Here we are, 8 weeks and counting! I am hoping someone will be able to tell me the best way to get to Piazza Michlangelo and the Iris Gardens, which are supposed to be beautiful and, hopefully, in full bloom when we are there! (May 10-18) There are 4 of us, and we will not have a car for the week we are in Florence. Is there a bus we can take, or are we better off taking a cab, and if so, where is a good place to get a cab besides the train station? Should we plan on going there for the sunset...we have been there before, midday, and got some great pictures of the city, but I read somewhere that the sunsets are fantastic from here. Thanks!

I remember taking a city bus from very near the Duomo up to Piazza Michelangelo, then walking back down through the Rose Garden and Iris Garden -- a wonderful walk. Unfortunately, we apparently tore the little box with "useful bus routes" out of our Fodor's Guide, so I can't tell you the bus number.

Here's the URL for the city bus lines in Florence. You can click on the area of the city you want to cover, and then see the routes and timetables. The A,B,C,D lines are the mini buses that run in the centre. You get tickets in a tabbachi, and can get a ticket for a certain amount of time where you can use the ticken over and over. Stick your ticket into the little machine on the bus to be punched when you get on. http://www.ataf.net/Default_EN.asp

ATAF, the Florence city bus system, is online with a good site. Here, for example, is their main map page.

I believe it is the nubmer 13 bus that goes to Piazzale Michelangelo, and the iris gardens are on the far right side, looking down at the city.
You can get cabs from almost all the main Piazza's in the city, or call and get one from your hotel.

there are also Gregorian chants at the church at San Miniato, which is on the hill behind the Piazzale, since you are up there...Around 5:30pm

Many of us are cat lovers on SlowTrav! We have a mini-site with pictures of our cats. Send me yours to get them included! Colleen has three lovely cats that are soon to be added to our collection of photos:

http://www.cohenkenny.com/cats/

The Iris show sounds great! You could also just hop in a cab - it isn't that far from Santa Croce. Or just walk - we have walked there before. From Santa Croce over the Arno, then along the Arno away from Florence a few blocks to Piazza Guiseppe Poggi where my map shows stairs all the way up to Piazzale Michelangelo. We were there about 15 years ago - but we walked and it wasn't far.

We took cabs in Rome all the time last October. We found cab stands all over the place. It doesn't seem like you can flag them down (like in NYC), but you have to find a stand. Sometimes there was a line of people and the cabs would come by and get the first person in line. Maybe it is like that in Florence.

8 weeks til you leave!! How exciting!!

Hey, not fair.....
What about us DOG people...are we not entitled to show off our animals....

Thank you Amy and Bill for the ATAF link...I think I have determined by the map that buses 12 & 13 go up to the Piazza Michelangelo, but as for the other pages...they have an English version until you need help, then it's all in Italian! When I clicked on "find a destination" and typed in "Piazza Michelangelo" the next page had LOTS of choices and they were all in Italian! I know I am worrying too much..we'll just ask our landlord, or take a cab, which shouldn't be too bad with 4 people, maybe we could even walk back. We all love to walk, but Art has nerve problems affecting his legs, so it just depends on how he feels. No one really gave an opinion about whether we should go at sunset...how about it? Also, since we're going to be at the top, what about that church? I had never heard of it before...but now I know to take change!!

I have been considering a DOG page because David has Hildy - a Dachshund (or is that too personal David? ). And did I spell it right? My feeling is that DOGS get way too much attention as it is! Santa Fe, where we live, is a total dog town. Cats are ignored, if noticed at all. Dogs are King.

But, in the interest of fairness, email me your dog photos and I will see what I can do. Maybe just having the dog pictures on a web site called The Cat Pages will be enough to show the feline superiority!!

slowtrav@mindspring.com

This one is not in Florence, but in Rome; still, a spaghetti-eating cat is a spaghetti-eating cat:
   Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary

It's axiomatic in France and Italy that where there are lots of cats, there are Roman ruins; I think it's the warm bricks, and often enclosed spaces where people can't get in. Other good examples in Rome are the lower portion of the Protestant Cemetery where all the ancient blocks are, and the (so-called) Trophies of Marius. A good example in France is the Baths of Constantine in Arles.

I'm finally caving in: on my next Roman-ruin trip, I'm now planning to bring a catometer to shortcut the process. I just wish they weren't so expensive.

That is a great site. It was mentioned here a few months back and I had a quick look - but today I am looking in more details. Click on Cat-database then scroll down to Simeone - what a great looking red tabby!!! He is adopted though. The movies are good too!!

re: Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary site

Great site...I may just have to adopt-at-a-distance the black cat Ramses....since that's my black kitty's name!..might be an omen! (Pauline, I'll send you some pics of my three "kids" as soon as I can scan some in...Ramses, Maya, and Jinx.) Will I need to change my plans and go to Rome on this trip?? (uh-oh!)

Janet

I hate to get off the subject of "cats and dogs" - we have both.
Back to the Irises - I "think" you will have missed them in bloom in mid-May. Ours should be in full bloom within 2 weeks from now.
I hope I'm wrong and you get to see them.

Back to pets -- just for a bit. Yes, Pauline, you spelled Hildy's name correctly. Have I ever sent you photos of her? I thought I might have, but maybe not.

David: Only one with you and that flying ears photo - but I don't think I have that anymore. Send me some more and we will start a dog page!!

Irises bloom in Santa Fe in May - and Santa Fe is always about a month or two behind everywhere else for blooming because we are so high in the mountains. 7000 feet. We have irises in our yard. There used to be an Iris farm outside of town, but they went out of business. It was a beautiful place to visit. But, really, nothing grows as beautifully here as in Italy or the west coast - it is just too dry here and we are heading to another dry summer.

I will never forget Italy in June walking through olive groves full of red poppies. Incredibly beautiful.

Did someone say pictures of dogs!! I just happen to have a few . Almost picked up another one the other day--if it not for going to Italy in May, i would have. Do not want to upset the house sitter with a new puppy!! LOL

This year we really haven't had a winter, It may arrive this week. My irises aren't out yet or any here in Chianti.
But it has been an early spring and the hills are green.
Perhaps April showers!!!!

Won't that just be my luck to miss both the Vasari corridor AND the iris garden!!! We will certainly take our friends up to the Piazza Michelangelo for the beautiful view, and if the iris are in bloom, it will just be a wonderful surprise!

Barb-

I think no matter what time of day you go to the Piazzale, it's just beautiful. Sunset is nice, but if it's a clear day the views of Florence are incredible. I also love it when it's a foggy, damp day and you can have a long lunch and watch the sun-rays come out over the city. It's incredible at night, too. In the summer it's packed with people escaping the heat of Florence, eating gelato, little kids up after midnight.

The gardens always seem to have something in bloom, even if it's planted cyclamen covered with remants of New Year's Eve confetti in early January.

And I love San Miniato al Monte- the church itself is beautiful on the outside and inside just takes my breath away. The carved marble is incredibly intricate. The surrounding cemetery is a 20th century version of the crypts at Santa Croce; anyone who was anyone in Florence on the 1900's is buried at San Miniato. Ferragamo, Cecchi Gori, Pucci, they're all there.

Maureen

The iris garden is on the right, looking down onto Florence and the Rose Garden is on the left!
Usually the iris garden is in bloom in May and the rose garden in June..so something will be happening!

Some of the irises are just starting to bloom in the countryside, but cold front is coming in so perhaps that will slow things down a little, it has been incredibly beautiful and not cold!