Recollections of Florence, Italy

Ciao!  I’m back today for our second stop on our recent trip to Italy.  In case you missed it, feel free to catch up on our first stop in Rome when you have a minute.  Once we were packed up and checked out at the IQ Hotel, we were off to Florence, Italy.

We took the train from Rome to Florence.  Steve and I each had two bags, which was manageable, but it was still just too much!  Getting on/off a train with this many bags was a challenge and with impatient people all around you, you feel a little overwhelmed.  Unfortunately, I got suckered by a kid who offered to assist me with my bags (a tourist who over packs means sucker, I presume).  He was a cute kid and I thought why not — until he didn’t think the 3 euros we gave him were enough.  Surprisingly he wasn’t letting it go either.  We eventually had to just ignore him until he left.  Goodness gracious, I remembered thinking, “how rude and ungrateful.”  In all my years, I’ve never had anyone insist that the tip was not enough.  Sometimes you just gotta love being a tourist with a big target on your back {hee-hee}.

The train ride to Florence was super fast,  bout 1:20 minutes. We were going 250kms/hour or roughly 155mph.  I wish we had more train routes here in the states, it’s just so easy!  Upon arriving in Florence, we checked into our hotel, Hotel Calzaiuoli right in the heart of Florence.  If we left our room window open, you could hear all the hustle and bustle of the city.  That is truly music to my ears.

That evening we took a quick stroll down to Ponte Vecchio, a famous bridge lined with gold and silver shops.  I’m not sure this picture does it justice, but it was pretty amazing!

Believe it or not, a friend of mine from college was in Florence at the same time, so we met up for dinner at Buca San Giovanni with Nicole and her husband, Brian.  I still can’t believe we didn’t get a picture #facepalm. We had a great time over dinner, which, of course, was delicious!!

Our first full day in Florence was lovely. We had breakfast at the hotel  – bacon, eggs, sausage, croissants, cheese, and cappuccinos.  We visited the Accademia Gallery and saw Michelanglo’s David.

 I have to say that pictures cannot truly depict how incredibly awesome (and huge) the statue is.  Just incredible!

We then just walked around a bit just taking in the sights and sounds, and stopping into cute little shops. We decided to hunt down a place we read about on Trip Advisor called Il Bufalo Trippone.   The owner was actually there and those sandwiches were incredible.  All of the meat was cut fresh and the medley of flavors left you wanting more!  Great find and if you’re ever there, you must stop by.

We heard that Venice (our next stop) is going through their annual flooding. Apparently when the tide comes in and the winds are just right, Venice floods. If the tide reaches 100cm, then 4% of Venice floods. Gulp.  To say this stressed me out is a bit of an understatement.  Nothing we could do though, so we continued to enjoy Florence, taking it one day at a time.

Our second day in Florence we had planned to go to Pisa. We headed off to the train station to buy tickets for the 45-minute train ride. The automatic ticket dispenser asked for a PIN for the credit card – we didn’t have it, so we went to the ticket office only to be told that the trains to Pisa were on strike. I was 100% devastated.  I was really looking forward to that day trip, but it was completely out of our control.

We decided to just enjoy the day around Florence.

The view at the top of the Duomo’s Dome was said to be quite beautiful; however, that meant a 463 step trek (in very tight spaces) to the top.  I seriously thought I was going to die of a heart attack. #nojoke  However, the view from the top of the dome was magnificent.  Florence was even more beautiful from up there.

My friend Nicole mentioned a local hot spot called, Trattoria Mario’s, so we headed there for lunch. That place was PACKED with a good 30-40 minute wait. You had to share a table with strangers if you’re party wasn’t big enough.  There were no wasted chairs at this place. You could tell a lot of locals were there, so the language barrier presented more of a challenge.  I felt like we basically had to guess at what we were going to eat — the menu was in Italian too.  It was delicious nonetheless.

We then decided to head over to the infamous School of Leather. Everything there was handmade.  You were able to watch some of them at work and I have to say, it was quite impressive.  I decided to buy my “souvenir” here and picked up a lovely purse.  You could find leather bags on every corner that said Made in Italy, but you just knew they were mass produced in China.  I was delighted to get an authentic Italian bag that was versatile and fit my style.  I wished we had visited earlier, because I know my husband would have loved a pair of shoes. They were all custom made as well, so you had to set up a special appointment.  Oh well….  next time, right?

I absolutely loved Florence.  For a city with a population over 420,000, it felt much smaller and easy to navigate.  There appeared to be coffee shops on every corner.  What I loved most is that you could walk up to the counter and order a cappuccino or espresso, drink it standing there and be on your merry way.  I don’t ever recall seeing to-go cups, so it was perfectly convenient!  Of course you could grab a table and enjoy a longer stay as well.  It was cold and damp, so they were all very busy and, quite frankly, I gave them my fair share of business {giggle}.  The best coffee too, friends.  Mmmmm.

I think I could live in Florence and found it be my favorite stop so far, that is until we arrived in Venice. Stay tuned….

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