Wednesday 8 August 2007

Waking at about 9am I once again went for breakfast in the restaurant, although at a more leisurely pace than the previous day. Once finished I went back to my room to pack and discovered that I had lost my camera. Being small I had tucked it into my handbag and having checked with the hotel that they didn’t have it, I realized that it had obviously fallen out in the taxi when I got my purse out to pay (I know I had it when I got in the taxi as I had just taken pictures of the statues on the bridge). I did ask the hotel if they could contact the taxi companies for me to see if they could track it down, but they said it was too difficult. Apparently every taxi in Florence is white and unless I could tell them the company and the number of the cab they couldn’t help. Bitterly disappointed, I returned to my room to finish packing. I was disappointed to lose the hundreds of photos I’d taken of Pisa, San Gimignano, Siena, the wedding and Florence. I toyed vaguely with the idea of dragging my larger camera out of the case and rushing back into town to try and take some pictures, but of course I knew that I would never manage to capture all the ones I’d previously taken in the short time available and with the heat I couldn’t really face spending almost 2 hours walking into and out of town. I decided that it gave me a good excuse to visit Florence and all the other places I’d so enjoyed on the holiday again and I knew that I would be able to get wedding photos from others. Instead I decided to go for a long swim in the hotel pool.

With only a couple of hours left before I had to leave for the airport I decided to have lunch in the hotel. I had just chosen a chicken salad when the storm started. What started as a little downpour with a bit of thunder and lightning soon turned into a monsoon that seemed as if it would never stop. Lucky I hadn't chosen to go into town otherwise i would have been caught in it. Twenty minutes later and the old part of the hotel was flooding. The concierge suggested that I leave for the airport early as the weather had got so bad he was worried that I might not be able to get there. By the time the taxi arrived about 20 minutes later the flooding had reached the step of the hotel and I had to wade through an ankle deep lake to reach it. The journey took ages as we had to make many diversions, several of the roads were closed, trees having come down across them, also because of flooding and in places those large rubbish bins had been blown into the road blocking them. Finally we reached the airport, but by the time I got inside I was soaked. I spent the next couple of hours waiting for check in to open (thank god I had my I-Pod with me) and when it finally did I was glad to get down to the departure lounge. Firenze airport is not large and the duty free was closed, but there was a shop selling Italian produce and I bought a couple of bottles of Vernaccia di San Gimignano, a couple of bars of chilli and absinthe chocolate and some biscuits for work before settling down to wait for the plane.

Obviously the bad weather had delayed all the planes and we were held up for an hour or so, but the rain finally stopped and everything started to get back on track. Of course the rain started again just before it was time for me to get on the plane and we got soaked running for the bus, then having to sit around (with the doors open in the freezing cold, the temperature having dropped about 20 degrees) for about 15 minutes before we finally got taken to the plane. Fortunately, the rain stopped just before we took off so we had a smooth flight home, finally arriving back about 9pm.

I had a wonderful time in Italy and loved every place I visited, especially Florence, which has now become my second home after New Orleans. I can’t wait to go back again, and I look forward to visiting other parts of the country in the future too.

Tuesday 7 August 2007

I woke bright and early the following morning and after a quick breakfast in the hotel restaurant headed out to walk into town again as I had 3 more tours booked with Artviva for the day.

The first which started at 9.30am was ‘The Original Florence Walk’, a 3 hour tour which took us to several churches to see the frescoes and statues, to the Piazza della Signoria which contains the Palazzo Vecchio, the Uffizi Gallery, the Loggia dei Lanzi, Palace of the Tribunale della Mercanzia, the Uguccioni Palace, the grand fountain of Neptune and of course, most famously a copy of the statue of Michelangelo’s David. The Loggia has many fabulous sculptures including a favourite piece of mine, the marvelous Rape of the Sabine Women by Giambologna and Benvenuto Cellini’s bronze sculpture of Perseus. Finally we went to the Duomo where we heard more history and stories of the Medici’s and got to look at the fantastic art. Our guide was Cynthia and she was very entertaining and informative, and was also kind enough to suggest other places to visit and gave me a recommendation for a jeweller so I could get some charms for my bracelet. Once the tour finished I went for quick look round the shops, bought a pannini for lunch and made my way back to the office for the second tour of the day.

