Having promised myself to return to Florence and try and find some love for the town the whole world bar me seemed to worship was… unsuccesful. I did my best, s

I tayed in a better hotel, went to the sights and wandered the streets, but there was so much I didn’t like about this town. There were several things i did like. Most of these moments happened when i walked to the outskirts of the town centre to areas like Santo Croce where the Calcio Istorico was played, here again the crowds were incredibly passionate thugs but you felt you were in the midst of something unique. The game itself is more brute force than brutality, not openly violent but men did whatever they could to stop the guy with the ball from getting to where he wanted to go, there werent too many moments of random violence… there were plenty in the crowd mind you, and a lot of them between the “women” i enjoyed a half of a game and headed off to listen to the cheers from the steps of the santa croce church whos piazza had been invaded by the game and its supporters.

I also returned to santo spirito and spent an afternoon sitting in the piazza, drinking at the small local bars and rounded it off with a meal served to me by an australian girl who at least didnt lapse into english, but the 5 or 6 places i ate at whilst in florence were all somewhat disappointing even before the bill arrived.

By Friday i was ready for new adventures, decided to pick another smaller town in which i seem to feel more at ease packed my fairydown and headed off to Lucca.