Florence. Maybe the most beautiful place Ive ever seen..although my views are somewhat limited since I have not travelled much outside of Maryland before we started this journey. My experience is limited to a road trip to Omaha Ne…and a road trip to Chattanooga and Shreveport. However, Dad has seen many places on many continents and thinks Florence may be the most picturesque he’s seen…so far.
We took the train from Venice back to Nice. Dad thought about carrying his backpack across Venice…again…and decided on a water taxi instead. I have to tell you…if he had opted for another trek across town, I may have bitten him…well probably not but my feet still hurt from all of the walking yesterday. The water taxi was so cool…except Dad is such a geek. He just had to take a video out of the back of the boat and damn near whacked his head on one of the bridges we were passing under. I barked to no avail but the driver said something in Italian and Dad ducked just in time. Not unlike the roads, we went from narrow canal where it was difficult to turn to medium sized canal to the main canal. Such interesting sites along the way. Venice is beautiful and holds strong memories for us.
The train to Verona was uneventful…except for the snow flurries. It looked really cold outside. We arrived in Verona to a light snow…and hiked back across the square to our former flat where Dad left the car. This hike seemed shorter than going from the flat to the train station earlier in the week…even with the snow. We managed to get our car out of the little plaza without further damage and began our drive to Florence. The directions leaving town were easy to follow and traffic was not as bad as when we arrived…no Sunday Holiday! We made it to the A8 (tollroad) and began our drive. The panoramas were beautiful as we headed south to Florence…particularly when we drove thought the Apennine Mountains outside of Florence. Rolling hills…driving through tunnels. Covered with a light snow…peaceful…beautiful. On the mountain side, we saw some of the vineyards that Tuscany is so famous for. The road was clear and traffic was minimal as we drove through this magical landscape. Dad was a little confused (dense). The road signs kept directing us to Firenze…it took him the entire journey to realize that Firenze is really Florence. Enroute we passed through Modeno…Dad is a big fan of Chef’s Table and Episode #1 of Season 1 was about a Chef named Massimo Bottura who runs one of the Worlds Greatest Restaurants…Osteria Francecana in Modena. Local to Parmigiana Reggiano (actually I think it comes from Parma which is near by). Dad checked on the possibility of getting reservations…HA!!! Maybe in 6 months….
As with every major city in Italy, the center of town is ancient old…picturesque buildings built in the earliest centuries…such incredible beauty. However, the buildings were not built with cars in mind. Google maps took us on a circuitous route to our hotel…down narrow roads, through alleyways. Traffic was somewhat heavy as it was around 4PM when we arrived. Pedestrians, motorcycles, scooters and the occasional bicycle were the biggest hazard. That and Google Maps decided to dump right in the middle of the city…after Venice, not unexpected. Fortunately we had a backup phone with Maps to use or we would have been really screwed. No worries…no panic. Dad was amazingly calm as he changed to the new phone. Our hotel was literally in the middle of an alley. We stopped the car based on what Maps said…parking as close to the building as we could and hoping we left room for traffic to pass. Dad walked ahead and confirmed that this was the hotel…on the fourth floor of an old building through a stone arch inside a courtyard. This is definitely not Hampton Inn land…no drive up parking. We got our bags out of the car and found directions to hotel checkin…fortunately they directed us to an ancient old elevator…with a metal outer door and dual wooden doors inside the elevator. I took one look at the four flights of stairs and jumped in the elevator. The hotel was gorgeous…a palace. Our room was beautiful and comfortable…a blend of old and modern. The woman at the front desk was kind. Dad asked about a park and she steered him to one across the bridge and river. As we descended down the elevator into Florence, you could feel the energy of the city. Laughing people, engaging. Talking. We proceeded across the bridge and found the park just as the sun set…just beautiful…majestic. I asked Dad to include a photo he took of me with the old city in the background.
The lady at the desk told us that Florence is known for their steaks and recommended a restaurant that cooked steaks Florentine style. We headed out and decided to walk around before dinner. Just amazing…so much art and beauty. As we walked into a plaza lined with statues, a guitarist was playing Pacabel’s Canon in D Minor on an ancient stringed instrument. The music fit the moment. We stared in awe at the statue of Poseidon. We finally made our way to the restaurant, Cucina Torcicoda. The steak was a MASSIVE T-Bone!!! (And really good). Dad does love his steaks and this one was one of the best he has ever eaten. Dad snuck me a few small bites of steak…which turned out to be a mistake. The Italian wine was just excellent! Such a dinner topped off with a beautiful stacked tort with fruit on top and custard in each layer…with coffee of course. What a start to Florence. Fortunately, the restaurant was close to the hotel so we staggered home…and the “runs” hit me somewhere enroute. Going to be a long night (it was!)