This tour was ‘Masterpieces of the Uffizi Gallery’ and was conducted by Christina. Also taking the tour were the husband and wife couple that I had gone on the Oltrarno tour with. It gave us easy access to the Gallery (no 3 hours of queuing to get in) and we got to see the best of the Renaissance art housed within. Christina is an art historian so she also showed us other works of art that she felt were worth checking out and then suggested many others that we should see before we left. It was amazing to see such fantastic works as the ‘Birth of Venus’ and ‘Primavera’ by Botticelli in real life. I really enjoyed the tour, but the heat and all the walking was beginning to take its toll, especially as the Uffizi has a lot of stairs. I could have happily spent all afternoon in the Uffizi, but of course I had booked another tour and had to get back to the office to pick it up (the worst part of the tours was always ending up miles away from the office and having to walk back again). On the way out I bumped into the mother and daughter couple from the previous night’s tour and had a chat with them before they headed off to see the Pitti Palace. En route I stopped in Oro Due, the jeweller that Cynthia had suggested and bought a beautiful Florencian Iris set with a ruby for the stunningly cheap price of £55. It is an old fashioned artisan shop selling gold in the old way, the price is dependent on the level of craftsmanship and the price of gold bullion on the day. They have many stunning pieces and will definitely be one of my places to visit the next time I go to Florence.

Finally I made my way to join the last tour of the day ‘The Original David Tour’. I have to admit I did think about dropping out of this as I was quite tired from all the walking by then and wasn’t sure I could manage the walk up to the Accademia dell’Arte but Christina was taking this tour too and she talked me into going. Boy was I glad I did. Having seen the copy in the Piazza della Signoria I have to admit I wasn’t overly impressed by Michelangelo’s David, and wasn’t expecting anything much different with the original. However, once again at least with the tour I didn’t have to queue for hours. On the approach to what must be the most famous statue in the world, there are other statues by Michelangelo, namely ‘The Captives’ that are in various stages of completion. It is fascinating to see the figures emerging from the marble, as if rising from a bath. The figures were commissioned to go round the tomb of Pope Julius II. Originally there were supposed to have been 40 of them, a feat that Michelangelo could never have managed in his lifetime, although he accepted the commission anyway. Once you have passed these immense figures you finally get through to the alcove that David stands in. I will admit to being completely astonished at my reaction to the statue. It is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in my life and it almost reduced me to tears. After listening to Christina’s talk on the statue I spent a good 40 minutes just walking round it examining in detail the 18ft creation. Every part of it is exquisite, so perfectly carved that he looks as if he is just about to step off the pedestal at any moment, almost alive. Once I had recovered enough to move on I visited another room of various and generally rather good sculptures before finally leaving.

Walking back I stopped first for a lager at a roadside café and then for a large and lovely ice cream - hazelnut, tiramisu and straticelli. I had decided to make my way back over to Oltrarno and have dinner in another of the Piazza della Passera restaurants. As I walked towards the Ponte Vecchio I found another jewellers, Saccardi, selling charms at exceedingly reasonable prices and after a discussion with the owner purchased a small Ponte Vecchio and statue of David for less than £80! Definitely a bargain when a few minutes later I found the same charms for over 3 times the price in a jewellers on the Ponte Vecchio.

I wandered through the Oltrarno, browsing the shops and enjoying the completely different atmosphere to the other side of the river and eventually found 4Leoni. As it was fairly early I managed to get a table without too much trouble although it was at the back of this very popular restaurant (they have an extensive collection of pictures of the famous people who have eaten at this marvelous restaurant). The menu was completely in Italian but by now I was recognizing a few words and so managed to order my meal without any trouble. To start I had parma ham and melon with rustic bread, followed by tagliatelle pasta with black truffles. I decided to have some more of the Vernaccia di San Gimignano to go with it. Shortly after I sat down the table next to me was filled with an English couple who, I found out, once I got talking to them were on their honeymoon. They had been to Venice and Rome and were heading to Siena the following day. Obviously I got talking to them about the wedding and Siena in general and soon I was showing them the photos on my camera. At the end of the meal I didn’t want a dessert, already having had the ice cream earlier, so instead had a Limoncello. Then I slowly wandered back over the Ponte Santa Trinita, but by now I’d been out of the hotel for about 15 hours and had walked about the same number of miles and was completely knackered. So instead of the intended 3 mile walk home I found a taxi in the Piazza Santa Trinita. The taxi dropped me at the hotel and after quickly dropping my stuff off in the room I wandered down to the bar from the previous night where I had a glass of wine and ‘chatted’ to some of the people there. However, I really was shattered so I soon made my way back to the hotel and went to bed.

