feast: the famous Bistecca alla Fiorentina.