Italy
Giardino di Pal Corsini Sul Prato

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    • Day 8

      Plan B

      September 12, 2023 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 25 °C

      I always write these snippets before we go to dinner, but I woke up this morning remembering last night’s terrific meal (sea bass, seafood pasta, zucchini flower salad with burrata, mint and tomatoes — YUM) but the very best was the lemon sorbet and pistachio biscotti. When I told the waiter how good they were, he brought me a little bag. I am saving them. Osteria di Giovanni, one of the best so far!

      This morning it was pretty clear that Joe was zonked. Not even the lure of a couple of cappucinos did the trick. Time to let him rest. So I was lucky to learn that the driver could come in the afternoon. It means that ultimately we will not get inside Santa Maria Novella (though we have enjoyed many hours sitting at cafés in the plaza with decent music buskers and lots of people enjoying themselves), nor will we get to the Archaeological Museum. We can deal with that. I always try to schedule more time than “needed” in a place so we can adjust if something like this happens, and I’m glad to have this last day in Florence to let Joe recharge. Once again, the elliptical and the lovely café outside our hotel door came to the rescue!

      I got more votes for Arezzo than for San Gimignano, and had decided to go for it. But several people at breakfast this morning raved about San Gimignano. The guys at the desk agreed with them, pointing out that the drive to San Gimignano is more scenic than to Arezzo. My guess is that Arezzo is less touristy and that we would have really enjoyed the frescoes that Irene told me about, but I have to say that San Gimignano was quite nice. And our driver took an off-road route for most of the way, going through that beautiful iconic Tuscan landscape— hills, vineyards, villas, cypress trees. Funny how different the vineyards of Tuscany look from the vineyards of Spain even though the main ingredient is the same.

      It was very crowded — September is absolutely no longer shoulder season. No point in grousing about all the tourists, so we just tried to concentrate on the beauty of the town and the piazzas. Had a cold drink in a little café about two seconds off the main drag where it was quiet, shady, and calm. Then Joe sat on a bench with the old guys while I got him some ice cream. Nocciato (hazelnut) and pistacchio are my hands down favorites.

      So our touring in Florence is done. Our last dinner awaits. Onward tomorrow!
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    • Day 4

      Florenz= Firenze

      September 13, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

      Mit Wasserbus zum Bahnhof in Venedig und von dort mit dem Zug nach Florenz. Etwa 2h 30 dauerte die Fahrt in dem unerwartet vollen Zug. Fahrscheine zu erwerben incl. Platzkarten ist aber total einfach- am Automaten und mit Karte bezahlt.
      Unser Hotel war nicht weit vom Bahnhof entfernt und hieß -wie der große Sohn dieser Gegend- Leonardo da Vinci.
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    • Day 21

      Wandering the streets of Florence

      January 4, 2017 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 5 °C

      A wander down to a new bakery. We ordered a baguette and some brioches which are similar to croissants but heavier and sweeter. After breakfast we met a private tour guide who took us on a walk around the city and to see the Statue of David. She was just amazing; her knowledge and passion for the city had you engaged the whole time. We learnt so much about the city that will help us in the next few days. It was well and truly after lunch when we finished with her so we went to a place she recommended. So hungry we forgot to take a picture. After lunch we went to look at the leather shops that Florence is renowned for. She had told us where to go for the genuine leather products. We looked in one of the three she had suggested. The other two were high end. The man tried to sell Dave a leather jacket. We left the shop and then Dave was keen to go back and look at the jackets, so we go back inside and I must say he was a good salesman as Dave walked out with a jacket. Brodie's comment was 'we would be licking an apple for the next few nights', because that would be all we could afford! It was Dave's birthday present. After that we crossed the river and hiked up the hill to get a view of the city. We thought it would be a good day to get the sun setting but the clouds came in. We had a gelati up there. Then we walked back down and meandered back to our apartment. We cut through the train station to get to our apartment. There is always plenty of military there patrolling. We have well and truly walked our leggies off today. I have done over 20,000 steps, in Paris we were averaging over 15,000. We will all sleep well tonight

      Photo 1 - Statue of David
      Photo 2 - Streets of Florence
      Photo 3 - Gelati time
      Photo 4 - The quirky signs around Florence
      Photo 5 & 6 Arno river
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    • Day 23

      Epiphany Parade in Florence

      January 6, 2017 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 0 °C

      Today on the 6th of January is Epiphany for Florence. The 12th day of Christmas where the three wise men present their gifts.

