Italy 2004 - Florence

Travel Diary

Day 9: Rome to Florence

Steve wrote:

We caught a cab to the train station for our trip to Florence. The "Termini" is a sprawling, bustling place, much like an airport. There are information booths, but the people there don’t speak much English, so you have to find your own way. The first info person we asked said that our train left from Gate 4, but all the signs indicated Gate 5. We put our faith in the written word and got on the Eurostar at Gate 5, with others who were also confused. Since we had purchased a first class ticket, we sat facing each other on the window in seats that were quite comfortable. We were able to store our suitcase at the head of the car and put our carry-on items overhead.

After a smooth and quiet 90 minute trip, we arrived in Florence. We got a cab to the Hotel Hermitage, just a block from the Pontevecchio, the famous bridge that crosses the Arno River. We climbed a flight of stairs to the elevator with a sign that reception is on the fifth floor. As the elevator opened, a bellman stepped out and said he would take care of our bags while we checked in. We were a little leery until we saw the videocameras and knew that they had seen us coming. We went up to reception and by the time we got to our room on the second floor, the bellman had already put our luggage inside.

We unpacked and went to the tour office to pay for our 3:00 tour of the Uffizi Gallery. The tour offices were behind the hotel and could actually be seen from our window, although we didn’t realize it at the time. The Uffizi Gallery has the greatest overall collection of Italian paintings anywhere. You can see the development of art from the Medieval era, which was flat with no perspective, to the dimensional works of the Renaissance, where the figures looked more human and natural. WAY too much in the gallery to describe, but a tour worth taking, even if you don’t get to see everything in two hours.

Rosemary wrote:

This is a very interesting town for walking. People swarm in the streets, and cars must move very carefully to get through the crowds. The streets are narrow and winding, and tend to change their names every few blocks. In fact, there is no such thing as walking around the block. Streets fork and fork again, going off at odd angles. Every wide spot where two or more streets meet is a piazza. It's a windy city, cooler than Rome, but it's not cold enough to require a sweater at night.

Steve wrote:

At the suggestion of some friends, we had made a 7:30 reservation (it was when they opened for dinner) at Il Latini, a local favorite. We arrived about 15 minutes early to find 100 people standing outside what appeared to be a small family restaurant. By 7:30, the crowd had grown to about 150. A man came out of the restaurant, with cries of “We’ve got reservations” coming from all sides. He paid no attention (personally, I think they only PRETEND to take reservations) but we were finally able to get close to the door and were ushered to a long table of for eight, with four chairs on each side, filled with three other couples, each sitting across from the other. One of the couples was Italian and spoke no English, but the other two couples were American. We were in for an unusual dining experience!

There were two jugs of wine of red wine and a couple of loaves of sliced bread already on the table, but no menus. A waiter came by and recited a few antipasti - prosciutto and melon, and a couple of different soups (there were more, but we never got to hear them) - and we each made a quick choice on the spot. Pretty soon, plates of food started flying in as if out of nowhere. We had no idea what was going on, be we ate, drank some wine and started to talk to our American tablemates. No sooner had we finished than the owner came by with a couple bowls of some different soups for us to try, and so we did.

The waiter then picked up the empty plates and bowls and told us about three different pasta courses for il primo. Again, we made our selections and plates started arriving. We still had no idea what was coming next or what all of this would cost, but by that time, we had decided to just go with the flow and waited.

Next came the waiter with our choices for the main course, or il secondo. Roasted beef, pork, lamb and chicken, or sausages with beans and a couple of more. We made our choices and he asked if we wanted some mixed vegetables for the table. By this time, we had learned to just say “Yes” and plates started appearing with HUGE hunks of meat, plus plates of carrots, mixed peppers and two kinds of beans. Now I know why the Romans invented the vomitorium.

We all ate as much as we could, but there was plenty left on our plates. We had eaten and drank ourselves into a stupor, unable to move without assistance, when our waiter showed up. “Dessert”, he proclaimed, not asked. Again, there were several choices and, surprisingly, everyone ordered something. It came with a sherry-like dessert wine. Then the owner came by and put champagne glasses on the table, opened a bottle of sparkling wine (a local tradition) and poured for all of us. A plate of biscotti then appeared. As an added bonus, each couple was given a bottle of private labeled red wine. At this point all the men were wondering, “How much is this going to be? Do I have enough cash? Do they take credit cards?” But we asked for the checks anyway. On each check, although there were other items pre-printed, the owner checked the "Chef’s Special Dinner", for a cost of 80 Euro, or about $100. (The tasting menu we had in Rome cost about twice as much, with about half as much food.) We paid the bill, left a good tip and wandered out to the street for the walk back to the hotel. We weren’t sure we were going to like this restaurant when we got there, but it was great fun, good food (and lots of it) and great people at the table.

Rosemary wrote: The experience reminded me of the big dinner scene in Fellini's Roma.

