VTT Postcard - Day 11 - Florence, Italy

Last Italian city on the list was Florence. Oooh, we could hardly wait to get there. Our bus was bustling from all the activities that everybody did the previous day in Rome. As everybody did their own thing, there were just so many stories to tell.

We arrived in Florence just after lunch and we were brought to Piazzale Michelangelo, where a magnificent view of the Florentine skyline could be seen. This is where we had our whole Contiki group photo. There was also a replica of Michelangelo’s David here.

The city of Florence, Italy

After leaving the Piazzale Michelangelo, we were taken by TM to a leather shop specializing in leather items. We attended a little demonstration in the shop and were informed how to spot real leather.

Next we travelled to the Basilica di Santa Croce (The Basilica of the Holy Cross), where it had been determined would be our group’s meeting place. We went around Florence city centre and found our way to Piazza della Signoria. There is a lot of statues and history to be found in this place, as well as the original location of Michelangelo’s David. The David that is standing at the piazza now is a replica. Further the Palazzo Vecchio (town hall) can also be found here. It is a well-known building used in a famous scene in the movie Hannibal, where Hannibal threw an inspector down one of the building’s windows.

replica of Michelangelo's David

Next we were taken to Ponte Vecchio, a medieval bridge over the Arno River, which was a well-known image of the city. We also visited the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (often called the Duomo) and Battistero di San Giovanni (St John’s Baptistry).

That night, we had dinner at a Tuscan restaurant where we were serenaded by opera singers. The food and ambience of the restaurant was quite good.

Afterwards, we went to an electronic disco house called Space. We thought there would be more Italians but what we found was that this was more like a Contiki hangout.

We left the disco at around 11pm and went back to our hotel that night.