{"id":70,"date":"2007-05-25T08:50:08","date_gmt":"2007-05-25T08:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.applelanguages.com\/blog\/?p=70"},"modified":"2017-07-24T11:08:58","modified_gmt":"2017-07-24T11:08:58","slug":"a-public-holiday-in-florence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.applelanguages.com\/blog\/locations\/italy\/a-public-holiday-in-florence.php","title":{"rendered":"A public holiday in Florence!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Breathtaking. It’s the only way to describe the Duomo<\/a>. Actually, that’s a lie, as you could also use awesome, ornate and gargantuan!<\/p>\n

I arrived in Florence<\/a> by train one\u00a0evening, and as the city seemed fairly compact (on my map at least!), I decided to walk to my accommodation, passing the city’s most famous attraction en route.<\/p>\n

From the station, Piazza del Duomo is reached by walking along a central shopping street, busy with shoppers and traffic. As the road curved slightly, I caught my first glimpse of the Duomo. I couldn’t believe how enormous it was! It was a little late, and after weighing up the situation, I ignored the excited tourist within me and made my way to the apartment. I’d make sure I was well rested for the next day.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

My first full day in Florence was a public holiday, which meant that the course didn’t start until the next day. I decided to use my free day to explore and after\u00a0wandering for a while\u00a0I stumbled across a great horticultural show, which was held in one of Florence’s public gardens. I was desperate to purchase some of the lush potted herbs, colourful flowers and a small and daintily potted lemon tree, but I had to remind myself that I live in England, and have a small, paved patio rather than a sun-drenched terrace!<\/p>\n

\"\"Making my way back to the main hub of the city I spent a great day exploring! I wandered around the bustling street markets, indulged in that great pastime of ‘people-watching’ at Piazza del Duomo, enjoyed a fantastic ice-cream,\u00a0window shopped in the designer stores, ate delicious pasta for lunch, and just stood on the Ponte Vecchio looking onto the River Arno. Having walked for hours I decided to give my legs a rest and\u00a0enhance my sightseer status by buying a ticket for the official tourist bus.<\/p>\n

This was a great idea as I was able to see the whole city. I say this literally as the bus stops as Piazzale Michelangelo, a viewpoint that provides an amazing panoramic view of Florence. From here you can take\u00a0some great\u00a0photographs, capturing the city’s famous skyline, with its richly coloured cupolas.<\/p>\n

The bus route took in all of the main attractions and once you’ve purchased a ticket it’s valid for 24 hours. It will also take you to the nearby suburban town of Fiesole, a favourite weekend retreat of the Florentines.<\/p>\n

The next day I arrived at the school early, enjoying the stroll en route. Located only 5 minutes walk from the Ponte Vecchio, the school is housed in a beautiful old building, which was once a seventeenth-century palace.<\/p>\n

After having a look round, the real fun began! Our teacher was a lovely Italian lady who laughed a lot. This seemed to be infectious as the whole class had soon joined in! It was a very relaxed lesson and we all had fun attempting to construct sentences and remember new words that we’d learned.<\/p>\n

Florence is a great destination and I really enjoyed my time there. The city has something to offer everyone, and I will definitely visit again to brush up on my Italian and visit the surrounding area. It was reassuring that Florence has a lot more to offer than ‘David<\/a>‘, my day spent exploring was packed, and I didn’t have to part with too many Euros either!<\/p>\n

Amber<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Breathtaking. It’s the only way to describe the Duomo. Actually, that’s a lie, as you could also use awesome, ornate and gargantuan! I arrived in Florence by train one\u00a0evening, and as the city seemed fairly compact (on my map at least!), I decided to walk to my accommodation, passing the city’s most famous attraction en […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[50,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-florence","category-italy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA public holiday in Florence! - Apple Languages<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Breathtaking. 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