At eleven we set out again, when just out of town, our driver took up a female into the cabriolet, accompanied by a man, probably her husband, who afterwards kept up with the carriage on foot, all the way to Florence. After passing through a variety of towns and villages, at nine in the evening, we reached the village of Piano, where we stopped at the post-house. On the following morning, Sunday the 24th, we left Piano at four o’clock, and after travelling through a very hilly country for four hours, got upon a fine plain, which carried us to the gates of Florence, where we arrived about ten o’clock, and having the custom-house stamps on our luggage, were only detained to inspect the passports, after which we proceeded directly to my old quarters, the house of Madame Hembert.
Having now travelled between Florence and Rome, both by way of Sienna and Perrugia, I feel in some degree competent to give an opinion of the comparative advantages of each route. It is almost worth while, to pass once by the former, to enjoy the luxury of returning by the latter, the roads and accommodations of which are so infinitely superior. The way by Sienna may answer very well to do penance upon, and I know no other sentimental consideration which would induce a man to undertake it a second time. It is true, by Perrugia, the distance is more than fifty miles greater, but notwithstanding, the journey maybe completed in quite as short a space of time.
CHAP. XXIII.
FLORENCE—AND JOURNEY TO MILAN.
Madame Hembert of the Pension de Suisse, is a most pleasant and attentive woman, and so well calculated for her situation, that her house has been, for some time, a favourite resort of the visitors to this city. Finding it too small to accommodate her friends, she had, just before our arrival, taken a magnificent palace, called the Maladura, delightfully situated on the banks of the Arno, which she was now busily occupied in removing to. As it was not the most agreeable thing in the world, to reside in the midst of so confused a scene, we determined to take lodgings for the week of our proposed stay in Florence. While we were meditating this arrangement, who should we meet but Mr. F⸺, a gentleman to whom I was greatly indebted for various kind attentions at Rome, and who instantly proposed that we should place ourselves in the same house, where he himself lodged. This was so agreeable to our inclinations, that we requested him immediately to make the necessary arrangements, and on the following morning took possession of our rooms, situated in the Strada Mal-Aurange.
After this, my friend wished to see a race contested by horses without riders, but we found the ground so wet and uncomfortable, that we returned without waiting for the exhibition; which I was far from regretting, as I know no species of amusement, that, in my present situation, would have less interested me; nor was it novel to my friend.
We dined at a trattoria’s, after which I had the pleasure of accidentally meeting, at the library, with Mr. F⸺, with whom I had sailed in the felucca, from Nice, and was also introduced to Mr. H⸺, the gentleman whom I before mentioned, as having travelled with the French merchant, who threw himself into the crater of Vesuvius.
Florence is said to owe its origin to a Roman colony, composed of selected veterans from Cæsar’s legions; but in its modern state, you would scarcely imagine it the offspring of the camp; for its whole appearance bespeaks gentility, and its inhabitants are possessed of so courteous an air, that we cannot wonder it should be selected by our countrymen, as a residence preferable to every other in Italy. The society, both among the natives and foreigners is excellent; and the city abounds with literary institutions, and museums of natural history, and the fine arts. Good houses are easily procured, and provisions and necessaries of all kinds abundant and cheap.