Monday 6 August 2007

I had a long leisurely breakfast before saying my goodbyes to Jo and Paul and the rest of the wedding party that were left. The hotel suggested I get a bus to Florence rather than the train as they are more regular, quicker and cheaper. I got a taxi to the bus station as it was at right at the top of Siena and I couldn’t face lugging my case all that way uphill by hand. Once there I queued in the underground ticket office and was soon on my way – a bargain at only 5 euros. I settled back to enjoy a picturesque journey through classic Tuscan countryside and about an hour later was at the bus station in Florence. The first thing I noticed was how much hotter it was than Siena.


As I didn’t have a clue where my hotel was I decided to get a taxi which involved leaving the bus station, going through the shopping centre and out to the train station where the taxi rank was. The ride to my hotel took me past all the historical sights, a mini tour in itself. One of my requirements for my Florence stay was to have ‘a room with a view’ and preferably a view of the Arno (yep I know, I’m an old romantic and I love the Merchant Ivory film, watching it only days before I went to Italy and seeing it again when I returned, with a whole new perspective). I had booked the Ville sull’ Arno as it was an original Florentine Villa overlooking the Arno and it had a swimming pool. It really was a beautiful hotel and I had a lovely room that was actually on the river, opposite the rowing club, although it was a little further out of town than I had expected. Having spent a few minutes unpacking, I sat down on my balcony over the river to watch the rowers and ate the roll I had bought the previous day. Eventually I headed towards the town centre to explore and find the office of the trip I was booked to go on that evening.


It was when I started walking towards town that I realised just how far out it was (it turned out to be 3 miles). According to reviews I’d read they’d said it was 15 minutes from the old town, and it was – the very outskirts of the old town, however to get to the Ponte Vecchio took another 30 minutes of walking in 90 degree temperatures without any shade, although to be fair it was a pleasant walk along the banks of the Arno. I finally managed to find the office for the tour, but had some time to wait so wandered to the Piazza della Republica where I stopped at one of the restaurants and had picci pasta with wild mushrooms and a beer. It was delightful to sit under the canopy that was spraying water to cool you down and just watch the world go by. Soon it was time to meet for the tour that was run by Artviva.

The tour I had chosen was an evening walk around the Oltrarno (the other side of the river). It was a relaxing tour with a small group – only 5 of us, the others being Americans (a mother and daughter and a married couple). The tour guide Christina was incredibly knowledgeable about Florence and the Medici’s. She took us over the Ponte Vecchio, stopping to explain its history (and to warn us not to buy any gold from there) and through ancient cobble stoned streets, where we saw the Palazzo Pitti and heard scandalous tales of murder and mayhem. We saw a medieval hospice in the Piazza Santo Spirito where Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci used to do secret autopsies and saw artisans workshops virtually out of the Renaissance. She took us to the Piazza della Passera, which she said contained the 3 best places to eat in the whole of Florence and finally to a wine bar where we had a glass of Vernaccia di San Gimignano. We had all enjoyed the evening so much that we decided to stay together and headed back to the Piazza where we got a table at one of the aforementioned restaurants and enjoyed a lovely meal with another bottle of the Vernaccia. I had the Florentine steak, which was cooked perfectly and sliced thinly over a green salad.

Eventually, we made our way back over the river and said our goodbyes and I walked back to the hotel, stopping at an outdoor bar in the local park for a last glass of wine.I was amazed at how busy the place got on a Monday night, soon a large group of people had arrived and they started talking to me, a bit of a problem as none of them spoke English and obviously my Italian hadn’t improved any. However, they soon had me sitting in their group and all took turns to try and talk to me and make me feel at ease in the bar, which was a really nice thing for them to do. I didn't stay long, but felt it was a really good end to the evening.