Well, it was a long night…but I survived. I got Dad up at 5 for a walk to the park…just couldn’t hold it anymore. He groaned and got dressed and off we went. We returned to the hotel and Dad put me in the room and went to the dining room for a Cappuccino. Before breakfast, we planned the day. The Famous Cathedral of Florence (Basilica of Santa Maria del Flore)…the 4th largest cathedral in the world and the Galleria dell’Accademia to see Michelangelo’s statue of David. The cathedral was overwhelming…just ornate and beautiful. I probably overuse the word overwhelming to describe Florence…but it was. So beautiful. Different from St Mark’s in Venice in that it almost looked fake. St Marks was distinguished by the amount of gold inlay. The architecture of the Florence Cathedral was flatter, meaning not as many extensions and columns…but much more ornate. The detail was stunning particularly when you realize that it was completed in 1347. Such intricate detail in the facades…all exact. At a distance, I almost thought it was a mirage. The square was not crowded…except for the constant stream of Chinese tourists who were omnipresent. Once again, Dad couldn’t go inside the cathedral because of me…and he was ok with that. We stood and stared at the majesty of the structure…a masterpiece. After a trip back to the park and a quick bite of lunch, Dad put me in the room and headed to the Galleria to see the sculpture. He said that the museum was nice…lots of religious art and icons. None were recognizable…he thinks they just bought art from different churches around Italy. But the 5 Michelangelo sepulcher sculptures and the Statue of David were overwhelming. Such detail…and the thought that he created this masterpiece out of a “throwaway” block of unused granite. Historians say that it is the greatest sculpture ever created…at least that’s what the write up said. Dad was just overwhelmed at the size and the detail. The head, hands and feet were all huge…to Dad they looked a little exaggerated but all matched the scale of the other limbs. On the QT, Dad thought his other body “part” was tiny compared to the rest of the sculpture. Well I guess that David was just a boy…with really big hands and feet. Dad thought he would have made a great fighter pilot if he had a big watch…you know the old joke: Fighter Pilot…Big Watch, Little D%%%. HA!!!
The manager at the hotel recommended an Italian Restaurant called La Buchetta for dinner. Before dinner, we ventured out to a local Christmas Market. This is the tradition in every city and every village throughout Europe. Mougins, Cannes, Nice and Monaco all have Christmas markets. The one in Florence was really cute…and Dad tried Hot Wine for the first time…and really liked it. We didn’t buy anything good but enjoyed watching the families as they ate sweets and drank wine…the bubbling laughter of happy children and couples strolling through the stands. Italians are much more outgoing and loud than the French…always happy and engaging. The restaurant was great (according to Dad). He has learned a hard lesson about feeding me spicy people food. The dining room was decorated with murals made of wine corks…it was casual and very fresh. The waiter first recommended Steak…but Dad had enough steak last night…so he recommended the Gnocchi in a ricotta sauce…and the ravioli in a blue cheese sauce. Unbelievably good. Matched with local red wine and finished with crepe brûlée and cappuccino. What an amazing dinner. At the table next to us was a large group of American College students. They saw me (of course) and began chatting for us. They were all seniors at Duke and had been in Florence for the semester…leaving the next day. Two from California, two from NewYork, one from Connecticut and two from Georgia. It was nice to hear American English…although I could definitely tell where they were each from…California, Georgia and New York. To me, all Italian and all French sounds the same. I wonder if the locals can identify the areas people hail from based on accents and colloquialisms…like we can in the states.
We were tired, and as much as we loved Florence, we decided to move on the next day…hoping to return with Ryane and Ian when they come to Europe later in the month. I think Ryane would be awestruck by Florence…and hopefully we can also head south to Rome.
The next morning, we rose early, hit the park. Dad enjoyed breakfast of meats, cheeses, yogurt and pastries…along with Cappuccino and we checked out and took our final trip down the old rickety elevator! The valet pulled our car up…and we loaded it and headed out for Cinque Terre and Riomaggiore. Looks beautiful…but it cant be more beautiful than Florence can it?
Thanks for keeping up with us. Bongiorno!
Maggie (and Doug)
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