Rain and shine in Tuscany
Trip Start
Apr 08, 2007
1
36
144
Trip End
Oct 01, 2007
Florence,
Italy
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
We snagged a discounted room in a hotel right by the main train station. Despite fears that it would be terribly noisy, the rooms in fact face an interior courtyard and are practically silent. The bed's a tad hard and the pillows rather lumpy, but you can't complain in a city this glutted with tourists. It beats having to deal with an older Korean guy snoring like a chainsaw throughout the night and mosquitoes eating you alive (like I had at the Venice hostel). Ok, well, we had a couple mosquitoes last night, but that's only because I left the window open.
Anyhow .
Campanile, Duomo and baptistry, Florence
. .It was surprisingly chilly and blustery upon our arrival here yesterday. After the baking heat in Venice, I expected more of the same (or worse) in Tuscany. Instead we had a rather patchy first day of gigantic cumulus clouds streaking across the skies and the sun ducking away for twenty minutes or so only to return when you least expect it. We had to wait things out quite a bit for the ideal view over town from the campanile, but it eventually came. The Duomo is covered in a few spots by scaffolding - as is the battistero (baptistry) - but not so much as to detract from its beauty. The Ponte Vecchio was just as busy and tourist-clogged as ever, though Mayu was intrigued by its interesting appearance and total dedication to jewelry vendors.
With three days at our disposal here, we've decided to do a couple half-daytrips. Neither of us are tremendous fans of Renaissance art, so we've passed on the usual museum circuit for the moment. I've already done the Uffizi and Accademia, so it's really up to Mayu whether or not we hit one of the two or the Palazzo Pitti instead. But with that in mind, we had a busier morning today, heading straight up to Piazzale Michelangelo for the spectacular panoramas over the city, then rushing back to the station for a train to Siena. Since I've missed the place on previous visits, this was a new experience for me, so I was greatly looking forward to it.
I have to say though that for its tremendous reputation, Siena didn't overly wow me
Front of the Duomo
. It is unquestionably scenic and historic, but I guess I was expecting something more pastoral in the surroundings. The weather didn't help though - it turned almost totally overcast right after we got in and then we got thoroughly rained out just after visiting the Duomo! That meant we had to cut the visit a bit short, which was unfortunate, but we did get a good impression of the place. The main square, Piazza del Campo, is certainly among the most unique I've seen in Italy, with its sloping, wide-open plaza sweeping down towards the Palazzo Publico. And the Duomo itself was a real marvel - an amazingly ornate white Gothic cathedral with its front facade a stunning mix of black, green and salmon tones. Apart from that and wandering a few of its sun-baked brownish-orange backstreets, we didn't get to pack much else in apart from a mad dash back to the station in the rain.Finding a suitable ATM in Florence has been a little tricky, as we found out this morning. I managed to pull out a bit of money, but as of yet Mayu can't find one that'll accept her card. Hopefully Rome will have more cashpoints on the Plus network. In the meantime, we've got one more day here tomorrow, at least the first half of which we'll be spending in Pisa. Whatever time we have after that we'll spend ambling around Florence. If we can swing it, I'd like to track down some good pasta at a cheap, homey trattoria and follow it up with some local gelato. Last night's meal came up a bit of a disappointment, and I can't leave Florence without at least one fabulous Italian dinner.
That's a wrap for now.
