Our first trip to Florence was a spur of the moment whirlwind in the middle of a summer business trip. It was toasty, chaotic and amazing! I was in Bologna for the week for work, and Kathryn decided to join me for the last few days. We’d spoken about going to Florence a few times but never got around to it, so what better time than to book a speedy 90 minute bus first thing in the morning, spend the day exploring the birthplace of the Renaissance, and get the last bus home. 8 hours, a long list of things to see and do, and unwavering excitement to finally get to the home of so much history, art and architecture on every corner.

We got off to a bad start though. The day prior, Kathryn wore a beautiful pair of brand new Supergas and wandered around Bologna while she waited on me finishing work, and unfortunately gave herself huge blisters right before a day of intense exploring. A nightmare, but the next morning we set off bright and breezy regardless, emergency Compeed patches in tow. If you’ve never travelled to Florence from Bologna before, it is very easy, and very cheap. Disaster number two was a silent strike, as I was savagely attacked by a cheeky mosquito on the journey, and ended up covered in little bites from the knee down. Did we let that dampen our spirits though? No!

Now, if you’ve never been to Florence, you may get a bit overwhelmed with the warren-like streets of the old town – it took us about three loops before actually finding a way to the colossal Santa Maria del Fiore, so put the phone away and just wander. Google Maps is no use here! That first step into the piazza del duomo was breathtaking. It’s hard to describe the first time you see such an impressive, architecturally masterful building.

We arrived in the city with way too much on the to-do list, and actually only got a chance to tackle a couple, so be realistic if you’ve only got a few hours. I would recommend not packing in the sites, and giving yourself time for a spritz and a bite to eat. Before we get to that though, there was one place I was determined to visit. The Palazzo Vecchio overlooking the Piazza della Signoria, which holds a copy of Michelangelo’s David statue, and the gallery of statues in the adjacent Loggia dei Lanzi. For me, even before visiting, Florence is the reason I fell in love with art and art history and this piazza is the centre of it all. Political and religious scandal and intrigue, the birth of European capitalism, the resurgence of art and beauty in culture and society, there are so many reasons!

There are so many lovely spots to enjoy this piazza, but if you get a chance, go inside the Palazzo Vecchio for an absolute treat. It houses so many wonderful paintings, but if you are short on time, the two below are well worth it alone. In 1504, Florence found two great artists in the city at the same time. Florence didn’t want to miss this rare chance for an artistic showdown and the city decided to have Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo Buonarotti test their talents against each other in the same hall. Michelangelo never completed his, but on the right below, is The Battle of Marciano (1565) by Giorgio Vasari, showing a very important battle in the history of the Medici family, marking the conquest of Siena. This allegedly sits above the completed Da Vinci painting, but it has never been restored.

As art fans, we lost track of time in here, and our 8 hours were quickly disappearing! When we emerged back into the baking heat, it was 3pm and we were ready for a little break. We wandered along to Florence’s oldest cafe, the Caffè Gilli. What was once a simple pastry shop has since become one of the city’s most popular places to convene, not to mention one of its best bars, complete with impressive chandeliers and timeless decor. We sat on the terrace and ordered some snacks, living in the moment, and decided, it feels like an ice cold rosé afternoon! The menu is great, but the drinks are expensive and I was obviously feeling a little flush (from the heat, obviously…), and piped up with “life’s too short not to order the rosé!”, a statement I stand by today. It was exactly what was needed!

Our final stop of the tour was a trip across the Arno on the hunt for wine windows, which we did not find. After spending a little too long drinking nice rosé, time was marching and so were we! We whizzed around looking for the windows to no avail, our batteries were dying from all the photo taking and we were a 50 minute walk from the tram stop. We decided to walk back along the Ponte Vecchio, and I used the last 3% of my battery for some picturesque river snaps!

By now, we were cutting it pretty fine to get home so we were on a sprint, unfortunately so for Kathryn’s poor wee feet. I’m not sure how, but half a bottle of rosé really seemed to hone my speedy city navigation skills, and I was convinced I knew exactly the route through the back streets of Florence, with Kathryn trailing behind trying not to cry with every blistery step. Mid-sprint, I suddenly asked Kathryn to stop, much to her panic and dismay, run across the road and use her last bit of phone juice for one final photo. Spotted! A tiny wine window on the side of the Pazzi palazzo!

A quick snap and we were off again, twisting and turning through what I thought was the best route (unlikely), until we reached the tram stop. We made it at the last possible second and were on our way back to the bus depot. The quickest goodbye to Florence I ever could have imagined, but we made it! Unfortunately, the stress did not stop there. The tram should take ten minutes to get to the bus depot, and this one stopped, leaving us 3 minutes to run from the tram stop to the bus stop, poor Kathryn. We could not miss that last bus back to Bologna! After all of the drama we got there though, only for the bus to be delayed by a further hour. By this point, the wine had worn off, were were both a bit grumpy, and just ready to be back in our own beds in Bologna. By the time we got back, it was late, we were bitten, blistery and ready for a late night bowl of tortellini in brodo, but honestly Florence was an absolute treat. A magical swift adventure!

Despite all the mishaps, it was a trip filled with great memories and I wouldn’t change a thing! The next time we are there together, it will be more than 8 hours and I will definitely bring a portable charger…