Day 5: Florence

I can wholeheartedly attest to the fact that I have had an utterly delightful day off , here in Florence.

I spent 4 days here last summer but — suffering from what I retrospectively deem to be Stendhal syndrome after spending a month in Italy travelling south to north — I did not visit the Uffizi Gallery. Today I spent three hours there and had the most unspeakably wonderful time.

I’ve recently been listening to a podcast called Rebuilding the Renaissance by an American-Italian art historian (the marvellously named Rocky Ruggiero) and I cannot recommend it more to anyone interested in the history of Italy. There are several episodes on various works in the Uffizi, and I — being completely uneducated in art — felt that I appreciated the museum much more for listening to it whilst visiting. I can now judge whether artworks are Byzantine, Gothic, early or late Renaissance — look at me go!

Three hours in the Uffizi and you find yourself pretty hungry. Fortunately, the world’s most famous sandwich shop, All’Antico Viaino, is right next door. Seriously: don’t leave Florence without going. INSANE. I can’t remember the name of whatever I had, but there was salami, cream of pecorino, spicy aubergines, and cream of artichoke galore; and all for €7 (which will only just about manage to get you a meal deal in St Andrews).

With that and a gelato, I must admit I was feeling pretty sleepy, so some rest and reading in the Boboli Gardens was in order, before heading to Santa Croce to get the first stamp in my credential for the Cammino di Francesco (The Way of St Francis) which is the route that will take me from here to Rome.

I now sit writing this whilst eating truffle pasta and drinking an Aperol Spritz, not far from the Piazza Santa Novella.

Italy is great.

Sandwiches being made inside All'Antico Viaino, one of Italy's most famous sandwich spots and a Florence eating highlight.

Within the Pitti Palace, in front of the Boboli Gardens.