I flew easyjet to Pisa from Luton (2 hours flight) and took a car from Pisa to Florence. Its one highway all the way and takes about an hour - easy journey. I could have taken a direct flight to Florence from Gatwick with Meridianna but Luton is closer to my home so this was easier for me. Either way both are good routes. If you want some adventure then you can fly direct to Milan or Rome and take the train to Florence.

Florence is an unbelievably beautiful city. A walking city which is easy to navigate through with a taste of Italian history, Renaissance art and architecture on every corner. Wonderful cafes, bars and of course Shops!!

The new Four Seasons Hotel in Florence is nestled in the the city amongst the cobbled streets and red roof top buildings about 10 minutes walk from the Duomo. You can see the Duomo from the top of the private terraces in the hotel and from some of the hotel bedrooms.

The hotel is really an urban style resort incased within a walled garden of around 11 acres. An art-filled Renaissance palazzo and conventino where you can relax amidst original frescoes and sculptures. What a perfect combination!! The bustling historic city on your doorstep with the tranquility of the beautiful gardens, relaxing spa and alfresco dining in the comfort and serenity of the hotel. The Four Seasons Hotel Florence is a truly amazing addition to a city that already had a huge amount to offer. This hotel is now an important part of the destination of Florence.

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I stayed here while I was in Florence. This was a great hostel with a nice price, just quite far away from the center. But who can complain if you are gonna stay in a Villa, also you can reach it easy by bus. I like the building, a lovely renovated villa with beautiful views right in the middle of nature, so if you go in summer, bring some repellent! You can either stay in a room or camp. The surroundings are really nice, green and peaceful. You feel as if you were in the middle of the woods, and actually you are! Take note that from the entrance to the villa 'til you arrive to the building is quite a long walk, if you are carrying heavy stuff. The cleanliness is ok. It has hot hot showers, but no self catering kitchen. The bathrooms are not inside the dorms, but there are large and clean toilets facilities in the corridor. The beds weren't the best, but were comfortable enough, especially if you were tired. There are no lockers, except of the one inside the dorms. If you want to leave early in the morning, you have to do check out the evening before. They have free breakfast, just bread and hot drink. The staff were friendly and you can meet nice people there. The wonderful atmosphere and beautiful surrounding makes this hostel/villa an amazing experience if you are backpacking.

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I'll explain the title of this section later further down in today’s writing, but we spent most of the day shopping.  We found the San Lorenzo street market and spent most of the day there (it's huge), taking a couple of breaks for food and a quick afternoon nap at the hotel.  One friend from work who had been here last year set us with a shopping list of things she wanted, so we started out the morning in a mission.  I was being pretty good at first watching Beth go out in search of things on 'the list'.  In the process I started scoping out booths that would be worth a return visit.  One guy was 'barking' at me to come try a leather jacket, I commented that I was too hot natured to wear jackets and kept going (however, I did really like the one that he held out for me to see).  After a pass through the entire market, we started going back to the more promising booths.  Mainly picking up gifts for folks at home and working our way through 'the list'.  Then we get back to the leather jacket booth that had yelled at me on the first pass.  The first one I tried didn't fit quite right, and the next one fit, but was a bit trendy for my taste.  The guy in the booth went back to the first one and said, "you like? follow me".  I should have known that was a sign of trouble.  We went to the store, which was behind the booths set up on the street.  It was a very small shop, but the walls were lined with leather jackets and he set out to find my size in the first one that I'd seen on the street.  In the mean while, I spotted another one on the wall.  When I checked it out it was, of course, about three times the price of the one on the street - ah but so nice.  Well okay, you know the rest of the story.  I left with the jacket, but got him down to better than half of the marked price.  Beth, my co-worker, also found one that she liked and got a similar deal.  We both left happy. 

Being about 1 in the afternoon now, we set out in search of a place to eat and found what looked to be a sidewalk cafe (later we went inside and realized that the place was HUGE with just a few tables out under a canopy).  When we walked and were seated, the first thing the waiter asked was where we were from.  When we told him, he responded with "Al-la-baaaaam-a, that means you're a republican, we like republicans !"  He went on to point out that he was wearing pins of both a U.S. Flag and the state of Texas on his apron.  Next the cell phone came out, and he had a picture of George Bush on his display.  Beth and I were laughing so hard we could hardly hold it in.  Then it gets better, he comes back with a pin of an Alabama flag; he was familiar with both Birmingham and Mobile and said he had friends in both cities.  As the patio continued to fill up, there were representatives from several places.  We were Al-la-baaaam-a, New Jersey was a few tables over, France was right behind us (he didn't much like them), England next to them, and one Italian guy at a table next to us.  He was cutting up with everyone there (except the lone Italian man who really didn't seem to appreciate all of the humor) and after bouncing back and forth several times between us and New Jersey, announced to the crowd; "God Bless the U.S.A - Even the Democrats!  At this point, Beth and I about wet ourselves.  At the end of the meal, we decided that both the food and company were so good that we would come back for dinner.   For the evening meal, we were joined by Chicago, Kentucky, Canada, Alaska, the Japan, and England.  The couple from Kentucky said that the concierge at their hotel had recommended the place because of their pro-American attitude.  The restaurant is "Il Porcospino" (The Porcupine).  It's located behind the cathedral on via San Lorenzo and both the food and service are truly excellent.  You even get a little entertainment thrown in on the side. 

