Today was the day to brave the insane crowds in Florence. I must admit this isn’t one of my favorite things to do. I find this town to be very commercial and far too overrun with tourists and massive tour groups. However we have tried twice before to get in to the famous Trattoria Sostanza for their Butter Chicken. This time we were able to make a reservation so off we went. It did turn out to be well worth the trip. The food was wonderful. Of course we had to try the Butter Chicken….Yum! I did, however notice that a half roast chicken cost 9 euro while the famous one was 20 euro. The portions are generous, two breasts, so you could end up sharing. For dessert we shared their Meringue Cake with Wild Strawberries. It was wonderful.
We meandered around for a few hours braving the crowds but eventually gave up and back to the train station we headed. I did try to take a few of the less standard photos but had to include one of the Duomo.
Blogging My Dreams 
Last October we did what you did today – we took the train to Florence for the day from Cortona.
And we had the same experience. Tons of crowds and tourists and chaos. Like you, if it hadn’t been for the food it would have been a total disaster.
But exactly the year before we rented an apartment in Florence near the Duomo and had a lovely time. Not many crowds then.
I have no explanation for the difference. Except there appear to be more Chinese tours.
Hi Jean! I think for me the experience of being in that large of a mass of people takes away from any of the beauty I find there. Strangely Rome isn’t that way, once past the station I am in awe of everything about Rome!
I agree. I hate large crowds.