http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/ Welcome to Been there. Your tips on the places you know - that you love, live in or have just visited - are what make this guide. http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/34546 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/34546 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/33700 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/33700 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/30710 However if you go at 9pm on a Saturday evening in the summertime (when the gallery has late night opening), the windows are all open, the tourists have all gone, the cruise ships have set sail, you have the place to yourself.
The windows are all open to allow the summer breeze in and the live music being played by string quartets busking in the square below fills the rooms, making it one of the most amazing - unexpected - live music venues I have ever experienced.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/30710 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19394
Considered for a very long time a minor pottery production centre, the role played by Montelupo pottery in the history of Italian ceramics was re-defined only a few years ago, thanks to the unexpected discovery of an old well full of kiln shards.

Hundreds of ceramic pieces from the Renaissance were found in the excavations thanks to the hard work of an association of volunteers. Now they are the core of the Tuscan pottery collection housed in a newly renovated Museum of Ceramics.

What makes the Museum so definitely worth a visit is the uniqueness of its large collection of ceramic works. Most of the 5,500 pieces belonging to the collection come from the excavations made in the area of Montelupo in the last 33 years. They provide an extraordinary opportunity to travel back in time through five centuries in the history of one of the most important ceramic centres in Europe.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19394 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16815 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16815 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13292 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13292 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/5993 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/5993 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/5917 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/5917 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/3172
The toilets are a disgrace. Avoid if at all possible, especially if you are a woman. The cafe is well worth a visit, if the sun is shining. Sit outside at one of the tables high above the city.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/3172 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/3171
The real tip is to book your tickets before you begin to queue. Get your hotel to do it, for a specific time or you can do it on the internet before you leave home. If you don't you will queue for hours along with a load of Americans who have not read their guide book info properly. There is a separate - and much shorter - queue for pre-booked tickets. Yes, it costs you 3 euros more per person but it saves hours of queuing.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/3171 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/3170 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/3170 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/8550 25 euro for the under-26s, 60 euro for those above, and a family deal for 100 euro.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/8550 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/4902 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/4902