Villa Demidoff and The Parco Mediceo di Pratolino

Ride In The Hills Of Mugello (near Florence)

Bardini Gardens – Boboli’s Little Sister

Bardini Gardens reopened in 2005 after being allowed to fall into disrepair over 50 years. It sits on a 10-acre  site which houses the Gardens and also the Villa Bardini. There is a sweeping baroque stairway, hidden statues, fountains, grottoes, a small amphitheatre though most tourists will be here for the breathtaking views over the city of Florence.

Giardino Bardini was originally two gardens, one belonging to the Mozzi family. They owned a stretch of Florence between Costa San Giorgio, Piazza de’Mozzi and Via San Niccolò. The the other half of the gardens was attached to the 17th  century Villa Manadora.

Giotto’s Campanile (or Bell Tower), Florence

At 414 steps, the climb to the top of Giotto’s famous Bell Tower (Campanile in Italian) probably shouldn’t have been undertaken at 12:30 in the afternoon, in August. But the queue for Santa Maria Del Fiore and the famous cupola was massive (take note; early morning, it opens at 10, or late afternoon are better unless you book a tour which lets you skip the queue – see the tours box below) and I wanted to make a Flip Florence Video with a panoramic view of the centre of Florence. I needn’t have worried as there are 3 stops on the way up which offer gradually more spectacular views. Be aware that although it doesn’t appear in most of the video, there are wire grids covering the apertures which can make photos less impressive.

There’s an interesting trick of perspective going on with the Campanile which is almost as good as David’s wonky eyes. The three top levels of the Campanile (which were designed by Francesco Talenti not Giotto) are not the same size so that they appear to be the same size. Follow? Each of the three is larger to give the illusion from ground level that they are in fact the same size. Plus, you can thank Francesco for not following orders not building the spire that Giotto had planned. With it, the tower would have been higher (by 120m) but would have been lacking the flat observation deck from which some of this video is taken.

The history of Giotto’s Campanile, like most Italian monuments is a long one. The Campanile was not even planned until 30 years after the death of the first Master of the Works of the Cathedral, Arnolfo di Cambio. At this time Giotto was a not-too-spritely 67 (this was 1334, remember) but he set about planning a great tower to accompany the main cathedral. Unfortunately (not for Francesco), Giotto died three years later having only finished the lower floor – just be grateful he wasn’t fitting your bathroom. In Giotto’s place, Andrea Pisano (he did the bronze door on the south side of the Baptistry; it took him 6 years) was appointed and he followed Giotto’s design exactly until the Black Death arrived in 1348. This was Francesco’s chance and he completed the campanile to his own specifications in 1358. 24 years after Giotto first put pen to paper, or quill to parchment.

The Medieval Festival of Monteriggioni, Italy

Each year Monteriggioni, an ancient hill-top town around 50kms from Florence, is transformed into the town that inhabitants would have known hundreds of years ago. OK, so some of the swords may have been made in China and the fighting clearly has the safety of the combatants in mind but you get to use old-fashioned plates and cups and buy food, wine and products with the “Grosso”. The Grosso is the local currency that exists solely for the duration of the festival. As one Grosso is one Euro, calculating the cost of anything isn’t hard and once you’ve paid 2 Grossi for a cup of wine, refills are just one Grosso. This is probably the cheapest wine you’ll buy anywhere in Tuscany!

This year is the 18th Medieval festival and over the years, the attractions have grown in number and improved; there are activites for children during the day and entertainment for the grown ups at night. With 20,000 last year though, the town gets quite packed at peak time – around 10pm – so you can expect to wait in some medieval queues. First to buy your Grossi (don’t worry about over estimating your needs, you can change them back at the end of the night) and then to pay for your food or drink and thirdly, to collect it!

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Ponte Vecchio – Florence’s Oldest Bridge

The Ponte Vecchio (as we should all know) is the only bridge that the Germans didn’t destroy. That they were so slap-dash in their bridge destruction means that we all get to see an historic landmark in the centre of old Florence. At some point it was probably called the Ponte Nuovo (or New Bridge) as to call it the old bridge from the beginning would be stupid. I wonder when it actually became the “Old Bridge”. . . answers on a postcard (or even better, in the comment section) please.

It is, like most of the main Florentine landmarks, a bit of a tourist trap but all those people come there for a reason. Whether it’s getting married and then having some lovely photos taken (the girl in this video’s wedding car was a Toyota Yaris – I’m not kidding) or just a stroll across and a bit of window shopping in the traditional jewelers, the bridge is definitely in the top Florence tourist attractions.

During the day there is a constant bustle of foot traffic and even the occasional copper on the beat (which translates into Italian as; “wander around, do nothing; especially don’t arrest someone,  just imagine the paperwork”) and it is one of the best spots to view the sunset (second, in my opinion to Piazzale Michelangelo though there’s no round of applause here). At night, the city pays for “buskers” and although you are more likely to hear a phonetic rendition of an Oasis song than something traditional, it doesn’t take away from the feeling of the place.

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