Florence
Sunday April 9, 2017
Florence has been a mixed bag. Overall I've enjoyed my time here, but definitely not as amazing as Cinque Terre. I left Riomaggiore early in the morning and took the train to Pisa to see the famous Leaning Tower. I had lunch there and continued on the train to Florence where I arrived in the afternoon. I had forgotten to specify an exact time with my AirBnB host and he wouldn't be home until 6pm, so I sat in the park for a few hours killing time. It began to rain.
When I finally got access to the apartment, I warmed up for a bit and then headed to a local restaurant for one of the best meals I've had since arriving here. No English menu, owner can't speak English either, highly recommended by locals and tourists-in-the-know - all good signs. It was truly food cooked with heart and soul, traditionally Italian. I also accidentally ordered a quarter carafe and was really smashed at the end of the meal.
I stumbled home and tried to sleep but my mind was racing all night long. I was in a pretty sad state the next day, not hungover but tired. I covered most of the major sights in the city - Mercato Centrale, Santa Maria del Fiore and other cathedrals, the river side, Ponte Vecchio, Uffizi and Cascine Park. I wanted steak for dinner but learned that the famous bistecca alla florentine is actually a 1kg T Bone designed for two people, and I got really sad at that. I ended up going to a place near Santa Maria del Fiore, right in the middle of town, that was recommended by Trip Advisor. They had a steak on offer and I was desperate so I took the bait. I should have known that being in such a touristy area, it would be terrible and sure enough, it was the most disappointing meal I've had so far here.
That night I got really sad about Florence and frustrated about steak. I felt like I'd covered most of the city, which is mostly just churches, buildings, art and fashion. I was a little over architecture because it was kind of samey throughout the country, I didn't really have an appreciation for art or fashion and I still had ages to spend here. Thanks to some encouragement from Charlotte, I booked a day trip to the Tuscan countryside for Saturday, but I still had all of Thursday and Friday to kill.
I wandered aimlessly on Thursday. I went to the train station to pick up some transport tickets when it started raining. I explored the lower level shopping area when I came across a public piano and I suddenly got very excited. However, some dude was playing the world's longest and most boring piece on it, so I wandered and waited some more. After he was done, another dude hopped on and played an even longer and more boring piece, and then repeated it for an hour until I finally had the impatience to ask him for a turn on the piano. I played my usual three crowd pleasers and felt much better about myself, and it had stopped raining too, so I left. I really wanted the steak thing to work, so I tried again, and I can say that this time it was a huge success. The meal also came with 500mL of red wine which I did not finish, wisely.
I went to see Michelangelo's David on Friday. It's quite amazing actually, much bigger than I expected it to be. It's stunning that it's carved from a single block of marble and there's an incredible amount of detail, right down to the muscle definition and the veins on his arms. It was a beautiful day, so I headed south of the river to Piazzale Michelangelo, just up the hill, where there weren't as many tourists as in the city center. The view there is fantastic, the city's major landmarks popping up over the otherwise flat skyline, the roofs all uniformly red. I spent some time at the cemetery next door too, and then headed to a restaurant just north of the river for a seafood dinner. It was exceptional. On the way home, I joined mass at Santa Maria del Fiore, mostly just to see the inside of the cathedral, but ended up following the procession outside. There will be a lot of things happening in the lead up towards Easter.
I was up early and off to the train station on Saturday for my Tuscan day trip. Our first stop was San Gimignano, nicknamed medieval Manhattan for its several stone towers. At one point there were over 70; after the war and other damage, there's currently 14. I climbed the tallest one, Torre Grossa, for an epic view of the countryside; fields in every shade of green, sandy brown buildings with the iconic red roofs, blue skies that reminded me of New Zealand. San Gimignano is also home to a famous gelateria, which won a prestigious award in 2007. I can vouch for that; the flavours were interesting and exquisite, quite different from the regular "plain" ones you get like lemon, strawberry, chocolate. I got a nut, wine and honey mix with an orange and grapefruit sorbet. It was amazing.
We stopped for lunch at a winery where we tasted some Chianti Classico wines, and had lunch. The wines are famous for their composition, and to be deemed "Classico", they must be certified with a certain amount of grape only grown in that region. The wines are typically fruity and very drinkable, and I enjoyed them a lot.
Our next stop was Siena, a beautiful little town with more cathedrals and towers. Known for being a banking center, we got a guided tour of the various architectural styles and history behind some of the buildings. We also learned about the Palio, a horse race that pits the 17 districts of Siena against each other, twice a year. After visiting the cathedral, I climbed the tower in the middle of town for some breathtaking views of the city and its landmarks, with the countryside in the distance. I managed to talk to a New Zealand couple from Tauranga too, and we mused about how bad the weather was at home.
Our final stop was Monteriggioni, a small fort just north of Siena. We weren't there for long, but I walked along the walls of the fort, admiring the now setting sun illuminating the green fields with its orange light. By the time we got back to Florence, it was past 8pm, and after dinner, I was back at home close to 11pm.
The Tuscan countryside is as pretty as everyone says it is, and I think that was my most enjoyable day of my time in Florence. It takes a certain kind of person to enjoy Florence, but I was just too churched and museumed out. My experience with food was either very good or very bad, and that also affected my mood. Here's hoping Rome will be better!
Posted by Jeremy at 10:49am on Sunday April 9, 2017 :: 0 comments :: 