Views of Florence

 After a good breakfast we hopped on a local bus on the banks of the Arno and headed up the hill side passing some sumptuous villas.

We then reached Piazzale Michelangelo,  a Square that has outstanding views of Florence and the surrounding countryside. The weather was glorious and the City views just superb. 

In the Piazzale stands a striking copy of Michelangelo's "David" surrounded by four smaller statues. 

We then headed back down to the City, where we stopped off at a local cafe for coffees and fruit tartlets for a bargain price of 5 euros. 

We the walked over to the bus station and caught the bus to the village of Fiesole. The journey takes about 25minutes as the bus climbs high into the surrounding hills.

We got off the bus at the local square that has a statue of two horsemen chatting on their mounts.

We then strolled up a narrow, steep street until we reached a viewpoint that once again had tremendous views of the city,  albeit from a different side of the City.

We walked back to the local square and stopped of at the De Javue cafe for a pasta lunch and a glass of wine.

In the evening we walked over the Trinity bridge into another  area of the City. Our first stop was at "Tuscan taste", a unique little place that was a cross between a delicatessen, beer and wine shop and a cookery school. 

The owner Eduardo made us feel very welcome as we enjoyed a glass of wine as we discussed Italian traditions, the City of Florence and their attitude to visitors. 

We finished the evening with a meal at the quirky "Dalla Lola" where we tried a number of local dishes.