The David

Today was full of surprises.

Last night after our big dinner out, we returned to the hotel to find out from Paulo that, "From 11pm to 4:30am, there will be no water. There is a problem and all of Florence will have the water turned off." Kate woke at 4am with a groggy series of thoughts. I will summarize here. 

The water is supposed to be off. It is raining outside. Oh, those poor plumbers who have to be out in the rain fixing the problem. Those Italian Plumbers. Mario and Luigi. 

Pretty funny stuff.

After breakfast at the hotel, we were in for our second and much better surprise. The Accademia Gallery of Florence that we had booked tickets to was 1 block away from our hotel. Yay! Super close.

We skipped the lines, wondering if it would be hard to find the main attraction of the gallery. We entered, turned into the first room on the left and there he was.

Michelangelo's David. I am a fan of sculptures, as you may remember from my blog about the Louvre, so I was in the zone with this one. 

First of all, The David is MUCH bigger than I was expecting. It is 4.3m (14.2ft) tall and that's without the base. The guy standing in front of the sculpture in my above photo was probably 6'4", so when you're looking up at The David, you are looking UP at it.

I took a very slow walk around David, taking pictures from every angle. I can't describe how much I loved it. So life like, Kate said when you stare at the ribs, you expect to see him take a breath.

I walked around the museum some, but ended up grabbing a seat and staring at every inch of the sculpture for something like 20 minutes. I was amazed by Michelangelo's ability to take a giant marble slab and turn it into this man. Fleshy and soft in spots, hard and bony in others. The musculature and veins, the curls in his hair. How delicate must the work have been for such a hard medium. I teared up at one point from the sheer magnificence of it. Here are pictures from every angle. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the Accademia Gallery, we had lunch at Trattoria Mario again. I ordered the Ravioli with Zucchini. Kate ordered the steak with potatoes (Fries). Both were incredible. If you ever come to Florence, go to Trattoria Mario. Get anything. It's all very good.

After lunch we went for a great long walk. The first thing we did was drop off some extraneous things at the hotel (sweaters, etc) and took off from there. So, we go to the end of our street in a direction we hadn't walked before, it was only two blocks and at the same time were stunned by what we found. The Florence Cathedral, aka The Florence Duomo.

Then we head to the Arno River and walked across Ponte Vecchio. 

The river

Ponte Vecchio

Our goal was to reach Piazzale Michelangelo. Up until this point, all of Florence was much smaller than expected. The Duomo was one block away, the river was like three more blocks, the bridge was close and then, once we crossed the bridge, the terrain changed. The streets became cobbled (hard on the calves, ankles, etc). Then there was a hill. When we made it to the top of the hill, we were rewarded with stairs. Long in length, short in height. Awkward to ascend. Then these stairs turned into regular stairs. To give you an idea, Kate's fitbit said she walked something like 22 flights of stairs today (and 5 miles). We worked and walked and swore and sweat and at the summit reaped our reward - a gorgeous view.

Panoramic view of Florence (photo by Kate)

And then we took a taxi back to the hotel. 

Handsome Italian Man Catches My Eye

Today, I met a man. He is perfect. For 20 minutes, I sat on a bench and stared at every inch of him. From his masculine shoulders and arms, to his hands, his legs, his feet, the intense look in his eyes. He is tall and strong. His abs as hard as a marble slab. The other girls were looking too, but he didn't seem interested. I walked towards him to get a better look. With his head turned, he didn't see me come up behind him sneaking a glance at his muscular back, his calves. Again, my gaze was drawn to his hands. Slowly, I circled him and snapped a picture. Here's a sneak peak.

Longer blog to come...

Italy: Cinque Terre

After getting to sleep at 2am, the alarm went off at 6. The day for our Cinque Terre tour had arrived! I was groggy for a good half hour. We grabbed some breakfast from the B&B and asked them to call us a taxi which arrived before we could make it downstairs. "To the train station." Three minutes later, we arrived, having been made aware just how close we were to the station.

Bleary eyed but looking forward to a long day with amazing sights, our tour group gathered together and were lead by Amadeus to the bus.  

