A birthday surprise

A birthday surprise trip, booked for me by Chris. I had no idea where I was going until we arrived at the gate in Heathrow's Terminal 5. I was very happy to see Florence on the sign there as it's a city I've long wanted to visit (as Chris well knew, of course).

We took off on time, flying over the Thames and Windsor Great Park before banking and climbing up through the clouds. The highlight of our flight was passing over the Alps, looking awesome in bright sunlight.

We landed early and after a queue at passport control exited to catch the tram to the station in the city centre. From there we decided to take a taxi to our accommodation as it was a little too far to walk with luggage. We arrived at bit before the 12.30 check-in time so went for coffee in the nearby Piazza Santa Croce.

We returned at the appointed time to be given a warm welcome by Carlotta. The Signature Rooms Borgo were a great find by Chris. Just four cosy bedrooms decorated in a traditional style but with all mod cons. We had one of two rooms at the rear, so very quiet.

After we'd unpacked we went back to the same café for lunch and enjoyed Tuscan style sandwiches with a view of the Basilica Santa Croce. And that was our first destination of the afternoon.

Entry to the basilica currently costs €10.00 and is worth it in my opinion as there is a lot to see inside. For an extra fee you can hire an audio guide, but we relied on the free leaflet with a detailed plan, plus the information in my guidebook.

We spent quite a lot of time exploring the art works and tombs inside. The latter included Machiavelli (somewhat surprisingly), Michaelangelo, Dante (albeit empty) and Galileo.

The Cappella della Madre Italiana is dedicated to the sacrifices of mothers who lost sons in World War One. The Pieta is a fairly modern one (1924 by Libero Andreotti.

We also saw a number of significant works of art in the monastery’s former refectory, including several that had been badly damaged in the 1966 floods and since restored.

For a much more detailed account of the sights inside the basilica please visit my Word Press blog: https://www.toonsarah-travels.blog/the-basilica-di-santa-croce-di-firenze/

Leaving the church we had a walk around the Piazza and then through some of the neighbourhood streets. We stopped for excellent gelati near the old fish market and looped around back to Santa Croce.

We stopped to watch some filming going on in one corner of the piazza (we were to learn later in the trip that this was for a short film called Dinner with Dante).

In the evening we had aperitivi in another bar/cafe in the Piazza, then dinner at nearby Il Bongusto. The restaurant was very quiet but the food was very good. We shared the Tuscan cheese board (with nuts, fruit, honey and jams), then Chris had the spaghetti carbonara and I had pici caccio e pepe. We also shared a pistachio cheesecake.

We took some night shots of the church on our way back to the room, then had an early night as we'd been on the go since 5.00 AM.