Apr 122011
Apr 122011
Despite not buying tickets to the museums prior to arrival, we were able to get tickets through our hotel. When we checked out of Residenza Betta, Elizabetta, the owner was very warm and friendly to serve us a cappuccino before we headed out.
After a quick breakfast, we headed to the train station to get our tickets for Venice later in the day and drop off our luggage so that we could explore the museums.
Our first stop was the Galleria dell’Accademia where the statue of David is kept. Of course, pics had to be taken despite being told not to…I just can’t help myself! It is truly an amazing statue up close – I still wonder why we aren’t seeing such amazing art these days or maybe I’m just not in the loop.
Since there isn’t too much else to see at the Accademia, we had quite a bit of time before our assigned time to enter the Galleria degli Uffizi. So, we walked around the square a bit and then found lunch to relax a bit. Along the way, we found the boar that people touch/kiss to have good luck that someday they will return to Florence. π
The Uffizi was an impressive building with a number of great works of art by Boccelli, Caravaggio and of course Michelangelo. It’s actually smaller than I expected in terms of the number of pieces there compared to Vienna or other places. However, it was still well-worth the visit. Just be sure to book way in advance if you visit during high season!
After we finished the museum, we just wandered around and hung out until we could catch our train to Venice. We crossed the bridge – Ponte Vecchio – which used to be where the butchers held their shops. Now, it’s the main jewelry center of the city. We walked to the Piazza dee’ Pitti to see the Palazzo Pitti, which used to be a palace but is now a museum with gardens. However, I think we were too exhausted to do any more touristy things, so we enjoyed the outside and then went to the station for Venice!
I will post on our first night in Venice with the next posting.
-T
Apr 122011
As I mentioned before, Mondays are generally the day major museums are closed. We had heard that it’s a good idea to also explore outside of Florence if we could. Since we could, we booked The Best of Tuscany Tour with WalkAbout through our hotel.
Unfortunately, out of the entire week, this was the ONLY day that it rained. When I say rain, I mean poured! Luckily, I had prepared with my rain jacket and even an umbrella. So, though we were slightly dampened, the tour was still a good one.
We started in Siena, which is apparently the biggest rival city to Florence. It is divided into 10 neighborhoods that have their own symbols and seals. This is mostly important for the annual horse races – Palio di Siena – that are held in the main square. It’s an interesting story to learn. The city of Siena seemed pretty with lots of red brick, though very small. After getting the walking tour, visiting the main church, and feeling tired – it was time for a stop at Illy’s for a coffee.
(By the way, Starbucks has no stores in all of Italy…SHOCKING!)
From Siena, we stopped for our lunch at an organic farm to taste the Chianti wines famous in the area and some Italian dishes. It was quite tasty and the weather started to clear up, which was nice.
After lunch, we headed to the town nicknamed the “Manhattan of Italy”, San Gimignano. The bus was a bit perkier from our lunch beverages. π The town is a UNESCO site for Architectural Heritage due to the number of towers that were built by families feuding over power in the town. There wasn’t much to do in our free time here, but we walked around and considered getting gelato from the World’s Best Ice Cream at Gelateria di Piazza, but it somehow felt too cliche to do it despite the other tourists lining up for it.
From San Gimignano, we continued on our way to Pisa. One really can’t be in Tuscany and not see the Leaning Tower of Pisa! We took our cheesy photos and enjoyed the cultural square there, but by this point we were pretty tired. We did get a train ride tour of the town of Pisa, which is mostly a university town, they say. It’s not somewhere I’d like to go to school, but it could be worse. π
Thus ended our tour and after finding some grub, we collapsed back at the hotel. The museums are coming up next!
-T
Apr 112011
We planned a late morning train and left our Roman accommodations with plenty of time to reach the main train station – Termini, supposedly just 15 minutes away. We were told that the tram would take us there and so we hopped on board feeling good about our timing. The worst and perhaps best part of Rome is the complete lack of signage on public transportation as to their route or any information that might help a tourist figure out where s/he is heading. Thus, we found ourselves thinking we should have reached the station by now and in unfamiliar territory.
After alighting from the misleading tram, we attempted to ask a bus driver how to get to the station. He was not helpful preferring not to speak any English. Thus, we contemplated our map and realized we were in the university area of town. So, we took the next tram back, to a metro station and finally made it with plenty of time to our train. Good thing we left early! π
Now, having been spoiled from years of Shinkansen and Japanese trains, I’m a bit snoody about trains that are called “first class”. We purchased our tickets the night before from very easy-to-use machines for Italy’s train system – Trenitalia. You can book tickets online and pick them up at the machines as well, but it was just as easy to get them the day of or before.
According to Rick Steve’s book, it is recommended to pay the extra Euros for the first class tickets. To keep costs down, we bought tickets for the slower train (2.5 hrs vs 1.5 hrs) so that we could do just that. As we passed the six passenger cabin seats in second-class, I was more than relieved to be in the comforts of first-class seats with plenty of space and leg-room to take a snooze.
The countryside to Florence was pretty, though the vineyards are not yet in bloom.
Upon arriving in Florence, Mom was alert enough to realize that we needed to get off at the second Firenze stop because the train did not stop in the main S.M.N station – who would have known that? We taxied to our hotel – Residenza Betta – and were very joyfully greeted by Adriana who offered to book our museum tickets (this should normally be done way before you go on your trip…off-season is ok, though), and we decided to do a tour of Tuscany the next day since the main museums are closed on Mondays.
With all that settled, we prepared to explore Florence. Everyone had told me it’s a beautiful city and amazing. So, I may have had rather high expectations for the place. It was definitely nice to be in a smaller town than Rome. We hardly got lost and it was a much more relaxed atmosphere. The streets were quaint and the buildings lovely. However, perhaps the grey skies and pending rain made it less amazing than expected.
Still, we meandered through the market since leather is the big product in the area. Though we were more interested in discovering the wine – Chianti – which comes from Tuscany. π
The piazza did have a fine showing of their Duomo, which was beautifully carved and adorned with all the religious icons and images. It was something to stand nearby as the church bells rang (video on the Picasa site) and look in awe at the building. Sometimes, it’s just too overwhelming to take in all the amazing artistry in one place.
With a few stops for a cappuccino and snacks, we called it a day as we were already feeling weary from walking and our Roman wanderings.
More to come…
