jj

Lynn<BR><BR>Agree, the San Lorenzo food market is one of my favorite places in Florence, next of course to the Duomo and Giatto tower. My other favorite is the Science museum behind the Uffizi where Gallaleo's original instraments can be found. Just walking down the medievil streets surrounded by such history and art is a thrill. However, with all its assets (never have figured out the appeal of the Ponte Vecchio), I too questioned what all the fuss was about. Driving into the city is a nightmare. I enjoy Florence but it certainly isn't my favorite city. Give me the smaller towns like Montelchino!<BR><BR>BTW, when shopping at the open market this last December, many vendors told me their American sales were down almost 50%. I think they will negotiate much more now.

Nancy

The first time I visited Florence I really did not like it at all. A few years later I agreed to go to Florence again for a friend's sake who had never been. I kept saying it was my least liked of all the cities in Italy but right in the middle of our visit, something happened and I found that I did sort of like it.<BR>Then I went a third time with my son and some other friends and this time I fell in love with Florence. I agree that it can be crowded, but move away from the crowds a little and really look at the architecture of the buildings, read up a little on who the palaces belonged to originally and the amazingingly interesting stories that go with it. Read a little about the Medici family and the Strozzis and their feuds and another dimension will be added to your visit.<BR>Go out at night around 11pm and walk the streets that are nearly deserted and hear your footsteps on the stones and think back to their past, you may find that you will change your mind about Florence like I did.

Lesli

A really interesting thread - clearly everyone has a different take on things....<BR><BR>I fell in love with Florence the moment I first arrived. (Via train, from Cinque Terre and before that Milan.) I have been back every couple of years, and it continues to cast its spell over me each time. I love the architecture, the colors, the angle of the light in the sky. The fact that you can walk everywhere. The focus on food, wine, art (I'm a sucker for the Renaissance - what incredible colors!) I don't believe in reincarnation per se, but I've often said that perhaps I did live there in a former life, because I instantly felt as if I were &quot;home&quot; in Florence.<BR><BR>I travel in April-May or October-November, so I haven't experienced the peak season crush. I spend very little time in the area near the Duomo or Piazza della Signoria. I love wandering along the Arno, over to Trastevere, and the maze of streets there.<BR><BR>I'm a city girl. And my home town is full of tourists. So maybe that has something to do with it? I have to say that while I find Rome fascinating, I also find it exhausting, and about 3 days at a time is enough for me.

Penn

I have an idea that the people who don't appreciate Florence don't have the imaginations to walk around the outskirts of the city such as along the ramparts, they just stand in the middle of the tourist sites and wail.

Dan

Loved Florence. Shortly before leaving, I read The Agony and the Ecstasy, about the life of Michaelangelo, and the Medici family in Florence. When we got there, I felt like I was walking through history. Sitting in that main square with the statutes (sorry, forget the name) I was overwhelmed to think that it did not look much different 500 years ago, when Michaelangelo created, and the Medicis ruled. We thoroughly enjoyed visiting the Pitti Palace and it's &quot;backyard&quot; the Bobli Gardens. One evening, we attended a ballet of Romeo and Juliet in the Bobli Gardens. We made reservations for the Uffizi and Accademia far in advance, based on advice here, and walked right in, passing the ever building line of less-initiated non-Fodorites. Even the Salvatore Ferragamo shoe fashion museum was fun. The Ponte Vecchio is charming and the view of the Arno magical at sunset. The synagogue is beautiful, and not inundated with tourists. The shopping was excellent. I could go on...

Angela

sorry-- how could you not love florence?? i lived there as an exchange student and would spend hours just walking all around the center and the neighborhoods.i also loved rome, but florence was not too big, but big enough.

Nancy

I didn't like it the first time because we made the mistake of driving our car right smack in the middle of town to find our hotel, and by the time we navigated one ways in the humid/hot weather, I was ready to just leave. <BR><BR>I also was tired from the trip and didn't use my imagination at all, I just trudged around with a map and bumped into other tourists all day.<BR><BR>Since then, I travel alot differently, ie: I do my homework and it makes almost any city fascinating.

xxx

OK, Penn, I'll bite. Where are the Florence ramparts and where do they go?

