After a restful sleep, we woke up early to pack in everything that we wanted to in Florence. Luckily, our hostel, The David Inn, is extremely close to the museum with The David statue. Go figure. So we got some coffee from a cafe to drink while in line, and as soon as the museum opened, we went in and saw it Pollock-Shuping style. Basically make a beeline straight for the important thing, then glance around to see if there is anything else good, notice there isn't, and leave. We had heard that this museum didn't have much else anyway. Next, we headed to the Cattedrale Santa Maria del Fiore, which is this gigantic cathedral with a huge painted dome inside. Entrance to the main floor was free (what a novel concept!), and Shayna and I both liked it better than St.Peter's Basilica. It was less crowded and touristy, and the painted dome was as beautiful as the stained glass and the tiled floors. Then, as per the recommendation of our friends at the Rome hostel, we waited in another "queue" to go to the top. After a series of narrower and narrower stairs, we got a closer look at the Duomo (dome--my Italian gets better every day!), and we got to go outside on a balcony that gave us a view of Florence and some of Tuscany. Don't worry, we took a lot of pictures.
Next, it was time for lunch. We are really proud of ourselves, because we have finally learned how to schedule meals into the day, instead of just waiting to get hungry then trying to pick a good place but really just picking a convenient place. This leads to generally better moods and better food. So we went to Trattoria Mario, where the menu is outside and posted very small on the wall, and that is all. We were seated at the same table as a nice Pittsburgh couple, and we shared secrets about the places each had each been to already that the other had yet to visit. We are convinced that any restaurant that squeezes you in with other patrons at the same table must be great. So far, we are 2 for 2, as this lunch was one of the best yet.
I didn't realize that Florence was famous for its leather until we were planning this trip. So basically I didn't realize that Florence was famous for its leather until a weekend before this trip. It is though, and really pretty leather at that. We walked through a couple markets before deciding on these cute keychains and a colored leather friendship bracelet for each of us. And no, we are not too old for friendship bracelets, thank you very much. I also scored a leather crossbody bag, which looks pretty authentic, if you ask me. We might go back later for sandals if we have time.
Off to the wine tour! Notice that I call it a wine tour, which is how it was advertised. After a hectic period of getting lost, thinking we were scammed, and finally making it to the bus to realize that we are the last people on it, we begin the drive to Tuscany. Though everyone else on this tour is at minimum 45 years old, we are excited for the wine and views. We drive through pastoral Tuscany, and we are at our first stop. We taste three wines and have some snacks, as well as take some pictures. That stop was great, and we couldn't wait for the next two. Well, the next two stops were in these quaint (or fake quaint for tourists' sake, we couldn't tell) Tuscan towns. But they weren't wine tasting--it was free time! If I had wanted free time, I wouldn't have signed up for a guided tour. And the tour guide was not that nice about it either. She would hold up her umbrella in the air so we could see her (because the big group of American retirees was so easy to lose, and yes, we have become those people who follow the lady with the umbrella), drop us, and tell us to be back at the bus at a certain time. We stopped for dinner at the end though, and it was pretty good. We had pasta, tirimisu, and more wine.
As we got back, we ran into some hostel friends who were going to a club. We were a little hestitant about the club aspect of it, but we felt that we had to take advantage of the area, so we went. It was actually just a bunch of tables with some live classic rock music, which was really fun. Funny though--all of the probably 25 songs that we heard were in English, but I only knew two of them. I guess that either I need to brush up on my classic rock, or something got lost in translation about which classic rock songs from the U.S. and the UK are actually the most popular. Anyway, it was a lot of fun, and we left to go home and get a good night's rest. Next up, Venice!
No comments:
Post a Comment