After a long and arduous journey from the UK to Florence I have finally got here . Not as I anticipated, as Brexit has put pay to that and trying to obtain a visa is a bit like pulling hens teeth, but I am here and for the next few months I am going to fully submerse myself in Florence and Italy .

I had an amazing nights sleep (for the past 3 months I have been sleeping on a blow up bed in the UK, but that’s another story for a quiet day), I finished my unpacking then set off exploring the area where my apartment is based . It’s an area that I wasn’t familiar with and hadn’t visited on my first visit, but I love it . I’m near Florence’s biggest park, the tramline, the river and it is lovely and quiet . A friend of mine said it sounded a little like Chelsea in London as there are some lovely residences here and some great hotels .

How about this for my bedroom ceiling, there can’t be too many of these around, wonderful to drift off to sleep looking at this .

After a short walk in the park, I then walked parallel to the river Arno (Florence’s main river), crossed over back to my side and headed towards the centre, taking in side streets that I hadn’t encountered before, discovering new places, bars (in Italy a bar is a coffee shop) and shops .

I stopped off for a little refreshment, how can you go to Italy and not drink Moretti, then took a winding route back to my apartment .

My first full day here has been joyous and tiring . 13km under foot is not bad for an old fart like me that had a heart attack on New Years Eve . My New Years Eve this year I am determined will not be spent in hospital, I will be here celebrating in Italy .

Early night for me, let’s see what day 2 has in store.