      Another late start, sometimes you need a catchup morning. I walked down to the bakery, but not too hopeful of any being open as it's a holiday day here. It wasn't open but we had bread and some left over brioches from the previous morning. We ventured out after 10am and headed to the river while the sun was out. We had our thermals back on today, the temperature has dropped again. It is extremely cold again, expected to go up to +2. Brain freeze cold! On our way down to the river we come across an old car parade, so we stopped and watched the cars for a while. We wandered around the streets and we found a place for lunch. We had lovely pasta and pizza. Then Brodie ordered a cheesecake yum yum. Kellie & I shared a bit after tasting Brodie's. Not like our cheesecakes. After lunch we headed back for the Epiphany Parade that was starting at 2pm. We had left our map home so didn't really know were it was. It just happened that we ran into the start of it. The period costumes were just beautiful, but you could tell they were cold. After the parade we headed back to our apartment as we were all bit flat and cold. Called into the shops to pick up something for tea. We were back in our warm apartment by 4.30pm.

      Photo 1 - Streets of Florence
      Photo 2 - Car parade
      Photo 3 & 4 - Lunch
      Photo 5 & 6 - Epiphany Parade
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    • Day 22

      Florenz

      August 12, 2017 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 20 °C

      Von Nizza nach Florenz mussten wir zweimal umsteigen. Der erste Zug, von Nizza nach Ventimiglio war ein Regionalzug ohne Reservierungen. Die Fahrt dauerte 50min und der Zug war so richtig voll. Wir standen also eingepfercht wie Sardinen in dem Zug, die Luft war stickig, was dem Kreislauf auch nicht sonderlich gut tat...
      Endlich raus aus dem Zug nahmen wir dann den nächsten nach Milano (mit Reservierung) um von dort weiter, mit einem Hochgeschwindigkeitszug, nach Florenz zu fahren. In Florenz sicherten wir uns erstmal die Plätze in den Zügen nach Hause, dann gingen wir zu unserer Unterkunft, wo ein gemütliches Doppelzimmer auf uns wartete.

      Da Florenz Schauplatz des Films Inferno (Dan Brown) war und Dino ein Filme Narr ist, verbrachten wir den Abend damit alle Plätze raus zu suchen die im Film vorkamen.

      Am nächsten Tag, machten wir uns auf den Weg um die Stadt zu erkunden. Am morgen war es noch eher kühl, am Nachmittag hatten wir dann wieder um die 28grad.
      Wir starteten beim Piazzale Michelangiolo, wo wir einen tollen Ausblick über die wunderschöne Stadt und die Toskana hatten.
      Wir verließen den Platz und gingen weiter zum Piazza de Pitti, dort konnten wir den riesigen Palazzo Pitti sehen. Wir wollten in den Garten di Boboli, aber dafür musste man Eintritt zahlen, also ließen wir es vorerst bleiben und marschierten weiter über die Brücke Ponte Vecchio, unter dem Vasarikorridor zum Palazzo di Vecchio. Dort besuchten wir das Museum und den Turm. Im Museum kamen wir in den Saal der 500 und fanden Dantes Maske, welche auch im Film vorkamen.

      Wir schlenderten weiter die engen Gassen entlang und genossen den typisch italienischen Flair den diese Stadt verbreitete. Wir hatten das Gefühl in eine andere Zeit zurück versetzt worden zu sein - Bella Italia 😍
      Die vielen Chinesen und Japaner holten uns aber wieder in das hier und jetzt zurück...

