DAY 35 - FLORENCE (Rest Day) - 25 May 2026

-

After a leisurely breakfast with lots of healthy fruit, we visited the Palazzo Vecchio bookshop to collect our credentials for the next stage of our walk, the Via degli Dei, which connects Florence to Bologna via the Apennines.

We then visited the largest Franciscan church in the world, the Basilica of Santa Croce, where we received the final two stamps in our Via di Francesco credentials. It felt like a farewell to St Francis. St Francis featured in lots of paintings and frescoes inside the church. The Bardi Panel created shortly after his death was especially beautiful and depicted stories of St Francis' life. The Cerchi Chapel had interactive displays covering the Via di Francesco in Tuscany, including many places we have visited.

The church houses monuments and memorials to Michelangelo, Machiavelli, Galileo and even Florence Nightingale. Many of the priceless paintings and frescoes had been damaged in the devastating flood of 1966, then restored and returned years later. It reminded us of the 2022 Lismore floods near us, and the efforts to restore artworks, especially the intricate timber Hannah Cabinet.

We took the long way back to our hotel, discovering another wine window, stalls selling Florentine street food of tripe and cow stomach (luckily we were still full from breakfast), Dante's church and other interesting things.

After a short rest, we made our way to the laundromat. While the washing machine was cleaning our clothes, we had a wander through the market. We shared a schiacciata for a late lunch, then dropped our clean clothes back at the hotel.

We had an aperol spritz at the terrace cafeteria of the Biblioteca Delle Oblate, the public library. We didn't quite get the views we'd read about as the cafeteria itself was too hot for sitting, but we enjoyed the student vibe in the breezy corridors anyway. There was a small exhibition on the ground floor about the Florentine resistance which we found interesting.

After dinner we had a stroll through the streets, soaking up the atmosphere before returning to our hotel. 

Healthy fruit for breakfast
Machiavelli's tomb - among the many highlights of Santa Croce
Some highlights of Santa Croce
A restorer attending to the needs of one of the statues
A captivated tour group at Santa Croce
Cloisters at Santa Croce
Piazza Santa Croce 
Florence souvenirs
A rest day highlight
Wandering the market
Heading towards San Lorenzo Basilica
Schiacciata for lunch again
The Duomo seen from the Biblioteca Delle Oblate 
Florentine resistance to Nazis and Fascists - a display in the Biblioteca Delle Oblate 
Some Florence shopfronts 
Some of today's fellow-tourists - wonder what it will be like in peak season
Today's sunset crowd at the Piazzale Michelangelo 
Today's Ponte Vecchio sunset shot
A romantic scene under the Ponte Vecchio 
The End (for today at least - another rest day in Florence tomorrow)
Bits and pieces
No birds today. Just an animal in the Arno and a statue of a gecko from the sundial outside the Galileo Museum
Day 35 - Map
Day:                               35
Distance:                      0 km
Walking time:               0 hrs 0 mins
Elevation gain:             0 metres
Cumulative distance:  662.96 km

Comments

  1. The Murphys26 May 2026 at 00:09

    So pleased to see you are keeping up the healthy fruit! Have been loving the scenery and food. I’m sure you’re be looking forward to leaving those crowds behind!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Barkers26 May 2026 at 06:11

      Got to look after yourself! We're picking the spots we visit carefully, so mostly we're not in the thick of it. Although even the laundromat was quite busy...

      Delete
  2. VLN26 May 2026 at 00:31

    Looks like an otter to me. What a huge dose of fine art, sensory overload +++, no wonder you needed extra fresh fruit.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Barkers26 May 2026 at 06:15

      Its's a coypu we believe, indicated by the round tail. They were introduced from South America. Yes, sensory overload but an enjoyable one!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PREPARING FOR ANOTHER LONG WALK

-
Image
We're excited to be getting ready for another adventure! This time we are heading to Italy. The plan is to walk from the East Coast to the West Coast,  starting from Marina di Ravenna on the Adriatic Sea on Tuesday 21 April, arriving at Ostia on the Tyrrhenian Sea on Sunday 12 July.  Using walking paths and small roads, we aim to cover about 25 km most days,  with plenty of rest days in interesting places in between. We've pre-booked bed and breakfasts and small hotels in the places we pass through.  We're planning to write a blog post about our experiences every day. Follow along to share in wonderful vistas, fabulous food and the joys of long distance walking! Coming soon: Reading, Preparation 
Read more

TRAINING

-
Image
Approaching Lennox Head Last Saturday we completed our final training walk, from Ballina to Lennox Head. When we are travelling, our phones are very important. We use the Samsung Health app to record the day's walking statistics, take photos with the camera app, then compile the blog on our phones in the evening. Shouldering our full packs, we started out from Lighthouse Beach in Ballina. The fine drizzle gave us the opportunity to test out our hands-free umbrella holding system. We found something that worked for Kath, but Russell's is still a work in progress. We followed the sealed path along the coast, admiring fine views before heading into the coastal scrub. The path was busy and we shared it with cyclists, joggers, fellow walkers and a couple of groups in training for long distance walking - one even planning on walking the Via Francigena like us! The new facilities at Sharpes Beach - toilet, water, benches - were being well patronised. Someone had even built rock cairns...
Read more

DAY 1 - MARINA DI RAVENNA to RAVENNA - 21 April 2026

-
Image
Ceremonial selfie to mark the start of the walk - Marina di Ravenna After a wonderful week with family and friends we were very excited to begin our walk today!  We flagged down the 5:30 am bus to get to Marina di Ravenna, our starting point,  in time for sunrise over the Adriatic. We walked along the breakwater, marvelling over the fishing huts jutting out into the sea.  One of them provided a temporary shelter as we scrambled into wet weather gear when the weather changed.  Luckily the rain and wind did not last for long.  The wet boardwalk and early morning light made for good photography as we followed a coastal bike path. Many of the beach shack restaurants,  closed at the moment,  looked as if they could be washed away in a good storm!  Leaving the coast, our path took us through fields of crops and workers planting trees before heading back into Ravenna for breakfast and a rest at our hotel. Ravenna is known for its wonderful mosaics. We ha...
Read more