Florence – Sept. 19-21
By Leyla
We were not planning to go to Florence, given all we had heard about how insufferably crowded it is. However, friends in Telluride offered their apartment and Emily had studied Da Vinci, Michelangelo and Rafael last, in 7th grade, so we decided to make the trip. Arriving at the Florence train station, Santa Maria Novella, with 80+ degree heat and scores of tourists crowding every single street, we made our way with our bags to the apartment, passing the Duomo , which is awe inspiring, no matter how many times you see it. The apartment was amazing. Located on the first floor of a historic Palazzo located on the corner of Borgo Pinti and Via di Mezzo, it was comprised of four large rooms (living, kitchen and two bedrooms) with 20+ ft. ceilings and frescoes on the walls with busts in the corners and other antiquities throughout. The one fresco in the living room , as later explained by Emily who studied Greek Mythology in 5th grade, was of Aphrodite accepting a golden apple from Paris. Aphrodite was pictured holding the hand of Cupid, accompanied by Hera and Athena. On the opposite wall, a fresco of Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, who Emily explained could not be looked on by a man or else he would be turned to stone and in the fresco was a man with his eyes shut, as if a statue.
Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore and the Duomo
We had just enough time to drop off our bags before heading out to find a quick bite before meeting Pietro at the Piazza della Repubblica. We had booked a treasure hunt event with Pietro. At 6:30pm we met up with Pietro and the members of group including a couple from Edinburgh, another from San Diego and a woman from Bergamo. Peitro gave us all a map with photos of unusual sights that we must locate and then find a nearby sticker with a number and letter that we would later use decode a puzzle. We all went running off in different directions and although we got back after the couple from Edinburgh, Mark and Emily managed to work through 3 consecutive puzzles and tasks to obtain the code that opened the treasure chest and win the prize: a bottle of Chianti and a jar of jellybeans.
In looking for Il Vegetariano, a restaurant Pietro recommended for its big salads and vegetable plates, we discovered, Villa de’Ginori, a charming street, with some cool looking restaurants. We stopped at one, Simbiosi, for a very late dinner. The atmosphere, of open kitchen and large room with exposed brick walls and long communal table, was better than the food, which was good, but not great.
The next day we had nothing planned and got a late start so we decided to walk to the Mercato Centrale for lunch, Like Torino, this was another disappointing farmers market because again, not a farmer in sight, and wall to wall tourists. We also walked to Santa Maria Novella to visit the ancient apothecary. Hot, tired of walking and done with the crowds we headed back to the apartment to rest. For dinner we chose Touch bistro, a block away from the apartment. It was a very un-Florentine looking restaurant – very modern and slick with decent food and very friendly and caring staff.
The next day I got up early to visit another open-air market a few blocks away from the apartment, at Sant’Ambrogio, which was smaller, more local, way less crowded and more pleasant than the Mercato Centrale. Buying some fresh fruits and veggies, I returned to the apartment to fetch Mark and Emily. After a delicious homemade lunch with three different salads we set off for the Museo Galileo, which was cool, not too crowded and very informative, telling the story of scientific discovery during the Renaissance and beyond by exhibiting the scientific instruments of the Medici and Lorraine families.
Next on our schedule was a bike tour, meeting in a couple hours on the other side of town. Emily and I decided to get our hair cut at a nearby by salon/hair academy rather than make the trek home or walk around Florence in the heat. We then crossed the Arno, where we had more shade, for the 30 minute walk to Piazzale Vittorio Veneto. The group for the bike tour included a couple from Russia, another from Corfu, Greece, two guys from Ft. Collins and a guy from Monterey. Mexico. Samuele, our guide, was 15 minutes late and then it took another 30 minutes to get us all on bikes so by the time we set out, we were contending with aggressive Italian drivers during rush hour and a guide who charged ahead, seemingly oblivious to keeping his group safe or together. After losing the guys from Ft. Collins, the group quickly realized that we had to fend for ourselves and take care of each other. Samuele told some interested facts at the various historic sites and we revisited some of the sites we had experienced during Pietro’s treasure hunt, including Michelangelo’s sketching on stone on the palace at Piazza della Signore and some that we had stumbled on ourselves while walking around, like Dante’s house. Samuele clearly did not have things planned out very well and we ended up not having time for some of the things we were most looking forward to, so the tour was a disappointment, but I’m glad no one was hurt or lost and it was fun riding around and being off our feet. We arrived at Piazzale Michelangelo for sunset after dark and that was a bummer, but at least it was less crowded. And Emily was happy to know that a Netflix mini series was being filmed in the area. We had to return to where we started, riding in the dark down the hill of Piazza Michelangelo and along the busy street next to the Arno, and then, taking the long walk back to the apartment. By the next morning, we were ready to depart from Florence to Venice.
