Is this Florence or Firenze?

Florence, Italy  July 24, 2015

Leaving Venice, we schlept all of our luggage aboard the vaporetto headed for the train station.  We needed to take the train to the next station, about a 5 minute ride, where we would collect our rental car.  As we left the train and were negotiating all of the stairs to make our way to the exit, a young Italian man grabbed some of our luggage and helped us to the exit.  He even carried part of our luggage to the rental car office. When Lynda offered him what we thought was a generous tip, he made it clear that we were being ungenerous. He left with a sizable tip and we were left feeling chagrined that veteran travelers like us can still get taken in if not careful.

Our rental car is wonderful; it has air conditioning.  Our apartment in Venice had AC but it did little to cool down the apartment.  In a matter of moments, we were all gratefully shivering in the car. The trip to Florence flew by quickly with Jocelyn marveling at the scenery when we could tear her away from her book.  The rental car also has GPS. Lynda entered the address for the car park our land lord had given us.  We would never have found the car park without the GPS. Lynda and Jocey were in fits of laughter as Tim drove down narrow streets, or possibly sidewalks, doing his best to avoid hitting pedestrians. Later, as we walked about Florence, we discovered that Tim was just a block from driving across Ponte Vecchio, the famous hundreds of years old bridge across the Arno River. The young man, Michael, that met us at the apartment could stand to take instructions from Francesca back in Venice.  There were no offers of water, no bottle of "Welcome to Venice" sparkling wind in the fridge. Just a quick profunctory introduction to the "need to knows" of the apartment.

After Michael left, we all did a quick check of our various social networks and left the apartment.  The first stop was a restaurant/bar for a much needed cold beer and a snack. The first order of siteseeing business was the world famous Duomo, the major cathedral of Florence.  It is as famous for its exterior design as its interior.  Maybe more so.  Lynda purchased tickets that included the Duomo as well as the Bapistry next door. There was no line for the Bapistry so we went there first.  We have described the inside of the Bapistry in previous blogs. The domed ceiling is made up of a series of gold leaf frescoes that depict stories of the Bible. It is breathtaking. Lynda could sit for hours gazing at the different frescoes, Tim could sit for minutes.  Jocey evidently has the shopping bug because, while she thought the Dome was beautiful, she was ready to move on to a small leather market we had driven by or possibly through.

Before taking Jocey to the leather market, we took her to the previously mentioned Ponte Vecchio.  We are sure you have seen pictures of it.  We'll try to get back for a picture.  It is the only bridge across the Arno that the Nazi's did not destroy during WWII.  During a major flood back in the 1960's it was also the only bridge not damaged.  Obviously a charmed bridge. This bridge is lined on both sides with small shops that have been the home of gold traders, and now, high end jewelry stores, for hundreds of years. Jocey was mesmerized by all of the jewelrey and she and her Grandmother stopped at literally every window to browse.  At one point Jocey elbowed Tim and told him to listen to what Grandma liked with the idea he would return to purchase the jewelry for Lynda. Tim tried to explain that Grandma wasn't into jewelry.  He also told Jocey that in all of the trips we have made to Florence he has never seen Lynda spend so much time window shopping on the bridge.

We finally made it to the small leather market where Jocey went nuts.  She looked at leather jackets, purses and change purses. Her money must be burning a hole in her pocket because we had to keep reminding her to remember prices because we were going to the Central Market tomorrow.

After a rest and naps we went out to dinner.  The only reason we mention this is because Tim did something he has never done before.  While perusing the menu, Tim noticed a dish made with Tagliatelle, a type of pasta, and another dish that had a gorgonzola sauce.  He asked our waitress if she would ask the chef if he would put the gorgonzola sauce on the tagliatelle. Tim's brother has mentioned that he orders dishes not on the menu on occasion but Tim had never tried it. The waitress seemed a bit unsure but both Tim and Lynda enjoyed tagliatelle with gorgonzola sauce for dinner.

This morning we went to the Galleria Accadamia for the sole purpose of seeing Michaelangelo's "David".  In our minds it is one of the masterpieces of the world of art.  Despite seeing the statue many times we are still overwhelmed in its presence.  We know Jocey also was impressed.  Next, we visited the aforementioned Duomo and we were correct is observing the the exterior is more impressive then the interior. We are sure the Medici's would not want to hear us say this as they paid for a lot of the interior decor. After lunch we headed to the Central Market.  The Central Market is a large building that takes up a whole city block, full of fruit, vegetable, meat, fish and seafood stands. In the surrounding streets, stalls are set up each day selling all manner of leather goods.  Jocelyn was in seventh heaven.  But be warned.  Do not attempt to negotiate with her.  We watched her bartering with a leather merchant over a wallet for her purse. The merchant's starting price was 30 euros.  At one point in the negotiations he showed her the price tag neatly tucked away in the wallet out of view showing a price of 33 euros trying to convince Jocey that he was giving her a great deal at 25 euros. After at least 10 minutes of back and forth, Jocey walked away with the wallet for 16 euros.  As we said, you negotiate with her at your own peril. Tim and Lynda also made minor purchases and did not get nearly as good a price as Jocey.   After the intensity of the leather market we returned to the apartment. Later, while Lynda napped, Jocey suggested to Tim that they go out for a gelato. She did not have to ask twice.  We were surprised to discover that it was raining and while we were out heard rumbles of thunder.  Hopefully, this will break the heat.

Tomorrow we leave Florence, driving to Montepulchiano, a lovely hill town in the middle of Tuscany.  We will probably stop in Siena for lunch on the way.  Check back in a couple of days for a report of our adventures in Tuscany.

Ciao