The Scroop's European Holiday: Day 34 Florence:

Today we all had a bit of a sleep in; I think it’s got to that point where we are all a bit shagged again. We go through stages where we go hammer and tongs for a few days and then we fall in a heap. The only fault with this apartment is that the markets outside get removed every night around 10 and they set back up again around 4 in the morning. The noise of removing the markets and then setting them back up is ridiculous. The one thing that has been consistent on our holiday has been noise. Sleep has been at a premium and it is no different here. We finally get moving around 9:30 and it’s straight to the Duomo. We fork out the 22 Euro which allows us to climb the Duomo to the top and this also includes entrance to the museum which we are going to leave until Friday along with entering the cathedral. The walk up is fantastic. Tight little access stairs and spiral staircases lead to the final section, the dome. When you approach the stairs of the dome it’s spectacular. We reach the top and the views over Florence are just what you would expect. We spend a while taking snaps before making the climb back down. Once out we make our way home to pack our lunch as we are going back on the open top bus tour to have some lunch up at the Machiavelli lookout section we visited yesterday. On the way to the bus we buy a cheap rugby ball from the markets so we can have a bit of a kick after lunch. The ball is an Australian rugby ball in the traditional colours of red, white and blue. I did say it was cheap!! We get to the lookout and take a walk looking for a suitable spot. We find a chair on the side of a hill overlooking Florence and have our lunch. As we did yesterday, we cut up bread with ham and cheese and a bit of salad and fruit. After lunch we find some grass where Tyler can re-enact the 2011 Preliminary Final, with a different outcome of course. After that it’s back on the bus and back to the apartment for another rest before heading out for dinner. We Walk down streets we haven’t been down before and find ourselves walking along the Arno River toward the Ponte Vecchio, Florence’s’ most famous bridge. This bridge dates back to 1354 and even during World War II the Nazi’s couldn’t bare to blow this thing up. After a while wandering over the bridge we head back in the direction of the Duomo before deciding to go off the beat’n track. This proves a good move as we find a quiet street with a restaurant that looks more traditional than the ones in the touristy areas. The food and wait staff in this restaurant are fantastic and we end up having a great night. It’s getting late so we stop off for gelato on the way home before going back to the apartment and it’s pretty much straight to bed.