Florence Day Two or as Colin said "Good morning Florence"
Having made a late decision to come to Florence, we were unaware that in order to visit the main attractions, it is advisable to book your tickets in advance; as we had not done so we were unable to access any of the attractions but it doesn't matter as I fully intend to come back here for another visit.
Yesterday whilst we sat in a square eating salads and grapes bought from the local Carrefour supermarket, Colin got talking with a gentleman who turned out to be an Oxford Don. He recommended that we visit another cathedral just off the main tourist squares where some of the most famous Italians had their tombs, a hidden gem in his opinion.
After being told at the main Domo that I wouldn't be allowed in as my bare shoulders and unsightly knees would obviously offend, we meandered our way towards this hidden gem via the main market hall which was a brilliant place to visit, the lower floor had the usual fruits/meats etc whilst upstairs there were numerous little cafes and bars.
On arrival at the hidden gem, an official enquired whether I had a cover up for my ungodly shoulders and knees, when I said no, he replied saying I could purchase a disposable cover for a Euro which I did- thankfully Colin didn't take a photo, or not one I know of, I'll have to monitor his Facebook page!
The cathedral was very impressive and we wandered around admiring the quake of the tombs, paintings and frescos. It was only as we were exiting the place that we were directed through an exhibition showing the devastation wrecked by a flood in November 1966.
Going back into The cathedral and trying to work out how high the floods reached inside, we were approached by two security guards- I had forgotten to put my wrap back on after being outside! In answer to their question of "Do you have tickets" Colin said "Yes, but I want to find out where the flood came up to"; I hastily put back on the wrap as the Guard pointed out markers both inside and outside of the main cathedral. After seeing this,it made so much more sense as to why the paintings and whole interior looked so vibrant and fresh. The waters had reached at least 2/3 metres inside the building, meaning that all of the major installations were damaged to some degree.
We left and went in search of lunch which we found down a tiny side street, it was a tiny family run establishment offering plates of cheese, dried meat and bread. Once again,after the enquiry of where we were from and our response of between Manchester and Liverpool, Colin was asked United or City! At least the Oxford Don talked about Chester!
We visited the gardens of the palace and the Leonardo De Vinci exhibition before returning to the market hall for our evening meal.
On returning to the hotel Colin went off to check on the bike which is about 5 minutes walk away, I was glad to hear that all was well with it. When I mentioned my aching feet the response from my caring husband was "We've only been out for 10 hours and you have only walked 8 miles and done 20,000 steps today!" to my mind no wonder my poor feet ached as we probably sat down for a total of an hour all day, but I know I mustn't complain!!