Amadeus had a great style of delivery when giving directions or telling us the history of a location. He would state things simply and if he needed your attention he would say, "Listen to me" in his Italian/Spanish accent. We had some Spanish speaking tour mates, so Amadeus would say everything in English first and then Spanish (which made me feel like I was back in California). But when he would talk to the driver or the other tour guides with us (there were three of them), he would speak in a beautiful Italian. Honestly, I'd never heard Italian conversations before. Only a word here or there. I was entranced, enamoured with the language. The words felt like a surprise gooey chocolate center of a magnificent souffle. I wanted to eat the words that fell from their tongues. Of all the languages and accents I have ever heard, Italian is the one I would choose to hear for all eternity (if I had to pick just one). 

Our bus ride to Cinque Terre (pronounced Chinkwa Terra) took 2 hours. Cinque Terre means 5 Lands. There are five little villages with resident populations between 120 to 1,000 people. We visited three of them. Pictures can't do justice to how beautiful the area is.

We took a train between the towns and were warned to wear our backpacks and purses in front of us. That pick pockets are professional and will be unrecognisable. Amadeus said that that they could look like anyone, even a Priest. 

I would see cats occasionally in the streets. Because the villages were so small, the cats had no real threats and would confidently meander through the streets, occasionally being fed by a shop owner or tourist.

Off a narrow street, we found a tunnel/cave that lead to a beach. 

The waves here were intense and unpredictable. I kept my wary distance from the water. Back to the main street and at the end...this.

 

We found a beach on The Mediterranean. I skipped stones.

And after the tour, on the bus, I took a picture of the side of great big hills. That's not snow you see. It's white marble. There were huge slabs of it in businesses next to the highway.

The tour itself was great. Mostly a slow pace. There really wasn't a lot of walking, but there were a number of complainers. Mostly Americans. I won't say that all American travellers are obnoxious, but when you're in a group and someone stands out in a bad way, it's usually (always) and American. And for this I am embarrassed and upset. They complain loudly about small things, as if everything should be catered to them. They don't realise that sometimes you have to walk up a hill. You did come to a town built on a hill...what were you expecting. I did my best not to let it get to me, and did have friendly conversations with the worst of them, but when we were seated for lunch I told the tour guide to sit me with anyone but the Americans. She laughed knowingly and we sat with two French people our own age. It was a lovely lunch of pasta, fish and lemon flavored ice cream.

After the tour, back in Florence at nearly 8pm, Kate and I decided to have dinner and not hold back. We stopped at Ciro & Sons Ristorante. I ordered tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella to share, a 1/2 bottle of Bolgheri wine (mostly for Kate - though I did try some), spaghetti with lobster (tail and claw), chocolate souffle with hazelnut gelato and an espresso. And then I rolled back to the hotel where I immediately fell into a deep and restful sleep.

Another great day in Florence.

Florence: Lunch at Trattoria Mario

After settling into the B&B that is Hotel Casci, I decided to look up a place to eat lunch. Every other meal we've had has been out of necessity. We get hungry, I get grumpy and food must be had immediately. Meals have been good, but not great.

I searched something like "Best Lunch in Florence" and found Trattoria Mario. The reviews were glowing and said things like, "A place for tourists and locals alike", "Share Tables but worth it". Inexpensive, simple, local food was what I was after, so around 2pm we walked 5 minutes and were there. I gave my name and was told the wait would be an hour. I said, "Yes!" without hesitation.

Kate and I walked around the corner to find outdoor and indoor markets. Perfect! So, we wandered and shopped for snacky foods (biscotti, strawberries, tomatoes on the vine, a loaf of crusty bread, slices of chocolate cake).

I love that this woman photobombed this shot

Back at the restaurant, waiting for my name to be called, I noticed that today's menu was hand written. Because it was nearly 3pm, items that sold out were marked thru.

The door opened and out came a man calling my name from this list. "Sarah. Sarah! SARAH!" I'd seen him do it before with someone else. You get three shout outs and if you don't answer, you're done. Your name gets crossed off and you miss out. At the first "Sarah" I said, "YES!" and raised my hand. I wasn't going to miss this. As he said my name twice more, I very nearly ran to him. He smiled, brought us inside and (in Italian) told me to walk through the packed room to the table with the couple at it and sit with them. Two empty seats are two empty seats. I was happy to share with others for a chance at some yummy local food.

I opted for something simple. Tagliatelle with Tomato Sauce (fresh tomatoes). Kate got Rigatoni with meat sauce. Both were amazing. Simple flavors, perfect home made pasta, delicious. I took the first bite and started laughing with glee. This was exactly what I thought Italy would deliver and was overjoyed that it did.

