Florence deserves more that two nights and I can see why people love it, there’s an easier pace and it’s so pretty and easy to get around.
Just two nights in Firenze and a lot of walking (and I got a blister on my foot, damn!), there’s less vehicle traffic and it’s very pedestrian-ised, well, at least in the central areas. I found the Central Food Hall with a mad number of sizzling Bistecca. It’s by the outdoor market with Indian guys hustling, I hate being hustled and pressured when I’m simply ask the price. And they’re all selling exactly the same leather goods, hundreds of stalls with the same stuff, so I decided to go to an actual shop and I met an Italian guy who’s family have had the same business for 50 years. He said tourist numbers are down! Really?, – the streets are heaving with people, he said the French and Germans don’t buy anything, only the Chinese and Americans spend money and there’s less of them. He said it was because political and financial instability in those countries, and the wars.
What’s happening at home? I just read on RNZ that the number of businesses filing for bankruptcy has doubled in the last year compared to the year previous – wtf!
