Che bello! Bellissimo! Want beauty in your life? There are many ways to achieve this but I
found a new one this weekend: Go to Florence!
We had our first overnight
holiday this weekend as a few of us trekked to Florence for the weekend. What an adventure we had!
Our departure for the
weekend occurred Friday night (after our exhilarating Italian culture
class). We were a rowdy group of 6
aboard the fast train (makes little to no stops) with fun & frivolity on
the mind, and bottles of wine in bags. ;)
J & T (the lady photobombing wasn't part of our crew, but
she became T's new bff with her phone arm extender lol)
A & E
M & mia
After our short train
ride, 2 hours non-stop to Florence – similar to my trips to Regina back home only
this is Florence, not Saskatchewan :p – we had arrived!
It was pretty late at
night but the city was so alive. The
energy was astounding and I still felt very safe walking in the area we
were.
For the first time our
group was trying out Air BnB – a site where you rent someone’s place for your
stay instead of using a hotel or a hostel. Great idea and can usually find some wonderful places to accommodate large groups of people for a great price. One of our group members was in charge of accommodations so he had
contacted the guy who needed to give us keys to our place while on the
train. So standing outside our
designated location – not the place of stay mind you – all of a sudden a small,
expensive black sports car quickly drives up and out pops a gentleman in a
suit. Impressed with the scene so far,
he made introductions and then quickly headed inside to get us keys. When he reappeared, he quickly threw the keys
at us, told us in a general way where our renting place was, and then hopped in
his car and took off. Mouth in hand, we
were like “okay” but having lived in Italy for a month we knew that this is how
Italy rolls and weren't too shocked (slightly, but not totally).
So we found our place of
stay – a quaint little ground floor apartment – after a few rights, lefts and
twists and turns. Upon closer
inspection, and in preparation for bed, we found we had no hot water. Oh boy!
Let’s just say one with a mouthguard had to be inventive on making it
work. And I did ;)
Bedroom #1
Kitchen
Bedroom #2
Living Room
VHS' for our viewing pleasure (although there
wasn't a tv or VHS player)
Bagno
Mouthguard warming up aparatus
(Yes, start stove with lighter and hope to keep eyebrows)
View of the street of our abode
Our next big surprise came
the next morning.
There we were – calm,
quiet, serene and dead asleep when someone walked into the apartment at 7:30
am. What?!?! That’s what a friend tried to utter amidst
being woken up midsleep. Well it turned
out that our “landlord” had come with a couple of guys to check a tree in the
courtyard (Why? We don’t know, but he
did). He was probably just as startled to see us as we were him since he did not know that we were in his apartment this weekend. It turns out he uses an agency to advertise
his place on Air BnB and they hadn’t notified him of our stay. *sigh* Oh Italy. Again, not surprised. Those of us in the other bedroom just closed the
door, rolled over and went back to sleep.
Turns out his visit was a good surprise as he fixed the hot water
heater.
Our water heater wasn't too old fashioned ;)
So after a hot shower, we
were off to find breakfast and start our day.
Breakfast in Italy usually includes a pastry and small cup of
capuchino/machiatto/expresso not what we usually attribute to being breakfasts
in Canada.
Coffee & brioche
Then we were off for the
day. Oh Florence, what beauty you behold!
Our day was filled with a trip to Il Duomo di Firenze (the Florence
Cathedral), where upon first sight by my breath was taken away. For a small fee we got to take a very steep,
intricate stone staircase to the top of the Duomo to get a 360 degree view of
the city. It was amazing! I’m fearful of heights but this trek was SO
worth it!
Il Duomo di Firenze
Look at the architecture!
Ceiling of the dome
Our crew trekking up the staircases to the top of the dome
Florence from above!
Tricky staircase (very vertical)
View from a window via the staircase
Next we meandered around
the city for a bit then decided to go to the Galleria dell'Accademia to see David by Michelangelo. I’m not a huge art fanatic but it was one of
those things that while you’re there you need to see live, in person. I was quite impressed though. All the pictures I’ve seen did not translate
into the size he really was. It was very
impressive!
David! (Oh my!)
(Yes, photos were allowed! We read all the signs and had
museum staff remind us only of no flash allowed).
Then we shopped. Florence is known for its leather goods –
shoes, purses, bags, coats, gloves, you name it. The cool thing was that there are a bunch of
little markets and vendors here and there, but also every second shop along the
streets is a leather goods shop. I’ll
always recall Florence when I smell leather.
Street art
Market
High end Florence
We regrouped later that
night for supper at Toto. It was a
fabulous little restaurant, with a hunk of beef just hanging out by the stove
from which they cut your steak from to cook right there. The ambience was very traditional North
American restaurant and the food was superb.
Most restaurants have their menu (or part of it) posted
outside so you can see what type of food they serve.
See the hunk of beef ready to be served for dinner? ;)
With wine in hand, we
headed back to our place. The great
thing about the place we were staying at was that it was within easy walking
distance from the touristy area and the weather was so beautiful that it made
for a great evening walk home.
Upon arriving at our abode
we found two things: a) the hot water didn’t work again, and b) there was water
all over the kitchen (the water heater had leaked everywhere). *sigh* Again when it Italy….. So what did we
do? Like the Italians would: grabbed
some mugs (lol no wine glasses) and enjoyed a bevy or two while we played card
games into the evening.
Cheers!
It was a fantastic day
which started and ended with things so typical of the country. Oh Italy! How you never cease to amaze me! ;)