      Nach einem kleinen Mittags Snack am Piazza S. Croce kamen wir zum Dom.
      Der Dom ist wohl das imposanteste Bauwerk von Florenz. Ein riesiger Dom mit einer wunderschönen Fassade. Am Eingang hatte sich jedoch schon eine sehr sehr sehr lange Schlange gebildet und wir waren uns nicht sicher ob wir ein Ticket bräuchten oder nicht, also beschlossen wir das Gebäude nur von außen zu bestaunen.
      So gingen wir weiter zum Piazza S. Marco und zur Basilika von San Lorenzo. Von dort gelangten wir auf einen Markt und in eine Markthalle wo man, glaube ich, alles bekommt. Von Gemüse, Fisch, Fleisch bis zu Gewürze...

      Von dort kamen wir zum Piazza S. Maria Novella, wo wir uns im Schatten entspannten und die Bauwerke auf uns wirken ließen. Ja hier gibt es wirklich viele tolle Piazza's, die alle zum Verweilen einladen. 😍
      (Achtung Verwechslungsgefahr: Übersetzt Plätze nicht Pizza's 😝)
      Unser Weg führte uns über eine Brücken zum Piazza S. Spirito und wieder zum Palazzo de Pitti.
      Da es erst halb 4 war beschlossen wir uns den Garten di Boboli doch anzusehen.
      Ein sehr schöner und ruhiger Garten/Park, mit einer Größe von 4,5 Hektar in dem es viele Skulpturen 🗿und tolle Brunnen ⛲️zu entdecken gab.
      Und wir fanden auch genau die Stelle im Garten, wo eine Szene vom Film Inferno gedreht wurde. Man kann sich vorstellen wie sehr sich Dino darüber gefreut hat ☺️
      Ein weiteres Highlight des Gartens war die Grotte der Medici und der Dicke Zwerg auf der Schildkröte....

      Schön langsam verspürten wir Hunger, Waren wir doch schon 17km unterwegs... Wir machten uns also auf die Suche nach einem netten Lokal und aßen als Vorspeise Tortellini/Cannelloni und teilten uns dann eine Pizza, die Pizza war echt sowas von lecker 😋🍕Dazu tranken wir etwas Wein.

      Wir waren nun in der letzten Stadt unserer Reise angelangt und auch dieser Tag neigte sich langsam dem Ende zu. Von der Brücke Ponte S. Trinita konnten wir beobachten wie die Sonne langsam am Horizont verschwand.
      Ein perfekter Abschluss für eine tolle Reise 🗺

      Erschöpft vielen wir in unser Bett und schliefen uns so richtig aus, bevor wir uns auf den Weg nach Hause machten.
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    • Day 53

      Conclusion of Italy

      June 22, 2015 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

      After our beautiful italian advenure of the end bit of the boot of italy, it was time to explore the tuscany regions of orvieto, Siena and Florence!

      Orvieto! A small town located on top of a volcanic rock! This small down was build before the Romans, and is very unique! Not only does the town have beautiful hill views, but has underground tunnels through the city! We did a walking cave tour through these tunnels, and it was very impressive to see how these people lived! We visted a beautiful church, and st patriks well, and was greeted by stuffed wild boar...which they eat. We decided not to try this....

      And now...siena! Again...a beautiful town surrounded by the tuscan skys, hills and vine yards in every direction! A very nice town to just walk around and eat gelato! We did a lot of relaxing during our stay here! I even took a swim in the hotel pool without a swimming cap...and yes..got yelled at! Italians dont appreciate you swimming in their pool without a cap! Siena was beautiful, but our adventure selves wanted to go exploring! So off we went! A two hour train trip to pisa! Thats right! Just to see the big leaning tower!.... totally worth the pictures of us pushing it over!

      Florence! Here we sung karaoke at the backpacking bar, making a full of ourselves and ate just about everything! We explored the leather markets and the famous bridge over the water! Florence was beautiful...but not as impressive as Rome..and i was reallg missing the beach..so we though a day trip to cinque terre was in order!

      Cinque Terre... one of the most famous places in europe to visit! I had high expectations of this beautiful place! And i am not going to lie...after visiting Capri..i was slightly dissapointed! Yes it was beautiful..amazing waters.... and a Great hike! But i felt the Australian in me..and thought that we also had pretty amazing walks as well! If i had to choose between Cinque Terre or Capri...i would have to choose Capri! Even the water wasnt as clear when you went in! I guess tourist have trashed it...and if it wasnt as populated... i bet it would of been more beautiful! However...if you dont visit the sorrento, amalfi coast, capri areas... do Cinque Terre! Because...why not!

