Florence, Fiesole and Tuscany

Our last European summer as residents of the UK were spent in Italy and France. Our first stop was Florence and Tuscany, where we attended an intimate wedding of friends who also live in London. But for most of our trip, we would spend on the islands of Sardinia (Italy) and Corsica (France). It was a late Friday night we left London for Florence to begin our European summer.


We stayed at a really fantastic B&B in Florence called Tourist House Ghiberti right by the city's Duomo (cathedral). It has been more than 10 years since we both traveled to Florence and Tuscany in our early 20s and it was great to visit the city and surrounds again.


Many people who go to Florence have told us how much they love the shopping. And I couldn't agree more. From markets...


... to high street stores, to little boutiques (like one of my favourites, the Il Papiro paper shop)...


... to luxury brands on the beautiful and historic Via Tornabuoni.

While we were in Florence and Tuscany, I was reading the book, The House of Gucci, a story about the Gucci family, the murder of one of the Gucci members and the building of the luxury brand. I didn't know beforehand, but the Gucci family originated from Tuscany, and nearby Florence was where a lot of the Gucci story takes place. There is also Florence's first Gucci store on Via Tornabuoni, which is still at the same site today. The rest of Via Tornabuoni is lovely, such as this former profumeria inglese (perfume shop) that now houses the luxury accessories brand, Hogan (below) which we visited on our first morning in Florence.


Florence being contained in a tightly packed space means that in one morning the wallet can get a good work out, while sights such as the Ponte Vecchio (the famous bridge dripping in gold jewelery shops) and Duomo can be seen and snapped on camera, all before lunch.


For lunch we with met up with Herlina's friend, Angela, who has been living in Florence for the past year having began her PhD. We've met in London before (where Angela also lived) and then again at Herlina and Damien's wedding in France. Angela took us to the local markets for a spot of food shopping and pasta lunch. Then we wondered around the city for coffee and chats before Angela was off to dance class and we had a taxi take us out to the Tuscany.


We stayed at the B&B il Trebiolo near the villa where the wedding would take place.


The wedding was on a Monday, but we stayed for the weekend to get away from the concrete jungle and crowds of the city. The B&B overlooked the peaceful and misty Tuscan hills.


On the Saturday night the to-be bride and groom hosted a fancy dress party with an 'Italian' theme. We went as gondoliers with gondolier hats from Venice Mum and Dad picked up 2 weeks before when they were visiting there.


Sunday, the sun was out and it was quite warm, so we spent the day by the swimming pool. We joined other wedding friends and guests for dinner in the nearby town of Fiesole (pronounced Fie-sol-ay). A pretty town overlooking Florence from the hills of Tuscany. When we arrived around dinner time, the sun was setting and the local flea market was just packing up.

Clock tower at sunset in Fiesole

Piazza Mino

We dined at a tiny place called Vinandro next to the Piazza Mino. A recommendation by Angela, and it was wonderful. Monday, the day of the wedding, the sun was out and we made another trip to Fiesole in the morning, this time to do a bit of sight seeing.

Fiesole we learnt, was a very old town. In fact it is older than Florence. The first record of Roman's occupying Fiesole was around 283 BC. The Roman presence can still be seen today by ancient ruins of an amphitheatre and baths, among other things. One can discover this and numerous little museums tucked away on the back streets of Fiesole.

Museo Civico

The amphitheatre, Teatro Romano. Despite its age, it is still used today for performances

Ruins of the baths

After a quick bite for lunch, we headed back to the B&B to get dressed for the afternoon ceremony. The day was turning out to be very warm, and very sunny. As the sun beat down on the rambling Tuscan villa and its gardens, the site of the wedding ceremony and reception, the bride and groom exchanged vows in front of a small group of people who had traveled from afar to be there. The ceremony was intimate and heartfelt, and the reception saw an abundance of spectacular Italian dishes serve by white-gloved waiters who bustled around the tables.


The next day we left Tuscany and flew out of Florence to Cagliari, the capital city of Sardinia to begin the beach holiday part of our trip.