Thursday, October 12th
We woke up and had a decent breakfast spread of croissants, yogurts, breads, hams, cheeses, etc. By 8:45am we were in the Shiat and on our way to Florence. The drive to Florence was only about ½ hour but we ran into crazy traffic getting into the heart of the city. There are no major highways that lead you directly into this city and for some reason the traffic was really heavy. All roads were one lane, stop and go. We managed to park the car in the center under the train station (as our hotel recommended) and were exploring by 10:00am.
Florence was nuts! You could just feel the energy around you. And, can I say it’s the leather capital of the world?? There are vendors everywhere selling great coats, purses, man-bags, etc. It is probably the art capital of the world as well. So many artists’ works (i.e., the ORIGINALS) are here. Also, motor bikes were cruising around everywhere (kind of like Rome) and people were on the go.
Our goal was to get to the Galleria del l’Accademia where the original David, by Michelangelo resided. The line to get into this gallery was HUGE and we did not reserve tickets before hand since we were kind of “going with the flow” with our plans. So, when all was said and done, we did not see the statue.
Instead we toured the Bascilica Santa Maria Novella that had some amazing paintings and sculptures, including a few of Michelangelo’s works. It was all pretty impressive. We then headed through the city just observing all that was around us. We stopped and got some sandwiches and a few beers at a corner café and then headed on to the Leather School where we read in a book that they sell discounted items. Not so much the case (stuff was pricey!), but that didn’t worry us. We were ready to negotiate with the vendors outside.
And negotiate we did. By the end of the day, Agnes and Steph had new leather purses, I had a new leather work/courier bag, and Agnes was the proud owner of a really sweet leather jacket.
We walked through the Leather School which somehow led us into the Santa Croce cathedral.
We are not sure how that happened considering there was a front entrance to this church where everyone else was paying?? We looked around for awhile, then got out of there before someone figured us out and headed into the plaza area and down a few streets to one of the main sites in Florence: The Duomo, Santa Maria del Fiore and the tower.
The Duomo is the largest domed structure in the world and all I have to say is WOW! Inside the church was a very large open area. There were not a ton of paintings or sculptures on the side walls but the top, inside part of the Duomo depicts scenes from the Old Testament. The art work was amazing. We decided to climb the bell tower to see the Tuscany view. After 400+ stairs we were at the top and it was well worth it! The city was a huge, sprawling mob scene and the hills in the background just seemed to keep on rolling on….
We walked through the Piazzale Degli Uffizi where the Uffizi Gallery is located. This museum houses works by Titan, Michelangelo, deVinci, etc. There were sculptures of the artists outside the museum and the Piazzale stretches to the Piazza Della Signoria. This Piazza is a splendid open-air museum with monuments and works of art all over. (I went a little crazy with pics of the statues!)
From this Piazza we walked to the famous pedestrian covered bridge, Ponte Vecchio. There were shops lining both sides of the bridge and the area was bustling!
At this point it was around 3:00pm and we wanted to get going because we had reserved spots for a wine making tour at a vineyard that evening. Our tour started at 5:00pm and considering we hit traffic getting into Florence, we wanted to be safe.
Well, long story short, we had a couple of detours, some stand still traffic, and other things that occurred to ensure that we didn’t make it to our hour long wine making tour. We did make it for a wine tasting though! Let me explain….we got back on the road and got out of Florence with really no problems. Unfortunately, we missed our road toward the hotel and ended up driving about 10-20 minutes out of the way. No big deal….we gave ourselves enough extra time.
The thing about European highways compared to the US is that if you miss your exit, you are screwed! Seriously, there might not be another exit for a good 10-20 minutes…as in this case. Well, we got on the right road and still had about an hour to an hour and ½ to get to our tour…and the drive should only take a ½ hour now that we were finally on the highway……no problems. We are good to go! (Or so I thought…)
Well, the highway gods were not on our side that day. Within 10 minutes we were in stand still traffic for a good 40 minutes or so. At this point, Ag and Steph were about to pee their pants. And of course, please note as well, in Europe not only are there hardly any exits, there are hardly any bathrooms off the exits.
Needless to say when we finally got into an area where I could pull off, Steph and Ag had to just let it go behind the car. Another reason why I love being a guy….anyway, after a little stage fright, the girls were fine and we were back on the road. I told Ag that I was proud of my “little camel” and got a healthy slap on the a*s for that comment!
We still made it to the Dievole wine plantation for a lesson on wines and a tasting which was really nice. The place was situated down this really long windy road through the heart of the Chianti area. Our guide was really helpful and friendly too. We ended up buying a 6 bottle case to split among the two couples. I can’t wait to uncork one of those bottles a few years from now!
After our tasting we drove into Siena. Siena was only about 10-20 minutes away. The sun was beginning to set and it was going on 7:00pm. Trying to figure out where to park in Siena was a bit challenging because the entire city is surrounded by a huge castle wall. Therefore, there were only a few entrances where you could actually drive into the city center area.
We managed to park and then walked into the town’s main square, Il Campo, which is a theatrical, fan-shaped area. It was really cool and I had never seen anything like it before. There was also a huge bell tower, the Torre del Mangia, there as well. People were just sitting in the center area and there were restaurants that went all around the outer part of the “fan”.
The city gave me a really good feeling. It was clean, you felt the uniqueness and quaintness of the area, it was comfortable.
Our goal was (and always is) to not eat at a “tourist trap” so we had asked our wine guide for a suggestion on a restaurant to try. It took us a little bit of time to find the restaurant, but we did and it was good! The restaurant was called Trattoria Papel and it was located behind the center and kind of hidden in a small plaza area. Our server was great, spoke pretty good English, and convinced me to try the Wild Boar dish. It was fantastic-o!
After dinner we strolled along some side streets back to the car. It was a really quiet night in the town and the walk was nice on the cobblestone roads. Actually, now that I think about it….all the streets in the city were cobblestone. We got back to our hotel around 10:00pm and crashed.
What a day!
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