Firenze the city of Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Botticelli

The exhaustion from our previous day was more intense than the four of us realised and with no one waking up before 10 we didn't make it into the city until noon. A shame we missed out on the morning but we desperately needed to recover from all the walking to be prepared for more.

Before hitting the cultural end of town we needed to re-fuel and what better place than at the local markets. San Lorenzo's shopping markets also have a hidden food market which is a must visit. With lines of local butchers, grocers, cheese connoisseur we made a pit stop at the famous panini stand to try their also famous stomach meat half intestine half something else (cant remember the name). It really does sound terrible and when I saw them chop it it looked pretty well Ewww too but I had to give it a try. I have to say I am not a fan but the saving grace was the yummy green pesto and chili tomato sauces they added. Even still the yummy pasta and bruschetta filled our belly and we were ready to taken on some art and history.

We made our way straight to the Galleria Degli Uffizi and considering how late we were all the guided tours were completed for the day and so we had to survive with the audio guides. Of course I've planned a lot for Rome but I didn't for Florence and in hind side I think I should have but with 3 others it gets hard to manage. Anyhow we bought last minute reservation tickets to skip the line and made our way into the Uffizi.

As organized as the Louvre was that's how disorganized the Uffizi was and you could instantly tell the difference with the two cultures. After a bit of meandering we found someone to help us with the must-see rooms. Now unlike Louvre and it's different sections, the Uffizi is a U shaped building with over 80 small rooms dedicated to different artists. The must-sees are pretty much what you'd find in most guides - Botticelli's Birth of Venus and the Coming of spring, Da Vinci's few works though not like the Louvre, Michelangelo's only painting on canvas Doni Tondo and Raphael's darker paintings. Do take moment to look out the corridor that connect the two long ones which has a great view of the Arno and Ponte Vecchio.

With 2.5 hours of artists and painting, a hilarious incident involving my sister tripping off the sensors by wanting to almost touch a painting in a small quite room with a gallery watch lady perfectly timed with the police sirens following suit, was a much need comical relief.

With a brief sit down and it being 4.30 we quickly made our way to the Duomo. But once again thanks to our late start we weren't able to go up or enter the Baptistry of San Giovanni. We could however enter the Duomo and catch the last 'free' tour to see the beautiful ceiling with its 6 rings of frescos. The Baptistry's bronze doors really were quite brilliant.

By then we were pooped and ready to just relax and have a coffee/beer. We headed to Piazza Republico and went up to the roof cafe of the mall to see the view of Florence and have our break with some Azzuro beers and tiramisu. Once again re-fueled we made our way through the streets to look for local shops and shopping. We got lucky on Via della Scala where we found a cool vintage shop called DesiVintage and some leather manufacturers shops. After some shopping therapy we were ready once again to walk the streets and headed towards Piazza Michelangelo at the top of the hill to have the view of Florence at sunset.

The climb up the hills and the hundred odd steps was so worth it to see all of Florence covered in the pink-orange hues of the sun reflecting over the river. I decided to stay back with my sister and wait till it was completely dark and have a view of the city with the lights on while having a good catch up with my sister. The small yet spectacular historic city centre with its unmistakeable monuments towering over the red roofs got me to like this city even more.

We walked down for some dinner at a local trattoria we spotted on our way up - Frori Porta - again on the opposite side of the river. A local wine bar apparently only serving Crostino for food was a perfect find relishing some Chianti Classico.