So were off again. After the bleakness of The Ukraine, the history of Nuremberg, the bars of Alkmaar, and the beauty of Bergen, Florence is the next destination on Everton's 2007/08 European adventure. Below is some shit I have copied from various web sites, to give the estimated 3,500 travelling Blues an idea of what to do and see in Florence, before we watch our heroes take on Fiorentina.

Florence for the uneducated like me, is in the Tuscany region of Italy. If this means absolutely nothing to you, lets go back to school and think of Italy like the leg it is shaped like. So Florence is the knee cap of Italy, and it has a population of around half a million people. It is one of the cultural jewels of Italy with many works of art, and it is considered the birthplace of Italian Renaissance back in the Middle Ages. So that was then and this is now, and as a consequence Florence main industry is Tourism as visitors flock to see the art and architecture that the City has to offer.

This is not surprising as among the people who have resided in Florence over the years have been Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci and Galileo, and that fella Dan Brown who wrote The Da Vinci Code. It was the home of The Medici Family, the powerful family that spawned Three Popes, and in their time were considered the richest family in all of Europe. Since then The Sausage Clan of Aintree, have inherited that dubious title, so who says that crime doesn't pay.

A Euro jolly would not be a Euro jolly without a good knees up in a plastic Irish pub. You will be glad to know Florence has its fair share of these as well. You have The Fiddlers Elbow situated by the Railway station, and The Lions Fountain which has all the sports channels available. Their are English boozers and they are called Chequers and The Robin Hood, and they are close to the historical Santa Maria Novella Square. In the interest of fairness the Scots have their haunt as well, and you can get your McEwans and Tennents in the aptly named Tartan Jock Scottish Pub

The Old Stove, is one to get on your drinking itinerary, and I hear is not the biggest of pubs. If the weather is nice however, you can drink outside and take in the stunning architecture. On the weather front I am reliably informed by Michael 'what hurricane' Fish that Thursday will be overcast but dry, with a low of one degree, rising to a maximum of four degrees, so wrap up warm.

If its food your after, the locals love their meat. At the heart of Florentine cookery lie four fundamental ingredients: bread, extra-virgin olive oil, grilled meat. Florentine steaks of beef, roasted or wine-braised game such as boar, deer and rabbit and lastly, wine itself. Florentine restaurants serve all the Italian specialities, not just the ones typical of Florence. It is also the home of Chianti wine, so drink carefully, and enjoy your trip.