Time limitations prevented us from visiting the Galleria dell'Accademia where Michelangelo's sculpture of David is kept. We had to settle for this small copy outside the Palazzo Vecchio (under major restoration, like so many of the buildings we encountered in this city).

Steve poses with the Pontevecchio in the background.

The Pontevecchio ("Old Bridge") originally held butcher shops and grocers, but in the 1400s they were replaced by gold and silversmiths.

A day and a half in Florence is not enough, especially if the day is Monday, when most of the the galleries and museums are closed. However, the city is like a huge outdoor museum, with lots of public artwork, including many highly decorated buildings, some dating back to the 15th century (or earlier).

The cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, known as the Duomo, was built during the 13th and 14th centuries. The original facade was destroyed by fire; the current one was created in the late 1800s.

One of ten panels by Lorenzo Ghiberti for the eastern door of the Baptistry, known as the "gate of Paradise".

Inside the Basilica di Santa Croce.

Galileo's tomb in the Basilica di Santa Croce.

At the Loggia dei Lanzi, this Giambologna sculpture of Hercules battling a centaur is one of several violent images on display.

At the Mercato Nuovo ("New Market") the snout of this 1612 bronze boar fountain is kept polished by tourists who believe that rubbing it will bring good luck. The market isn't really new, having been built in the 16th century. Boar sculptures are found throughout Florence, modeled after a famous marble sculpture of ancient Greece.

A river otter in the Arno.

Detail on the facade of the Duomo.

A statue of Dante outside the Basilica di Santa Croce.

This is one of many interesting buildings in Florence.

"The Martyrdom of St. Sebastian" by Andrea Sel Sarto at the Duomo museum in Florence.

This "Pieta" was one of the last two or three sculptures by Michelangelo. He probably intended it to decorate his own tomb. After smashing it because one leg had broken off, and because the marble was defective, he let a servant take the pieces. The servant sold them to someone who had them put back together, and now the statue resides in the Duomo museum.

This statue of Liberty by Pio Fredi stands atop the tomb of Giovanni Battista Niccolini at the Bascilia di Santa Croce in Florence.

Travel Diary

Day 10: Florence

Steve wrote:

We started the day with a continental breakfast at the hotel and tried to sketch out a plan for today. A lot of things of interest are either closed on Monday or, as we found out the hard way, close early in the afternoon. We set out up one of the main streets to Il Duomo, or the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. We knew from walking around the night before that there were many designer shops and other expensive stores, which were now open.

Rosemary wrote:

This town certainly deserves its reputation as a shopper's paradise. All the designers of clothing, jewelry, and home fashions have shops here. Especially clothing. The styles on view in the windows are several months ahead of what we will see at home. There are also shops selling amazing-looking sweets. We aren't interested in buying anything, but it is great fun to window shop.

Steve wrote:

We came to one shop that sold glass objects from Murano in Venice that were quite nice, including a multi-colored glass guitar for about $15,000, but since we are going to Venice, we decided to wait until we got there to buy anything (nothing that pricey).

We stopped at a few interesting churches and piazzas on the way before reaching Il Duomo (The Dome). The outside of the church is multi-colored, with paintings, carvings and statues. We went inside, forgoing the 500 steps to the top of the dome, and also went to the museum across the street, which houses works by Donatello and Michelangelo. We had some lunch and continued our tour. We tried to see Dante’s house, but it was closed for renovation. We then tried to see Michelangelo’s house, but it closed at 2:00 PM. The Accademia, which has Michelangelo's "David", is closed, so we never got to see that either. Next trip, we will make Monday a travel day!

Rosemary wrote:

We also tried to go the National Museum, but it closed at 1:00 PM. We found our way to the Basilica di Santa Croce, known for its Gothic architecture and Renaissance artwork, and especially for housing the tombs of many famous people, including Michelangelo and Galileo.

Steve wrote:

We found a gelato stand (there are more here than in Rome) and sat down in a piazza which had some statues showing more violent images than we had seen previously - Perseus beheading Medusa, Hercules killing a centaur, the rape of the Sabine women.

Not wanting to walk all over town in search of a restaurant for dinner, we consulted the book we have been using by Rick Steves. A note to travelers: we've been using Rick Steves' books in the three cities we've visited so far and find them excellent. They are up to date, very informative, easy to follow and written with a sense of humor. We've seen other tourists all over town carrying them, and I highly recommend them.

We found the restaurant and had a good meal. We were harassed by the usual street musicians who came, played a couple of songs poorly and left after collecting a few Euros from the crowd. There must be some “Street Musician Fakebook” that everyone uses, because every time we heard "Over The Rainbow", they played the exact same phrase incorrectly. But after dinner, walking back to the hotel, we heard some music that sounded like a live orchestra. We followed the sound to the “violent” piazza that we had been to earlier and found an outdoor "West Side Story", the ultimate American musical, followed by some Beatles' songs and the theme from "Il Buono, il Brutto, il Cattivo", also known as "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly". Quite a pleasant surprise! We bought some gelato for dessert and listened to the rest of the concert, a perfect end to our day in Florence.