Florence

Having a day spare yesterday, we figured there was no better thing to do than jump on a train and head to Florence - and of course no trip to Florence would be complete without a visit to the area around Basilica di S. Lorenzo which is famous for the vast array of leather goods, mostly jackets and handbags. The various stall holders seem to know immediately that you are tourists, and that your language of preference is English, because they step out and greet you with some well chosen words that are aimed to entice you to their range of garments. If you don't see what you want on first glance, they are only too keen to usher you through the crowded street to their shop where the full range of product is available. The process seems to work because after an hour we walk away with Deb wearing a very stylish jacket to match the leather bags that she had bought in Padua and Venice.

The most notable landmark in Florence (with apologies to my namesake standing naked in another part of the city) is however the Duomo, which is the third largest church in Europe after St Peter's in Rome and St Paul's in London. The visual impact of the building is striking, and painted against the backdrop of another crystal clear blue sky, it's hard not to be impressed with all that you see.

There are a host of other churches and basilicas in Florence, and on this visit we chose to make our way to Basilica di Santa Croce, which among other things contains the tombs of Michaelangelo, Galileo and an honorary place for Dante, who for some strange reason isn't really buried here, but is so attached to the city that he gets pride of place in this very large church. On this occasion we also discovered that the scaffolding and sailcloth that have been so prevalent on the outside of so many Italian buildings, are now clearly visible inside as well, as the complete altar area is being restored.

As the day wore on we made our way to Ponte Vecchio to stare in wonder at the number of jewellery shops that line both sides of the bridge and all approach roads from every direction. Despite the fact that tourist season in Europe is well and truly over, there are still large numbers of people to be seen at this vantage point for this most beautiful city.

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