Florence

Summer in Beijing: hot, humid and devastatingly sweaty. Attempts to be thrifty involve long subway rides, too crowded and too hot to bother reading a book. Entertainment becomes my limited music selection and the TV screens they have in the newer carriages. On my first ride back I caught a short travel programme introducing Florence and amidst the masses of harried commuters, the shots of the Baptistery reminded me of my month there last summer. I had spent September making some effort to learn Italian but really I just loved being there and observing how the Florentines do things. As they play these programmes on the subway TVs on loop I've now seen it about four times in as many days, but still the nostalgia points remain:

Breakfasts at Cafe Giacosa - where each morning began with the rightful appreciation of crisp Italian tailoring on its clientèle and the cappuccino served by slightly superior waiters so delicious I can hardly bear to drink them elsewhere.

I remembered writing to a friend: I now understand why the Sartorialist loves Florence.

Gelato for lunch, and sometimes dinner. Takeaway pizza eaten outside Santo Spirito. Bistecca alla Fiorentina - never over-rated. Tripe - under-rated by too many. Negronis. Sandwiches from I Fratellini eaten crouched on pavements avoiding the pigeons. The rooftop bar at the Hotel Continentale. Il Santo Bevitore for when the amount of Tuscan beans consumed becomes a bit overwhelming.

Staying in the Uffizi so close to closing time the Botticelli room actually gets empty.

City panoramas. Steep climbs up the Duomo via Vasari's frescoes for sunset views. Up the hill to San Miniato to look down from the Piazzale Michelangelo. Seeing the landscape from the Boboli Gardens. Sitting on the bridges. From that window in the Uffizi. Bus rides up to Fiesole.

Museo Nazionale Alinari della Fotografia. A great spot often overlooked in the scramble to see the Renaissance greats.

Santa Maria della Scala; Siena. After witnessing so many attempts where they tried to synthesise old spaces and contemporary art - some particularly disturbing sculptures exhibited in the Roman amphitheatre at Fiesole come to mind - finally a triumph. In this old hospital with its damaged fresco cycles, the exhibition of Francesca Woodman's black-and-white photographs were beautifully displayed and at no point overpowered their surroundings.

On this note check out this article in the New York Times here.

Officina Profumo S. Maria Novella. Still using their Acqua di Cuba.