      Conclusion of Italy!
      Is the food really amazing in Italy?
      Pasta... it is okay....pizza... pretty good!.... Gelato... life. Absolutly amazing..!

      The food was amazing in the first week and a half in italy! However it is very repetitive! Not much meat is on the pasta or pizza...and if you eat out...it can be very pricy, as you have to order 4 courses to get full!

      Next stop is two towns in france, Nice and Avignon! Then SPAIN! Bring on thd churros and sliders! Yummmm
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    • Day 20

      Florence

      January 3, 2017 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 5 °C

      We are off to Florence today. A buffet breakfast was included in our accommodation. That was a nice change to walk down and have it all laid out for you. Turin (Torino) is a very architectural town, it is called the royal city. In the earlier days Royals used to live here, hence the lovely buildings. Today I'm not wearing thermals and I won't go into a description of how good that feels. The sun is shining and beautiful blue sky, it instantly makes you feel good. A quick walk to the train station and we boarded at 11.30.  It is always interesting getting on the train. Everyone has luggage and you have to lift it up on luggage racks above your seats. They really need one way traffic as it's every man for himself. Kellie and I need Dave or Brodie to lift our luggage up, but people are so impatient they expect you to haul yourself and luggage out of the way. Today a man shoved us out the way then proceeded to tell us we were in his seat. It's all good fun.The train temp gauge said it's 11 degrees outside, a warm day .We traveled at 300km/h so the countryside whizzed by. We arrived in Florence about 2.30pm and had a short walk to our apartment. We did our grocery shopping, once again always challenging in a new country. I will never complain about our checkouts. Here in Europe you have a job to keep up with putting the groceries up, then they literally throw them on the other side and you have to quickly pack your own bags. By the time we leave we are all frazzled. Cooked tea and resting, ready to explore a new city.

      Photo 1 - Breakfast
      Photo 2 - Building in Turin
      Photo 3, 4- View as we left Turin
      Photo 5 - Speed of train
      Photo 6 - Packet of chips, flavour tomato and they tasted just like hot chips and sauce.
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    • Day 9

      Firenze or Bust

      July 13, 2017 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

      We were up early (by our standards) in order to be packed and ready to leave by 10 am. Brad got up extra early in order to go to the bakery and buy us a loaf of still-warm bread.

      We had breakfast, got showered, and packed everything up. Our taxi arrived at 9:55 and we were off to Termini Station to catch our train.

      On the train we were able to sit in a foursome with a table in the middle. This allowed us to eat our snacks around lunchtime. Brad and I also had espressos as well as some small cookies he bought (Evan had cookies, no espresso!). The train was a high speed train, so we were traveling at 240 km/h through the countryside. I thought I might read a bit, but the view was too pretty to stop looking at. There were lots of little towns on hilltops, which looked very cool. The whole trip took less than 90 minutes from station to station.

      We quickly caught a taxi from the station in Florence and were at our apartment in 10 minutes. Giorgio met us and showed us the place - our jaws dropped! It is huge and gorgeous! We have a big garden just outside our kitchen doors and Evan's room is huge! Giorgio is a grandpa, so he also showed us a picture of his grandkids - he is such a kind man! He also gave us a bottle of chilled Prosecco to enjoy later!

      After settling in, we walked to S. Forno and bought mortadella, focaccia, and a soft Tuscan cheese. We also stopped in at CarreFour to grab fruit and yogurt. Evan spied a blue raspberry Fanta, so he got that too. Once home, we ate another small lunch to tide us over until supper. It's unusual to have supper before 7:30 in Italy, so we have had some very late meals.
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    • Day 73

      Florence

      July 4, 2018 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

      We travelled today from Positano to Florence starting with a 90 min drive to Naples then a further 3 hour train ride. We checked in at the hotel C-Joy near the station and went for a walk around Florence.Read more

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    Giardino di Pal Corsini Sul Prato

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