In yesterday's notes, I said that we were going to try and hit the Duomo Museam.  Well, we never made it.  Alas, we left Florence almost completely culture-less.  There is, however an amazing amount of art available on the streets just looking at the buildings and the sculpture in the squares.  They also have some amazing street artist who spend the day creating chalk art on the streets, only to have it washed away over night by the street cleaners.

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Yesterday we arrived in Florence.  It was a little over 2 hours on one if TrenItalia's fast trains to get here.  Managed to snap a couple photos of the country side from the window as we were whizzing along.  After arriving, we checked into our hotel, a quaint little place along the river, Hotel Balestri.  It's nice enough and has a good bit of character.  The bath room has a shower head sticking out of one of the walls, so it's hard not to make a mess, but, again it has character !

At lunch we met a couple of guys at the next table that own a leater shop here.  We followed them back to their store and Beth, my co-worker tried on a couple of coats.  Quite nice but VERY expensive.  A brown 3 length was 2000 euro (3000 US dollars).  It looked good but OUCH.  Needless to say she didn't make a purchase.  Most of the afternoon we just walked around the city checking things out.  We found a market to return to today for some souviners, and also found the Museo dell'Opra del Duomo (the museam of the large Catholic church in town), a place we intend to return to this afternoon for a little culture and air conditioning. 

The main piazza in town is the Piazza Della Signoria in front of the Uffizi Gallery.  We spent a couple of hours there enjoying the sculpture and people watching, stopping at a resturant along the square for a cold drink and snack. 

We also stumbled on a nice resturant last night where we ended up staying until mid night.  It's the Caffe Concerto Paszkowski on Piazza Della Repubblica.  There was a group performing everything from what were evidently some Italian classics to every style of American music imaginable.  The crowd, about a half and half mix of Americians and Italians went wild when they cranked up Gloria Gainer's I WILL SURVIVE.  It was a lot of fun but we passed on joining in on the can-can line during New York, New York.  We requested Sweet Home Alabama, but they weren't able to pull it off.  The female vocalist and the gist of the chorus, but that was about it.  My camera battery died so I don't have any photos from there, so I'll make some tonight and add them the next time I have internet access. 

The whole internet thing is proving to be more of a challenge here than expected.  The hotels (most pretty old) don't have much connectivity and I'm hesitant to do personal stuff at work.

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Let's forget about day 1 which involved a train to Brussels Airport, a flight to Bologna, a train to Florence and a rather disappointing art fair, and go straight to a day of sight-seeing in beautiful Firenze.

More later, enjoy the pics for now.

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Because of the insanely crazy gas prices (and the crazy Italian traffic), we opted to take the train for the majority of our trips.  It was simple and a lot more relaxing.  My husband needed the break from driving anyway and I needed to calm my nerves.  I have never seen so many daredevils in my life.  The motorscooters and motorcycles were the scariest.  The would come up between cars on a two lane highway at full speed and not even wearing proper gear!  I couldn't believe it.  It would only take one inattentive driver to go over the line just a hair.  When I was in Rome, I remember the traffic being crazy but I didn't expect it so much in this area.  Plus we weren't driving there.  So yes, the train was much, much better. 

We decided on Florence for our first daytrip.  First we decided to sit down for a nice lunch. The waiter looked a little unhappy but he wasn't rude.  He was just unsmiling and not even just to us.  I figured maybe he was having a bad day or maybe that's just his personality.  Any rate, it was all good.  We still had a marvelous time.

It was broiling hot that day, but I still enjoyed the city.  I especially loved the Duomo and all the detail on it.  I couldn't get enough pictures of it.  It was so breathtaking.  It boggles my mind how someone would even begin to create such a masterpiece.   Because of the extreme heat and the fact we were worried about missing the last train, we didn't get to see everything in this beautiful city that I wanted to see.  Oh well, I'll just have to go back.

