Every Thing Indicates Life, Industry And Comfort In This Charming Country.
We Stopped At A Villa Belonging To The Grand Duke Called II Pratolino,
Seven Miles Distant From Florence.
Here is to be seen the famous statue
representing the genius of the Appennines.
The Villa is unfurnished and out
of repair and the garden and grounds are neglected: it is a great pity, for
it is a fine building and in a beautiful position. The celebrated Bianca
Capello, a Venetian by birth, and mistress of Francesco II de' Medici,
Grand Duke of Tuscany, used to reside here.
FLORENCE, 27th August.
I am extremely well pleased with my accommodations at the hotel where I am
lodged. Mme Hembert, the proprietor, was once femme de chambre to the
Empress Josephine; she is an excellent woman and a very attentive hostess,
and I recommend her hotel to all those travellers who visit Florence and do
not care to incur the expence of Schneider's. There is an excellent and
well served table d'hote at two o'clock, wine at discretion, for which,
and for my bedroom, I pay seven paoli per day. This hotel has the
advantage of being in a very central situation. It is close to the Piazza
del Gran Duca, the post-office, the Palazzo Vecchio, the Bureaux of
Government, the celebrated Gallery of Sculpture and Painting and to the
Arno. It is only 300 yards from the Piazza del Duomo, where the Cathedral
stands, and 600 yards from the principal theatre Della Pergola on the one
side; while on the other side, after crossing the Ponte Vecchio, stands
the Palazzo Pitti, the residence of the Grand Duke, at a distance of
seven or 800 yards.
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