Tricia and I had a prompt start on Monday morning. We were all packed from the night before, so we were up and away by 7:45 am, heading for Stansted airport. We arrived at the check-in desk 2 hours ahead of the flight to Pisa, and went through check-in and security quite quickly. We then went down to the gate for departure, only to find that the plan was delayed… however, only by about 40 minutes in the end. It was a good flight to Pisa, and then when we had collected our luggage it was onto the train to Florence… we did have a quick ice cream whilst waiting for the train (and it had to be quick as it was in the mid 30’s and if you didn’t eat it quickly it melted !). Off the train at Florence, and with the aid of a map, we walked through Florence to the hotel. All had gone swimmingly so far, and as I had booked the trip I didn’t want any problems, but when we arrived at the hotel, it seems the travel agency I used hadn’t booked a room for us. After a little time sorting out paperwork, we were allocated a room (we were fortunate they had a room!), and it was better than the one I thought had been booked…it had a terrific view over the river, which Tricia was pleased with. Once we had refreshed ourselves it was out for an explore and to find somewhere to eat… a little restaurant on a piazza. Here is Tricia with her ice cream, the view from the room and when we sat eating in the evening.

Florence is a beautiful place, a lot of it’s originality seems to have been maintained, what with it’s cathedral, churches etc, there has inevitably been a creep of modern shopping outlets but it is a still a charming place. Tuesday morning we set off on a bus to Siena, and being August 16th it was ‘Palio’ day, where the famous horse race in the market square takes place. Siena itself is gorgeous, but add the carnival atmosphere of the Palio race and it made for a special day. Ten horses can be run in the race, each representing a ward or disrict of Siena. Each of the wards has to present their flags and team, all done with medieval pageantry. One of the wards – Torre (Tower) – had claret and blue colours, so I had to support them of course, and bought a small scarf and cheered them when they came through (I shouted out ‘come on you irons’, which of course only I understood). We could have stayed for the actual race which was set for 7pm in the evening, but we would have had to sit in the square from 2pm to ensure we had a place… and the temp was over 35 C and there was n protection from the sun, so we decided against that. Mid afternoon we sat and had a glass of chianti to acknowledge our 25 years. We caught the bus back and then went out for a meal in the evening. Before we did though, we found a tv channel showing the palio race. These photo’s are from Siena…

Wednesday we went to the Ufizzi musuem, which is a large art musuem, with a massive collection of religious art with work by Raphael, Michelangelo, da Vinci, Botticelli etc … there was so much it was almost overwhelming… so many pictures of the Madonna, Madonna with child, Adoration, Annunciation, Crucifiction… we must have been in there about 4 hours. I was glad I had pre bought tickets as that saved more hours in a queue.

Thursday we want to the Palazzo Pitti… which is a place to get neck ache as you look at the painted ceilings as well as the paintings on the wall, and then into the gardens. The temp was in the high 30’s and of course the gardens were on a climb – there were beautiful views – but it was a workout in that heat.

Some pics of Florence… The cathedral, The Palazzo Pitti, a view of the bridges on the river, and the inside of one of the many churches.

Yesterday was home time… we left Florence on the 8 53 train to Pisa. We had hoped to check in early at the airport and then go and see the leaning tower, but the check in wasn’t open for our flight, so got a bus anyway, carrying our bags and went to see the leaning tower.

Back at the airport, there was a long wait to check in, as various idiots arrived with over weight bags etc, and then a long queue to get in the security check, then a long queue and wait in the chaotic departure area… but eventually we took off, and had a good flight home.

Nikki had cooked us tea, she had her bobsleigh friend Richard with her, and he stayed over. They are both off to Bath this morning. We have managed to unpack, wash, tumble dry and iron all we need in order to re-pack and then drive off to Devon later. Ellie is looking forward to her holiday.

Whilst all this has been happening West Ham won two games of football in a row…. highly unusual.