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Deb and Mike shared cheese/artichoke heart/olives/cold meat platter. Debbie and Jeff did, also. Mike had good minestrone, beef cutlets. Deb & Jeff had pasta stuffed with ricotta and pear- good, but didn’t taste pear. Deb finished with insalata. Debbie had spaghetti with sausage and red sauce that she really liked and insalata. Our wine, Brunello di Montalcino Banfi 2002, was very good. The wine was decanted and served with a flourish. Cork was tucked into ring of foil at bottle top after opening. Service was very good. The "little monster" was the chef. His son, the only English speaker, took orders and served the wine. Another server didn’t speak English, but was very competent and nice. Ate inside, but there were outside tables that looked out to the street. Visited with 4 women from U.S. at next table. Good service, good wine, pretty good food.

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We went for the multi-course meals this night. Mike & Jeff had cinghiale (wild boar) sausage and fresh pecorino. Mike continued with flattened green gnocchetti with Parmesan zabaione and truffle slices, insalata, beef stew, and au gratin potatoes shared by all. Also fritto misto (very light, non-greasy) shared by all. Deb and Debbie shared melon and prosciutto. Then Deb had Florentine cheese crepes, insalata & beef stew. Debbie had vegetable ribollita (this is not the tomato version, it is more stew-like), insalata, and incredible pork filets in a rich balsamic reduction. Jeff had a perfectly cooked steak. Fresh ingredients. (Cinghiale not in season, so only available as sausage.) Waiter Marco was quite the showman. Wouldn’t recommend wine until he heard our food choices; wouldn’t let Debbie order chicken. He took us to visit their beautiful 600-year-old stone wine cellar. Marco disapproved of first wine choice, Tenuta Ludola Nuova Vino Nobile de Montepulciano 2004, but he grudgingly brought it out anyway. He was quite pleased when we ordered his choice for our second bottle (Nozzole Il Pareto 2001-super Tuscan). Used a candle on the wineglass to demonstrate the excellent color. Decanted bottle into a wide-bottomed carafe. Poured with a flourish. It was a great evening.

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Great food. Great service. Franco, who is apparently a manager, is hilarious. Other waiter knowledgeable about wine. Very U.S. friendly. Almost all patrons that night were from U.S. Franco included a lone diner, Lainie, with our groups. We attempted to dine outside, but it was too windy. Great wine list. We had Marchese Chianti Classico Riserva 2003. Deb had incredible white truffle sauce ravioli, salad with corn, and a pecorino platter. Debbie had ribollita bread/tomato/basil soup that she loved), pasta, and tiramisu. Mike had tripe in red sauce, cappelletti stuffed with artichoke hearts and parmesan, and salad. Franco brought limoncello and grappa “on the house.” We went back for lunch two days later and had pizza.

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Saw Michaelangelos David in Galleria Academia --- AMAZING

Went to Fiesole overlooking Florence and got an amazing view. Met a Syrian family who gave us a ride back into town. Took the train to Cinque Terra.

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 Florence

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So I did a viewpoints workshop this weekend and for all who dont know viewpoints is this weird physical way to build an ensemble.  We had a 8 hour workshop on Saturday, but I needed to get away from the villa.  I had planned to go to Florence and stay at a hostel with three of my friends, but they did not do the workshop and could not find a hostel. I didnt know what i was going to do, but my friend KK said that we could possibly stay with her friend Tom.  So on saturday night after showering and putting on my boots I went to the train station with KK.  I, of course, brought too much stuff, but didnt really care.  We bought tickets on the 9 PM train, so we ate a little pizzeria before hand.  Then we got on the train where we were the only two people there, except for this creepy Italian guys.  They were older guys who were missing teeth and I just spent the time trying to ignore their advances. 

Then we made it to Florence and met KKs friend Tom who walked us to his apartment.  Walking through Florence was so incredible because it seemed so metropolitain.  I guess because we live in a small town it just seeemed like Florence was enormous.  When we walked by the duomo I just stopped because I really could not believe how big it was.  It was one of the most awesome experiences just to look at it. We walked to KKs friend, Toms house, where I put down my stuff and marveled at the enormity and disgustingness of his apartment.  I felt like the country mouse who had gone to the big city. More later... so many classes so little time to write

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bus ride today from Venice to Florence

stopped to see the leaning tower of pisa around lunch time, not quite as impressive as I thought it would be, but still fantastic, got some nice pictures of it, but didnt bother doing any funny ones holding it up or pushing it over, just couldnt be bothered at that point, and was hungry for some lunch.  went into a fancy restaurant with a couple of the girls, very cut waiter, lovely smile quite attentive

got to lovely hotel at 5ish and made the mistake of carrying my luggage up all 4 flights, kept tripping up on my long silk skirt and luggage very heavy, wish i had packed lighter, must buy smaller souveniers

dinner very average-not impressed, mine took ages to come-think they forgot me, then was only very small omlette, hated the bar we went too, just a small cramped dark underground room, made the mistake of drinking 4 cocktails in less than 1 hr, (thought I had ordered shooters, but big cocktails came), but at least was not drinking 27 euro jugs of cocktails like many others, feeling claustrophobic, so left early-great just to get out of there.