(Note: the pictures were taken on the last day of my holiday just before the monsoon started. the original photos were lost with my camera)

Sunday 5 August 2007

After a long lie in on Sunday I decided to have a final wander around Siena (even managing to go downhill at one point), during which I found most of the fountains and churches of the contrade. (Siena is split into 17 contrade or districts, each with their own traditions, church, museum, bar and club, symbol, colours and fountains). Siena is a strange place on Sunday. Being a catholic country (and with all those churches) you would think that the place would be closed. However, tourism is obviously important enough that it ensures that most of the stores stay open, even when you get into the heart of each contrade. So of course a little shopping was in order. I found a brooch and earrings in the shape of Venetian masks (there are several very beautiful mask shops in Siena and I needed a brooch for the dress I was wearing that evening). I also added to my postcards collection. After an ice cream, hazelnut and chocolate mint this time, I met up with mum and dad. We stopped at a local delicatessen so I could get a panini and an interesting roll which had ham, cheese and sundried tomatoes in it which I saved for my lunch the following day. Soon we were back at the hotel, once again relaxing before going out for a meal for the evening.

The fifteen of us that were left decided to make our way back to the ‘Antica Osteria da Divo’ which we had enjoyed so much on Friday night, but although all the guide books said it was open on Sundays, unfortunately it wasn’t. Instead we went to a restaurant near the Duomo, opting for a pizza and pasta evening. After the excitement and late night of the previous day I was feeling completely shattered and whilst everyone else decided to sit in the courtyard for a while I went to bed after saying goodbye to mum and dad who were leaving at 6.30am the following morning.

Saturday 4 August 2007

So the day of the wedding finally dawned. Mum and Dad went back out into the town but most of us spent the day at the hotel, relaxing and chatting. After sharing pizzas for lunch, the girls congregated in the bride’s room to drink pink champagne and put the finishing touches to the favours boxes and the guys … well I have no idea what they were doing. Sharon’s husband Gerard was flitting between the two rooms capturing lots of fantastic pictures of the day. Soon the hairdresser had arrived and had done Jo and Sharon’s hair and makeup and it was time for the rest of us to go and get ready as we still had to walk through the town to the Piazza del Campo before the bride got there.



We met in the courtyard of the hotel at 5.15pm and all took a slow walk to the venue. The weather was a perfect 28 degrees and we soon got to the Palazzo Pubblico where another wedding had just finished. We spent a few minutes watching the wedding party having their photos taken before it was time for us to go and take our places in a beautifully decorated room within the building. The place was lovely, but a little warm as there was no air conditioning. Fortunately mum had bought all the ladies fans, which were very useful. A cellist played while we waited and it wasn’t long before Jo and Dad arrived. I may be biased as she’s my sister but I can honestly say she was the perfect bride. She looked absolutely stunning. Her dress was fantastic and the veil, covered in diamante sparkled in the sunlight as she walked down the aisle, a real vision to behold.





The ceremony was conducted by an Italian official with an English translation by the wedding planner. After the laws were read, and the vows taken Tracy (Paul’s sister) and I were called to the desk to sign as official witnesses, Jo’s friend Karen read a poem and then the wedding was over. The Palazzo is a museum as well as the town hall so a few photos were taken in one of the galleries outside before we went outside to throw rose petal confetti over the bride and groom as they emerged from the town hall. We then spent quite a while in the Campo having photos taken by the official photographer and Gerard followed by a visit to one of the restaurants in the Piazza to have champagne while the photographer took Jo and Paul all over Siena to get some more fantastic shots.

