Florence, Day 3, Part 1 We were up and out by 8:45 and stopped at the cafe a couple of doors down for morning cappucinos and pastries - a delicous chocolate and hazelnut cream filled croissant for me, some kind of donut thing for M. As we walked around central Florence, we saw that we were going to be blessed with sun (at least for awhile) and so we walked to the second stop on "line B"" for the sightseeing bus for Fiesole. By doing so, we beat out all of the other tourists who boarded at later stops and we able to snag the front seats with an unobstructed view of everything.

With the sun in our faces (so welcome after yesterday) we wound through the city, along the Arno river, and up, up, up to the beautiful little hill town of Fiesole. Along the way, we enjoyed absolutely breathtaking views of Florence and the Arno Valley. We were giddy with joy that we didn't "settle" for doing the Fiesole
trip in the rain yesterday and we both agreed that this was definitely one of the best moments of our trip thus far, the other being our last full day in Venice. The circuit took two hours and we wound up in central Florence again around noon.

After a brief stop at the apartment (so handy to be staying where we are) we walked over to the Mercato Centrale which is a HUGE market where you can buy anything imaginable. After drooling over row upon row of goodies:



(and gasping at some unimaginable horrors - tripe, brains, and other UFO's):



we headed across the street to Trattoria Za Za for lunch. M had a pizza and I had a delicious Greek Salad and a side of rosemary potatoes. Of course, we washed it down with a 1/2 liter of house white. The total bill came to around 26E, but the food was good and the atmosphere, terrific.

(to be continued ...)  ¶ 8:34 AM 0 comments

  Florence - Day 2 Awakened by the relentless rain hitting the rooftops, we wisely
bundled up in our rain gear and headed out into grey, soggy,
Florence. Being a native Oregonian, I usually don't mind the rain,
but it's different here. The cobblestoned streets and sidewalks
create seemingly unending puddles to navigate and this, combined
with a million umbrellas of two bazillion tourists makes for a
frustrating time just navigating the streets. It was in this manner
that we walked to the Duomo area, just steps from our apartment and
on to the Uffizi Gallery just a few minutes further.

After thinking about what a visit to the Uffizi would entail, and
the fact that neither one of us was particularly enamoured of old
art, we blew off the Uffizi and, since there was now a break in the
rain, headed up to Piazzele Michelanglo. Crossing the Ponte Vecchio,
we had no idea what was in store for us other than M. had heard the
view was "real fierce".

We hopped the city bus which dropped us off at the bottom of the
hill and then enjoyed an exhilarating hike up to Piazzale
Michelangelo. The view did not disappoint - we were treated to a
spectacular view of San Lorenzo's dome, the Duomo, and all of
Florence in all her beauty surrounded by lush dark green mountains
with clouds clinging to them.






It was almost like looking at the West Hills in Portland, save for the red-tiled roofs below. We stood and stared, took movies and pictures, and then decided that we needed (and deserved!) a gelato. I had a mixed fruit variety that tasted of
raspberries, blackberries, and currants and M. had his beloved
fragola (strawberry).

Afterwards, we walked up the hill a bit further still and peeked
into a Franciscan church and then down again where I spotted a cute
cat with a face that reminded me a bit of my Callie. I stopped to
zoom in on the cat but he came running up to me for some attention,
and I was all too happy to oblidge. For some reason, this caused the
two policeman strolling by great amusement, and they smiled and
laughed at me and pointed at the cat. They seemed quite surprised
that the cat should be so friendly with me and I with him, but we
were great buddies.

We were ready to leave and were looking for a place to buy city bus
tickets just as the open top sightseeing bus pulled up. We have done
these in other cities and had talked about doing it here in
Florence, so we bought tickets and hopped on. The sun was peeking
out and the rain had stopped, so we enjoyed a fantastic view as we
were whisked down the mountain.

By the time we got back to central Florence, we were famished and
stopped into a self-serve "cafeteria" where I had a delicious
lasagne and M. had some kind of tortellini. He kept picking out his
peas and I kept eating them. The rain soon started up again and so
we decided to pop by our apartment and rest before getting back on
the sightseeing bus and going to Fiesole.

After less than an hour we were out again, but the rain was coming
down harder and so we bailed on Fiesole and decided to check out the
inside of the Duomo cathedral and the crypts below instead. It was a
relatively cheap thrill, and it was neat to see the remains of the
church that was originally built on that site during Roman times -
Santa Reparta.

After yet another gelato for me and a cappucino for M, we split up
as I was ITCHING to do some clothes shopping. I negotiated an hour
in the excellent COIN department store whilst M wandered around
outside, bored, calling me and asking me if I was done yet. After an
hour (with a new jacket and new hat in tow), I too was tired and so
headed home for some R&R and to dry out a bit.

Around 7:30 or so we headed downstairs to eat at Giovanni again and
were seated next to an interesting American couple from Washington
D.C. We talked nearly the whole time, which is surprising for us
since we usually hate people. :)

I had a delicious and hearty Tuscan Tomato and Bread Soup (Poppa al
Pomodoro, I think) and Beef Stew in Chianti sauce, and M had Penne
in a Meat and Cream sauce (he said it was even as good as Hamburger
Helper - which is the highest possible compliment for him) and Beef
Florentine with potatoes. We again drank the house white - it's so
much cheaper to drink wine here than soda or water, so we are
learning to live with it.

Stuffed and tired from the rain, we returned to our apartment around
9pm and read and rested for the rest of the evening.  ¶ 8:18 AM 0 comments