My greatest memory of my trip to Florence was the magnificent eats. We were in Florence for two nights but with the traveling from Pisa on one day and leaving early for Milan the third day we only really had one full day to explore Florence. Our full day was also a Monday so with some things like the two major art galleries, the Uffizi and Gallery of the Academy, being shut and with the weather not being the greatest we resorted to treating our stay in Florence as a kind of rest break before heading to our next country which included relaxing and indulging in lovely long drawn out dinners.

We were staying at a place called Hotel Balcony and the owner/manager (not really sure which category he fit into) was so very helpful and friendly providing us with two really good local restaurants to go to. Unfortunately I can’t remember the names of them but they were very good. Especially the first restaurant where we had some amazing grilled meats and the garlic broccoli. TO DIE FOR.

When we weren’t eating giant meals and gelati (going to miss the gelati when we leave Italy!) we were taking long walks to explore the many squares of Florence. I was loving the romanesque style of the churches which were a bit different from what we’ve seen in the last couple of weeks. Of course we took a walk along the Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge) which survived the German destruction of all other bridges during World War II apparently on the express orders of Hitler. Perhaps he felt it was too beautiful to destroy.

One of the local customs in Florence is apparently for young couples to attach locks to the statue of Cellini on the Ponte Vecchio and throw the key into the Arno river to seal there love. Another story goes that the tradition began when young men had to leave their home towns to do military service. The attached lock was a promise to return. Whatever the tradition now thousands of tourists every year follow this tradition and it has become a bit of a bane on the part of the local council to remove the lock. It’s a very sweet and romantic thought but watch out for the police who will fine you at the drop of a … uh … key. Sorry, couldn’t resist.

We couldn’t see the real Michelangelo but we did see the replica in the Piazza della Signoria (which actually was quite a cool open-air museum of sculpture) and the one up at Piazzale Michelangiolo. The Piazzale is a serious climb up a not to be understated hill. Hard work but worth the effort for the panoramic views.