10 may

a full day in florence

spent a full day in florence starting with a leather demonstration and then a walking tour of the city with a lovely local guide, saw the copy of David and some real statues, saw the pont de vechio got some nice photos, will put up soon

got some alone time, wandered around florence on my own and because of it managed to have the best lunch ever, even took a photo of it had slices of boiled potato with slices of tomato green beans and the most perfectly cooked enormous peices of octuopus drizzled in olive oil and vinegar, and it was quite cheap as it was self service, like a cafeteria

i bought a cute pinocchio puppet as this is where he is from (i think)

also splurged on a beautiful new leather handbag after looking at lots and comparing prices, ended up back at the first shop i went into. got the one that you can wear as a handbag or backpack or across my front to protect a bit more against pickpockets

another fantastic optional dinner-well worth the money, the waiters were dressed up as monks and were very charming and entertaining, free cocktail on arrival and free flowing red and white wine.  we had a man play the piano and sing and an opera singer, and we even had the chance to get up and dance to a couple of songs, lots of fun.  There was also an accordian player who even played hava nagilla for the tour bus from Israel, they got up and danced and it was really fun.  the food was great, a buffet saled for entree, forowwed by pasta-special rice pasta for me (very thoughtful of them), followed by beef salad and roast potoatoes, and apple for dessert.

Decided at the last minute to go to the disco and had lots of fun dancing with some cute young italian men, but chose to stick with people from my group, there was even a kind of fashion parade on the top floor of the disco, it was very odd, but interesting to watch-then taxied back to the hotel-very fun night. 

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Im in Florence now and met up with Tai this morning.  When we were getting ready to head out I ran into one of the Australians I had met in Rome so he joined us and the three of us went for a quick tour of Florence with Tai.  It seems like a pretty nice city, but it is expensive here.  Luckily Tai knows a lot of little places to eat so we grabbed lunch for about €2 and he knows a place we can get dinner for about €5.  The food really hasnt been too expensive over here.  In rome I was usually getting lunch for around €5 and dinner for about €10.  I guess thats good because other things have been more expensive in Italy than I had expected.  They charge for everything here, to climb up the bell tower in Florence is €6 and entering the church is another €6.  Ill probably climb the tower, but not bother with the church.  I saw a lot of good ones for free already.  Tai went to go finish moving out now and were going to meet up in two hours to go see the David and grab dinner.  His brother, Ken, gets in later this evening.

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Woke up, ate McDonalds, went to the train station, it was too crowded, got coffee, took an audiotour of the Duomo.

The painting on the dome of the Duomo was very symbolic. It represented the end of the world. One of the characters was father time, handing Jesus a broken hourglass (symbolizing that time will stop). Another was a skeleton breaking a scythe (symbolizing that death will no longer exist).

We took an insanely claustrophobic and twisted set of stairs to the top of the dome, where we sat and admired the view of Florence for about half an hour.

We went down and got some delicious (but expensive gelatos) and then got lost walking around the city. We bought some food and water from a supermarket We were so tired after walking around that we decided to go home and take a nap before going out to watch the Italy v. France game tonight. On the way back we found a stand selling backpacker backpacks.

The backpacks they had were very cheap and the rolling duffelbag I had been carrying around was not very convenient (getting on and off trains with it and walking through towns is hard when the bag rolls --- and the straps are just too uncomfortable and the bag too heavy for it to be used as a backpack). Also, the straps on my bag are not padded, and there is no waist and chest strap (just the shoulder ones). What happened next was very lucky for me.

Looking at duffelbags was a man who spoke Spanish. I told him I had a nicer Samsonite one that I would sell to him because I wanted to buy a backpack. He had to catch a bus in a few minutes so we ran with him back to our hotel and showed him the bag. He bought it to me for 20 Euros (about 40 dollars) so I made a profit on it. Then I bought the biggest packpack they had at the stand which was very comfortable. We negotiated them down to 20 Euros, so I essentially switched to a backpack for no charge.

Now I am back at the hotel. After organizing my stuff I am going to take a nap!

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