These beautiful formal gardens are situated behind the Pitti Palace which was the property of the Medici family.  This stunningly beautiful palace is the 2nd largest museum in Florence.

The gardens cover and area approx 45,000 metres and include statues from the 16 and 17th century.  There are many areas where you can sit and relax before continuing on your stroll through the many twists an turns.

I have read a number of reviews about the gardens and some have not been very encouraging saying they are drab and because the people went in July (summer) nothing was flowering.   However,  we were enamoured of the surroundings and we also went in July when it was hot. 

The gardens are set out in such a way that there are fountains and statues hidden away in little grotto’s and every now and then you just happen upon an amazing piece of sculpture and this makes it interesting as you wander around.

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The breakfast room is abuzz with tourists from many countries all quickly downing a hearty feed before setting off for an exciting day of exploring.

Our first stop is the Ponte Vecchio on our way to the Pitti Palace of the Medici’s and the Boboli gardens.

The Ponte Vecchio is full of the hustle and bustle of tourists all taking in the amazing array of jewellery on display.

Hmmm I wonder if my husband would notice a new piece of jewellery, maybe I could tell him I have had it for years and he just hadn’t noticed it.

There is il negozio di alimentari (grocery store) just down the road from our hotel so we set off to buy some food for dinner and lunch the next day. It reminds me very much of the corner shop from my childhood. The air is filled with the aroma of food and hessian sacks. It doesn’t take long to make our decision as there isn’t a great deal of variety, so armed with tomatoes, deli meat, bread, a variety of cheeses and some biscuits, we make our way to the counter to pay.
The lady huddled behind the counter seems more intent on carrying on a loud discussion with a man who is rearranging items on the shelves, than attending to us. However, eventually she adds up the total and we make our payment of something like 1 million lira.

Back at the hotel, we eat and drink before settling in for the evening. We have a lot to do tomorrow and we want to make an early start.

So much to do and so little time. We are already regretting having only booked 5 days in Florence.

However, before we go in search of the factory we need to pick up the car we will be using to drive around Tuscany, from the Florence airport but we will do this in the morning.

Today is like any other day that we arrive in a new city, we book into the hotel, drop off the luggage, freshen up and set off to check out the area.

Fortunately our hotel is well situated so that it is not too far to walk up to the Ponte Vecchio.

The Ponte Vecchio has always been a place for shops and merchants. There was a time that shops on the Ponte Vecchio were given a tax exemption for selling their wares.

Apparently this is also where the concept of bankruptcy originated. Whenever a merchant fell on hard times and couldn’t pay his debts, the soldiers would physically break (”rotto”) the table from which he sold his wares (the (”banco”). This was known as “bancorotto” it can also be interpreted as “banca rotta” which means “broken bank”). As the merchant no longer had a table on which to sell his goods from he was unable to service his debts.

From 1442 until 1565, the association of butchers had the monopoly on the shops on the bridge. In 1565, Cosimo I de Medici prohibited the butchers from selling on the bridge and they were replaced by gold merchants. It is the jewellery merchants who inhabit the shops today.
The Ponte Vecchio spans the Fiume Arno and is the thoroughfare between the Palazzo Pitti and the Palazzo Vecchio.

Early the next morning we spend time in the queue waiting to go into the Galleria d Uffizi where we spend a pleasant few hours purusing the statues and paintings. There are just so many beautiful paintings and works of art by such artists as Bellini, Leonaro da Vinci, Tinelli, Tintoretto, Raffaello Sanzio and others too numerous to mention.

It is such a pleasure to stroll down the corridors past the numerous marble statues in the likeness of people of antiquity. Women with flowing gowns and tightly coiffured hair and men in togas or battle dress, each staring sightlessly into the distance, each a remnant of a long gone age.

Of course as in most of the museums, palazzo’s and art galleries we went into, photography was prohibited so we had to content ourselves with taking pictures outside. On exiting the Uffizi we spend part of the afternoon exploring the piazza San della Signorina and the Loggia della Signoria with their magnificent statues.

I have to say I am a real fan of marble statues and the Italian artisans have the ability to bring this medium to life showing the muscular definition and amazing facial expressions. Here is a statue of Leonardo Da Vinci outside the Academia.

And no, part of the statue’s face isn’t missing, there is a pigeon sitting on his hand.

We drove from Florence to Sienna in a little Smart Car. Anyone who has seen a Smart Car knows how small they are but it was perfect for what we wanted and a lot of fun.

We recommend that anyone visiting Europe should hire a car for at least some portion of the trip. It’s a fantastic experience.

The best way we found is to book before you leave. This way the car is already ready for you and you don’t have the problem of finding no cars available for you on the day. Auto Europe is a company that offers discount car hire. I had a quick look at their site and it has a nice clean interface and an easy form to select the country and dates you will need the car. It also allows pick up and drop off points and you can select whether you want a manual or automatic.

What I like about this site is that you can also book your hotels and flights, chauffeur services and transfers. And if you think you will be needing a car for an extended period in Europe try out their Peugeot buy back scheme. This could save you a lot of money.

This is a sponsored post.

After the excitement of planning the trip, with the fabulous travel agent from American Express, we set off from Sydney to Singapore.

What a pleasure it was to land in Singapore, the airport is just great with lots of beautiful orchid garden arrangements.

The ladies that we worked with at Medicare, brought us a cute little stuffed toy dog to take on our travels and he was called ‘Chilli’. His adventures will also be included in our travelogue.

We only spent two days in Singapore but they were action packed as there is so much to see.
The shopping wasn’t that great as the prices were comparable with Australia, which is not cheap.

More to come.