Florence just cannot be explained or contained in a simple introduction. Quite simply it is the most beautiful city in the world. The best thing to do is to climb up the hill to the Forte di Belvedere, the Medici fortress that dominates Florence; and just look. From up here can you really take in the grandeur of Brunelleschi’s cathedral dome, and understand the intricate little cobblestone streets and alleys, churches and squares. From here you can see Santa Croce, which is transformed in the summer into a playing field for “calcio in costume” (football in costume); from here you can see Giotto’s bell tower in whose shadow, every year at Easter, the Colombina (a dove) flies in to roost in a shower of fireworks to wish for a good harvest; and there is Palazzo Pitti hiding the labyrinths of the Boboli Gardens behind it. From here you can also see all the routes between the museums: from the Accademia which hosts Michelangelo’s David, all the way to the Uffizi Gallery. In the hills around the city you can see Fiesole, Settignano, Bellosguardo. On the night of San Giovanni, the city’s feastday, fireworks are launched from the balconies of San Miniato. The River Arno meanders from its source on Monte Falterona, the sacred mountain of the Etruscans and runs through the Mugello, which was the country retreat for the Florentine gentry and where you can visit their imposing villas, then it comes to Florence, passing under the arcades of the Ponte Vecchio and slipping on towards the sea. The river valley touches the Appenine foothills of Montemurlo, the hot springs of Montecatini and the splendours of Pistoia.
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