'The same as it was in the 1970s' – a postcard from Florence, the best place in Europe for a city break
Travelling to Florence these days is not like the post-apocalyptic weirdness of July, when you could go to the Piazza del Duomo at midday and see not a single soul. Instead, it’s the same as it was in the 1970s except with Wi-Fi and better plumbing. It’s basically the perfect mini-break.
September is always a wonderful month to visit the Tuscan city. It’s less scorching than August; the sun doesn’t beat down directly on those narrow streets quite so ferociously. Even the mosquitos have given up by this point in the year. But it is hot enough to eat out in the evening in shirtsleeves. And right this minute, it’s also got the optimum level of tourism – if you’re a tourist that is, rather than a seller of plaster reproductions of Michelangelo’s David.
You still have to book to get into the Uffizi Gallery to see Botticelli’s Birth of Venus and the Caravaggio Bacchus, but I went online in the evening and got a slot next morning at 9.30am. There was a queue to get in but it was polite, socially distanced, and titchy – 10 minutes' wait at the most. And while I wasn’t alone looking at Primavera, I didn’t have to fight my way through a crowd to catch a glimpse of it either. It was me and a smattering of early-bird tourists. When I came out after about an hour – you can be quick when you don’t have to shuffle round after huge school groups – there were even living statues getting their Pagliaccio facepaint on, and some well-rested ponies drawing tourists in little carriages around the Piazza della Signoria.
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I have found the photographs of Piazza Santa Croce, empty save for the odd attention-starved pigeon, deeply depressing. Beautiful, certainly, but eerie and lonely. No town that depends so heavily on tourism as Florence does can be a happy place to be when it’s abandoned in high season. But the city doesn’t feel desolate these days. In fact, it appears remarkably chipper. The Mercato Centrale has its new season porcini mushrooms in stock. The little jewellers and mosaic makers on the Ponte Vecchio are all open and raring for business. The Antica Farmacia Santa Maria Novella – known as the oldest shop in the world – looks like it’s set fair for another 400 years. So what if you have to wear a mask while visiting? You can take it off to smell the pot pourri.
Best of all, when you sit down at the end of the day for a well-earned Aperol spritz, the waiters bring it fast and with a smile. You’re not just another demanding tourist these days – you’re a precious and valued guest.
Hopefully, this state of affairs won’t last too long: Florence needs more than the sprinkling of foreign visitors it has now. But there’s currently no quarantine; the weekend weather forecast is 32 degrees and sunny… What are you waiting for?