da

We were there for a week in the mid '90's. The evening we arrived we had a pretty good dinner, rather expensive, at the O-----restaurant, near the Duomo. The sidewalks were so narrow that I bumped a woman with my elbow. The next day we toured the Straw market, the Accademia museum and then the Baboli Gardens, where my legs were beginning to feel like lead. Had bad pizza and bad service on a terrace in the Piazza dei Signorini? Back to the hotel and then it hit;5 days of flu or food poisoning-don't know which -should have seen a Dr. Could eat nothing and didn't even watch TV. We had reservations at Lake Garda after that so had to move on. Can't tell if any of this was psychological. Kept telling myself that these were precious, expensive days but I just didn't care. I've read about the strange reaction that all the beauty of Florence can cause. Have yet to return.

xxx

Didn't like it all that much. David was fantastic and I thought the areas across the Arno and up the hill were prettier and more enjoyable, but all in all, too claustrophobic and crowded for my tastes. That said, I'd like to give Florence another shot someday.

bill

Florence has been my least favorite Italian city for quite some time. But my wife is a Renaissance freak, so when we went to Italy together for her first time, she insisted that we spend 3 days there. We left after 2, PTL. Once she had seen a variety of the art and architecture, which are fabulous, she was ready to leave the rest of it behind.

Grasshopper

I think it's interesting that the original poster said they &quot;just got back&quot; in January. All my issues with Florence have been related to crowds. I wonder if it was crowded in January.<BR><BR>My first Florence experience was arriving hungry, and having a great meal then walking around the corner and .... boom, there was the Duomo. Beautiful! And then walking on toward the Uffizi and a violist was there playing hauntingly eerie Vivaldi. Then we kept walking and there was the moon on the Arno. The more we walked the more we found new, incredible things.

Myer

I've been to Florence twice over the years. <BR><BR>I think if I was helping someone plan a trip I would provide a short description and let them decide.<BR><BR>Rome for the history and sights.<BR>Florence for the culture.<BR>Venice for the feeling.<BR>Amalfi Penninsula for the beauty<BR>etc.<BR>

Cathy

Out of all the places we have ever been, I'm sad to say that Florence was the most disappointing. All my life I looked forward to seeing it, with all the art I had studied. Granted, we were there in June of last year, and it was very hot (about 100 degrees F). The place was overrun with tourists, more Germans than we see in Germany! The lines to get into every museum was hours long. Maybe part of my disappointment came from high expectations. On the other hand, I did not have high expectations of Venice, and was completely knocked out by it. I keep thinking that I need to go back to Florence to give it another chance, but don't know if it would be any better at another time. The San Lorenzo market is so full of &quot;made in China&quot; merchandise that it is a joke. It is all such a kitchy tourist trap. Our favorite place was the Santa Croce church with the tombs of Michaelangelo, Dante, Galileo, etc. It seemed to be somehow off the beaten tourist track, at least when we were there, and was very moving. I would love to go back to Siena and Venice.

Penn

I see more posters are wailing at the crowds, going to the market and staying right in the middle of town in the summer.<BR>If you walk along the Arno after taking a left after you cross the Ponte Veccio then sort of bear to the right on your way to that church on the top of the hill, I forgot the name right now, you will cross under the gate of the old wall. You can find the wall in different walks you can take, this is what I called the ramparts.

Jeri

We were in Florence 2 months after 9/11 and literally had the city to ourselves (well, almost). It was truly grand! There has to be a direct correlation between the amount of tourists and one's enjoyment of the city. We loved it! I guess one can wait until a catastophic event and then travel alot. We traveled to Europe three times in the year after 9/11 and really took advantage of &quot;off-peak&quot; travel.

Christina

We were in Florence for 3 days a few days after 9/11. We loved it. We went to the Uffizi late in the day and walked right in. Couldn't get enough of the wonderful pizza of the duoma square. The gelato was delicious. I agree with previous posts in that if you read up on the history of Florence you may find a greater appreiation for it. Oh, and strolling Bobli gardens on a warm sunny day? I hope to go back soon.

bill

Penn, while your observation may be true of some people, it certainly isn't true of all. Though your general observation could go for any tourist site in the world for some people. I don't think that personal insults add much to the discussion--just because someone doesn't like the same things you do does not make them somehow inferior.

Penn

Dear Mr. Bill, where do you see that I insulted people? I stated that people write on threads here that they went to all the crowded parts of Florence during the height of tourist season and then complain that it was crowded.<BR>Do you see the logic?<BR>I know for a fact that if you walk AWAY from the center of Florence, it is like any other city, with people walking around during the daytime. <BR>I am only observing what I read here and that is alot, not all, people complain about tourists crowding them, so step away from the crowd.

A Wailer

Mommy, mommy, I am in a crowd of people what shall I do? Waaaaaa.<BR>