Italy - Day 11 (Florence)

Our day began with a trip the Central Market, located only 1 block away from our hotel. It was pretty early, so many of the stalls weren't open yet. I like this stand for its interesting food. Look...a whole, raw loin wrapped in a baguette, topped with bacon and rosemary! And what is that next to it? I needed to Google it when I got home. Fegatelli, I now know, is pork liver. Yummm....
We then met our local guide, Simone, for a long walk through Florence.The first stop was at Piazza della Signoria, a large square in the center of Florence. The square is filled with statues of notable Renaissance artists and surrounded by the Palazzo Vecchio (the city hall) and the Uffizi Gallery (which we'd visit the following day).

Palazzo Vecchio....Under all the scaffolding is a replica of Michelangelo's David. The real one stood in this same spot over 300 years until it moved indoors for safer keeping....One of many violent sculptures in the Piazza della Signoria...
A beautiful street market pedalling the typical Florentine wares: leather goods and wool scarves....The second stop of our walk was the Palazzo Davanzati, a former home of a wealthy merchant in the Renaissance period. This place gave a good glimpse of the struggles of life in that time. Highlighting one of the struggles were the holes in the ceiling above the entryway, which made it possible to attack intruders.... We crossed the Arno River via the Ponte Vecchio, the bridge famous for being lined with jewelry shops. The Oltrarno, literally meaning "across the Arno", is the more residential and quieter side of Florence . The gift shops from the main part of town are replaced with small, not-for-tourist artisan workshops where people are still hand-carving wood furniture and making chandeliers. Due to time constraints, we chose to skip the largest sight in this area: the Palazzo Pitti, former home of the Medici family. Instead, we just strolled the streets until we met up with our regular tour guide, Cecilia, near San Spirito Church. There she surprised us with canoles! ...and we're told they were as authentic as they come because they were made by Sicilians!After canoles, the tour group disbanded, and Brooke and I headed back to the Florence Duomo. We climbed the 375-ft tall dome for great views of the city....For a majority of our climb, we zig-zagged up staircases in relative darkness. At the midway point, we got a break from climbing as the path led us to a vantage point giving great views of the cathedral below and an up-close view of the paintings above.....Views from the Duomo dome.....The Gates of Paradise, bastistery doors by Ghiberti....The main doors of the duomo....
Interior of the duomo....The painted ceiling of the dome.....At the San Lorenzo street market, Brooke considered buying a leather purse, but with prices ranging anywhere from 20 to over 200 Euros, we couldn't be sure of the quality. She passed on buying a purse, but got a nice cashmere/silk scarf for only 6 Euros. Our next stop was to San Lorenzo Basilica & Medici Chapel. Architecturally, the basilica and chapel are unexceptional, but the tombs by Michelangelo for the Medici family made the quick visit worthwhile. The security check at the entrance was intense; however, once inside we were allowed to get extremely close to all the statues. No photos were allowed, so I'm borrowing this photo from Britannica.com. This oddly masculine female nude is Michelangelo's Night made for Giuliano Medici's tomb....Knowing we couldn't make it to Napoli (the birthplace of pizza!), we got recommendations to a pizzeria run by Neapolitans, Il Pizzaiuola. The pizza was great! At about 8 Euros per pizza and 15 Euros for a bottle of wine, the price was right too! (if only they had a Hawaiian-style pizza. Pineapple...yumm)

Italy - Day 10 (Florence)

Day 10 in Italy (4th day with the tour group):
We take a vaporetto to the north end of Venice where we catch our tour bus to Florence....Maybe it was to accommodate the older members of the tour, but within 2 hours of our bus ride, we make a stop at an Autogrill. The Autogrill is pretty cool. It's essentially a roadside diner (with a large espresso bar and minimart) that straddles over the highway. Go out the wrong exit and you're on the wrong side of the highway.

For being a diner along the highway, the food is really good. On the top-floor restaurant area, we had some pasta, risotto, and a Parmeggiano-Reggiano and proscuitto plate. It was definitely a better roadside dining experience than in the US, although it set us back about $27 US Dollars...Then on the lower floor espresso bar, Brooke ordered a hot chocolate. This is what she received, hot chocolate pudding with a spoon....When we arrived in Florence, we dropped off our luggage and headed straight out by ourselves to the Church of Santa Maria Novella. We went to see Masaccio's "Holy Trinity". In the late afternoon, we met back up with the tour group for a "Renaissance Walk". The walk took us past the Florence Duomo, Piazza San Lorenzo, Piazza della Repubblica, Orsanmichele Church, and the Piazza della Signoria. From the walk, we got a nice overview of the city and the sights, but we didn't actually go inside any of them until the next couple of days. Along the walk, we also learned about Renaissance life, including the power and influence of the Medici family.

San Lorenzo Basilica....Florence Duomo, baptistery, and campanile....Orsanmichele Church....Brooke at Piazza della Signoria....Again, walking past the Florence Duomo....We finished our night with a group dinner at Ristorante Giglio Rosso. This was one of the best meals we had in Italy. Brooke's favorite dish was the ribollita, a hearty Tuscan soup.

Italy - Day 2 (Siena & San Gimignano)

Day 2.
Having gone to bed at 6pm, we woke up with plenty of time to catch the sunrise. Here's the view from our room at three different times throughout the day: sunrise, midday, and evening.
After a small but delicious breakfast at our hotel, we headed into town to climb the city tower. The views from the tower were amazing. You could look out and see across all of Siena and the green rolling hills of Tuscany. It was definitely worth the climb.We came down from the tower and roamed the town's tiny streets. By around 11am, we decided to make a side trip to San Gimignano. We had debated either paying for a tour (which would simplify transportation) or buying city bus tickets (which would require a transfer in Poggibonsi). Being cheap and wanting a less touristy experience, we chose to take the city bus. It was like deja vu of the previous day's confusion at Pisa Airport train station. There were no signs anywhere, so we ended up needing to asking strangers for help. 75 minutes and one transfer later, we're in San Gimignano.I'm sure the town is known for other things, but Brooke and I have wanted to visit here since watching the Franco Zeffirelli movie "Tea With Mussolini". San Gimignano had 60 towers in its peak to defend against attackers, but only 14 remain standing. The town rests on top of a hill, so even without climbing the towers, the views in all directions are incredible.
Here's us having our first gelato in Italy from an apparently world famous gelateria...
Gelato really lived up to our expectations. All the flavors are so intense. When we got back to Siena, we were still full from our large lunch in San Gimignano, but we couldn't pass up the opportunity to try a McDonald's in Italy. However, that's a story for another post.