Day 77: Four go to Florence

We had to set the alarm so that we would be ready to leave the house by 8.30am, when Nick was due to leave for Lucca. We duly set off in convoy, driving down the river valley in a light rain. When we got to the car park, we all piled into Nick's car and drove around the city walls until we got to the entrance near the bus station. There, we said our farewells and bought our tickets for the bus, which we were pleased to discover was due to leave in about 15 minutes.

In Florence, we found the information centre, grabbed a map, and then started taking in the sights – starting with the Duomo. Having spent so much time in Europe's rather-less-population places, we were slightly overwhelmed by the hordes of tourists milling about (and amused to discover that the current hawkers' product of choice is the selfie stick).

It was getting on towards lunch time by the time we'd 'done' the Duomo, so we walked to the central market, which is all pretty traditional on the ground floor but also boasts a rather swanky second floor, filled with shiny new bars and food stalls. We bought a (very good) pizza and shared it at a table next to the truffle stall (if we weren't travelling on a budget I definitely would have spent a hefty sum sampling the truffly delights on sale there). 

We then walked over to the Uffizi, stopping off to rub the nose of Il Porcellino, the famous boar statue for good luck on the way (although I've since discovered that this is supposed to ensure a return visit to Florence). We didn't go into the gallery – we didn't think that the girls would get that much out of it and neither of us are really big fans of the sort of art that it houses – but spent a while admiring the statues outside the Accademia Gallery, including a copy of Michelangelo's David. Then it was over to the Ponte Veccio, which was properly crawling with selfie-stick sellers. 

Everyone was getting a bit tired and fractious by then, so we called it a day and wandered back to the bus station, where we just had time for a quick coffee. The boar's nose had obviously conferred a bit of luck on us as it started to rain just as we boarded the bus.

Back in Lucca, we were obviously out of the boar's range as the rain had set in there and we had a slightly sodden walk around the city walls to where there was a gate through to where the car was parked. (Kate and I had a little moment of nostalgia when we spotted a park to which we had taken Sarah on our previous visit to Lucca – way back when Kate was pregnant with Zoe).

We stopped at a supermarket for some supplies and then headed home, trying with increasing desperation to buy some fuel on the way. All of the petrol stations at which we stopped were shut, despite the fact that it wasn't even 5pm. Many had pay-at-the pump options, but they kept rejecting our cards. We eventually found one that was open – well, the cafe it housed was open, but the petrol station bit was closed. Thankfully, its machines took cash and we were able to fill up.