Breakfast was coffee, fresh fruit, cereal and croissants – we passed on the bread as like so often in Italy, it was tasteless. Jane pointed out that the bread here doesn't have salt in it and hence has no real flavour. Then we bought a bus ticket at the Tabacci and caught the 37 bus into the city.

We had checked out hop on buses on the Internet but couldn’t get much information so went first to the Information Centre . The one we choose has 2 routes and cost 22 euro each for 48 hours, including local buses for the first day.

We did a full circle on the main line and had a pleasant time at the top of the bus as it was not yet too warm. We knew that Florence is best seen by walking but this gave us a 'big picture’ look and also some information. We saw the mint building and heard about the florins being minted here – I had never made the connection. We drove past the Da Basson Fortress and were told it was built more as a look out for rebellions within the city than to guard from outside attack. The de Medici family were never universally loved.

We went past and over the river Arno and were told it is not navigable as it is so low but were also reminded that the city was flooded in the 1960s and many residents lost everything as well as art work being damaged. We saw an artificial beach that seemed similar to the one in Vienna . This route also took us to the Piazzle Michelangelo where we returned later.

We then had a half hour break and looked at a number of the stalls in the area before picking up a bus doing the other line. It was much fuller and we had to sit in separate seats. This route took us to Fiesole, about 8km away. It was lovely driving up and looking at the expensive villas dotting the hillside. This was a popular area with the English in Victorian times after Queen Victoria spent some time there doing watercolours. Cypress trees as well as olive trees make a very attractive setting.

Parts have been dated to 600BC but it is believed to be older. It was founded by the Etruscans hence the name Tuscany), who predated the Romans, but later became a Roman town. We stayed there for an hour, just looking around a local market and at the views. There was an archeological museum with remains of Roman Walls and baths as well as one Etrusian temple, which we considered going to, but decided it would get warm soon . Instead we had a light lunch at a bar overlooking Florence and took the next bus back.

At this stage John sat inside in the aircon while I sat outside in the breeze. We drove past the main football stadium, and back though the city. At one stage the bus just squeezed between a van (parked illegally I suspect) and a car in a one way street!! We got off and managed to catch a 37 bus back with no delay. John then had a snooze.

We went back into the centre on the local bus and walked to the Duomo. I knew it was big and we had had glimpses from the bus but…..There is no way photos give any idea of the scale. The bells were ringing from the Giottios Bell Tower as we walked around the Basilica. We had arrived at the front so saw it at its best right from the start. John tried to take a big picture and then small detail photos but you could spend a day and still have more photos to take. Our book (borrowed from the BnB) made special mention of the dome. It is standing without support buttresses because the architect invented a special method of fitting the bricks together so they looked like fish scales. Public entrance had closed at 4.45pm so we couldn’t go in but there was more than enough to admire from the outside. We also wimped out of going up the tower – it was 6 euro but it was also over 400 steps!! Even though the temperature had dropped it was still a very warm day.

We walked to the Open bus stop and did a cache before using it to get to the P:iazza Michealangelo . The bus stopped for 10 minutes but we had decided to get off and look around at leisure. We took photos and tried a video which we have yet to check. The views were great and also reminded us of the places we had yet to visit like the synagogue and the Santa Croce Basilica.

At this stage we decided that we just didn’t have time for these things. We don’t have to leave the Bnb until noon and we have a day left on out ticker but sightseeing before the drive was going to be stressful. So we decided to get tea and then redo the tour to see the city in lights.

We went to a restaurant recommended by the BnB with outside seating and a choice of a full meal or pizzas. We went for the full meal and had a very nice time sitting under an umbrella. By the time we were finishing the place was almost full with a wide range of customers.

The night drive was a bit disappointing. The best view was always going to be from the Michealangelo Plazza but we had only a short time there. The bus had been held up by cars parking on tight corners so the time was limited. However, we could see what the city looked like and probably could not have taken good photos anyway. We did see fireworks and also celebrations in an area with a large ‘stars and stripes’ (4th July) and passed a couple of open churches with services in process as well, We got off the tour near the end and walked for 15 minutes back to the BnB.