After lunch (as if that wasn't enough of a win for the day), I haggled over a cute cardigan (look for it in future pictures...I'll point it out), we found an ATM, cashed up and then right next to the ATM found a place to book a tour to Cinque Terre tomorrow (and spent our cash like it was on fire).

It is raining heavily now and I fear that tomorrow's trip to Cinque Terre will also be rain soaked, but we will have a great time regardless.

I have to say again that switching hotels/locations in Florence made all the difference. I am having a wonderful time and can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring.

Italy: Florence...now that's better

Checked out of our decent, but not pleasant, hotel and into Hotel Casci. It. Is. Fantastic.

The location feels more central. It's leafier. The people on the street are smiling. The hotel is really a B&B. Reception feels clean, comfortable and homey. Paolo showed us two rooms before we decided to book. He speaks English quickly and clearly and is the friendliest person yet in Florence. There are books in the lobby and DVDs to borrow for free. The room is big and well set up. There is a charging station for all our devices, a fridge, desks, a wardrobe, a great big bathtub and windows that open into a (very small) courtyard (rather than a motorcycle parking lot like the last place).

I am so happy. Florence is going to be wonderful.

Italy: Florence

Got into Florence last night. Had a hard time finding the hotel. People on the streets were rude and just walked right into you without care or concern. The hotel ended up being decent enough but the beds might be tables; they're so hard. The staff here was rude (vacuuming loudly while trying to check in rather than turning it off for a minute). Went to dinner where our waiter was disinterested, slow, careless. The food was ok. Heard the sounds of dripping water from our neighbor's hotel room for hours. The TV is small and hard to figure out with two remotes and a sensor for one of the remotes hanging free off the tv.

Not to be crabby but so far I hate Florence and want to go anywhere else.

I'm going to get some breakfast and pray that it's just because we're close to the train station. I'm equating this to being dropped off in West Oakland rather than Lafayette (if that means anything to the Californians reading this). Inner City vs Leafy Beautiful Suburbia.

We're switching hotels today to a totally different area. Wish us luck.

To put a positive spin on this leg of the trip so far: Our hotel was only a block and a half from the train station on a quiet street. A nearby hotelier from "Hotel Club Hotel" gave us a free map and directions to it. The restaurant around the corner was clean and the Ravioli Tuscani was delicious. I slept hard and long and am about to go eat free breakfast.

Thinking positively! Let's go!

Italy: Venice Day 2

After a giddy night walking around Venice and raiding the "breakfast room" for food at 1am, a late night was had by all. I was worried that the hotel might be noisy as we were right next to a bar, but they were all done by midnight at at 2am Kate and I were cackling with overtired goofiness, probably irritating the only other guests on our strange little floor.

The morning's breakfast (especially coffee) really hit the spot and I scored big time by swapping a book in their library. I dropped off a Europe on the cheap kind of travel book (that weighed 5lbs and I NEVER looked at it because...internet) for a Robert Crais super light paperback. There were some Harlan Coben books too, but they were all in French, so I left them.

After breakfast, we checked out of the hotel, left our suitcases with the hotel (under the stairs) and took a 30 minute Gondola ride around the canals of Venice. At 80 Euro, we were only slightly hesitant, but honestly, what is money for if not to do the things you'd always dreamed of. It was so worth it. The views were spectacular and only available in Venice. I'm so happy we had the gondola experience.

"Instead of online dating, it's Clothesline dating," quipped Kate. If they're clean, it's a win.

Pushing off the wall

After the Gondola, we walked to St Mark's Square (you might be familiar with this from movies where people walk through a square and pigeons scatter everywhere, or a tourist will be standing in the square covered in pigeons). We opted not to go inside, but walked around taking pictures of the amazing architecture and artistic tile works. I took some obligatory light post shots and then we head to lunch (more pizza).

Back to the hotel to pick up our bags and use their wi-fi to book train tickets. Because we left it to the last minute, we had to take 1st class seats, but because of that I'm writing this blog FROM THE TRAIN. Yay free fast moving wi-fi.

We caught an express Water Bus to the train station, it was ridiculously full, but only one stop so no complaints.

Now, here we are. Carriage 1, Seats 3B and 4B, wi-fi'ing it up, blogging, and on our way from Venice to Florence.