WE had a rare time in Florence. And when I say rare, I mean rare.
Steak is a big thing in this stunning Tuscan city and their Bistecca alla Fiorentina is world famous.
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Waiters don’t ask how you want your meat cooked because there is only one way — yup, you’ve guessed it, rare!
And not just a little pink, we’re talking bloody!
Now, I’m a medium rare man so I was a little apprehensive but wow, this was melt-in-the-mouth and quite possibly the best steak I’ve tasted.
If the grub was good, then our sunset view from Hotel Calimala’s Angel rooftop bar and restaurant was even better.
With views out to the famous Pallazzo Vechio and the nearby Bell Tower this was picture postcard stuff, or instantly Instagrammable for my wife Rachel.
Post meal, we enjoyed a couple of negronis as a DJ played some tunes. I’ve had worse Tuesday nights.
We had arrived at Hotel Calimala following an hour-long train from Pisa earlier that day.
With a perfect spot in the city centre — all the main tourist spots, shops, restaurants, theatres and parks no more than ten minutes walk away — this hotel oozed class in every way. It’s a luxury art hotel, modern in design, yet seamlessly integrates the city’s rich cultural history and architecture.
There are now two wings of Calimala — east and west — and we were treated to a spectacular comfort room in the hotel’s new Gothic-style West Wing which only opened in February.
After a welcome glass of fizz at stylish Meze bar, we were excited to check out our room for the next few days.
Each of the 65 rooms has been carefully redesigned to maintain the interior decor in the original hotel and boasts original artwork on its distressed stone walls.
With a king size bed, espresso machine, luxury robes and views out to the famous Doumo we were in heaven.
After the best sleep in ages, we enjoyed a sumptuous breakfast at stylish ground floor restaurant Meze. I opted for an omelette with red orange followed by a cappuccino. I emphasise the ‘followed by’ because, like with steak, they’re funny here about having cappuccino after breakfast — some places even refuse to serve it after noon. But I think I was okay seeing as it was just after 9am.
There is also access to the fitness suite but my exercise over three wonderful days was just getting the steps in by wandering round the majestic city.
Being an art hotel, Calimala gives you a flavour of what to expect and suitably fed and watered, it was time to explore.
First stop the Duomo or Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore as it is formally known.
Work began on this incredible structure in 1296 and was completed with Filippo Brunelleschi’s dome in 1436. Its breathtaking pink, green and white marble facade dominates the landscape and it is still the largest masonry vault in the world.
If it took 139 years to build the Duomo, it took me roughly the same time in seconds to finish a pint of Moretti in a nearby cafe.
We’ve had similar pit stops during trips to Rome, Venice and Verona and felt like we’d had to remortgage afterwards but the prices here are not crazy expensive.
You’ll pay five or six euros for a beer, same for a wine or Aperol Spritz, and pasta and pizza even more reasonable at around ten or 11 euros. Anyway, now that we’ve covered the most important stuff, back to the Duomo.
You can climb the 463 stops to the top — there is no elevator — to give unparallelled views of the city but at 180ft it gave me the heebie jeebies so we settled for a stroll around the cathedral’s ground floor.
Next stop was the iconic Ponte Vecchio which dates back to 1345 and was the only Florentine bridge to survive Nazi assaults in 1944. The story goes that Hitler thought it too beautiful to destroy after visiting with Mussolini some years earlier.
What makes it so special is that shops — mainly jewellers passed down from generation to generation since the 16th century — are built across the bridge
If that was impressive then our next stop to see the David statue at Accademia Gallery was out of this world.
The Renaissance masterpiece sculpture by Michelangelo — created between 1501 and 1504 — stands at 17ft of sold marble and is genuinely mind-blowing.
The culture doesn’t stop there — a visit to the Uffizi Gallery is a must. This is one of the most important and most visited museums in Florence.
Here you will be able to see some of the very best works of Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Rafael and Michaelangelo.
While Rachel was snapping away every few seconds, my favourite pics of the trip came from an old-school photo booth. Vintage foto automaticas — producing black and white film photos with a decades old analogue camera in four and a half minutes — are dotted around Florence and are a must stop.
As are the famous buchette del vinos — that’s wine windows to you and I. They have been used for centuries to sell wine without having to pay taxes.
GO: FLORENCE
GETTING THERE: British Airways operate direct flights three times a week from Edinburgh to Florence from May 11-October 26.
Return flights from Edinburgh to Florence from £135pp. Se ba.com.
STAYING THERE: For the best prices at the luxury Hotel Calimala see hotelcalimala.com.
MORE INFO: For more on visiting Florence see feelflorence.it/en.
They posed a useful anti-contagion way to sell wine during the epidemic of 1630-1633 and made a comeback during Covid for the same reason.
Again, despite being a huge tourist attraction they are very reasonably priced at eight euros a glass.
After an ice cream along the River Arno, we headed to Piazza Michaelangelo which we were assured offers the best sunset in town. It didn’t disappoint.
Just a ten-minute uphill walk and we enjoyed a spectacular city panorama on the steps of Viale Michelangelo, packed with tourists and students, as a lone guitar hero played Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Leonard Cohen. It was a magic vibe.
After a final buffet breakfast and coffees on the Angel rooftop terrace capturing once last view of Florence, we set off for home with amazing memories of art, culture, one of the best hotels we’ve ever stayed in and of course THAT steak.
We’re already raring to go back.
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