Eventually it was time to go to the restaurant for the reception. This involved a walk uphill (although of course everywhere in Siena is uphill) which was a bit of a problem for those in high heels, but we had soon made our way to the ‘Ristorante Enoteca al Marsili’ which was a lovely traditional Tuscan place. The tables were decorated with big candelabras and diamante was glistening on the pure white tablecloths. Soon we had all taken our places and were tucking into the fabulous feast. The hors d’oeuvres were Siena-style canapés (or crostini), followed by Tuscan Ribollita (a vegetable and bread soup) and then creamed tortelloni with pine nuts and rocket salad. The entrée was sirloin steak with mushrooms, roast potatoes and vichy carrots. Finally we finished with a slice of the divine Millefoglie wedding cake. This was all washed down with a choice of Chianti Classico or Vernaccia San Gimignano. The evening was very pleasant with a lot of laughter a few tears and hundreds of photos being taken. After we had finished our meal we made our way back down to the Piazza del Campo to continue celebrating the evening with a few more beers. Jo, Paul, Steve and I finally made our way back to the hotel at 3am, Jo and I removing our shoes to make the twenty minute walk home as our feet were killing us by then. It was really the perfect day.

Friday 3 August 2007

Whilst Jo and Paul went off to make the final arrangements for their wedding, Mum, Dad and I spent the morning exploring Siena, looking at the many varied historical buildings and checking out the Contrada fountains. We took a bus tour of the city, which was interesting and showed far more than we would have seen had we just been walking around, giving us information on the various Contradas and churches that were dedicated to them.

Piazza del Campo

After lunch in a café, Mum and I then visited the Torture Museum down by the Piazza del Campo, whilst Dad went back to the hotel for a rest. This was an interesting if rather gruesome museum containing over 100 pieces of torture equipment each with information detailing their uses. The worst part about it is that many of the items on display are still used in certain parts of the world on a regular basis and the addition of electricity makes them even more dangerous. We then took a slow walk back to the hotel, stopping for a bit of shopping en-route, where I bought some beautiful silver and amber heart shaped stud earrings from a lovely and unusual jewellery shop.

Piazza del Campo

In the evening those of us staying at the hotel made our way to the Piazza del Campo where we met up with the rest of the wedding party. All 23 of us went to one of the Piazza restaurants where we had another lovely meal which was followed by a few drinks in one of the Piazza’s bars. He evening soon became an impromptu stag/hen night and great fun was had by all. The last few of us finally made our way back to the hotel at approximately 2am.

Sharon & Jo

Karen & Jo
(Photos from Mum and Dad)

Thursday 2 August 2007

Thursday morning Mum, Dad and I set off for Siena expecting the journey to take just under 2 hours. Unfortunately, the route map that had been given to us sent us round the outskirts of Florence and we got caught in the traffic on the ring road so instead the journey took well over 3 hours. Jo and Paul were waiting for us when we finally found the hotel Il Chiostro del Carmine which was a beautiful ex Carmelite monastery towards the top end of the town. The stairs were a death trap and it was a hearty walk to get up them, but the rooms were generally very nice and the view from Jo & Paul’s window was exquisite showing the quintessential Tuscan countryside I had always imagined it.

Having settled into our respective rooms we all took a drive to San Gimignano, a beautiful hill town about 40 minutes drive from Siena. A few pleasant hours were spent walking its streets, taking in the attractive scenery including the famous towers and doing a little shopping. We found a lovely store called L’Erbario Toscano, which is similar to L’Occitane. Jo bought some rose perfume and I bought the cinnamon & orange perfume and shower gel. Of course there was ice cream – in my case scrummy hazelnut.

Once back at the hotel we met up with Sharon and Gerard (Jo’s Matron of Honour and friend from Australia and her hubby) and made our way to a great restaurant, the ‘Antica Osteria da Divo’ which is actually housed in some Etruscan Tombs. The food was interesting and very good with such fare as pici pasta with wild mushrooms, risotto served in a pecorino cheese and tuscan beef. Between courses we were plied with extras, a glass of sparkling wine as an aperitif, a cheese and ham dumpling whilst waiting for our starters and a tuscan cake whilst waiting for desserts, with chocolates and biscuits with the coffee. It was a very reasonable meal, and we all left completely stuffed. Jo mentioned that they had wanted to hold their reception there, but unfortunately the layout of the restaurant (it is on 3 levels) meant that we wouldn’t have been able to all sit together – a shame as it was a really lovely place.

(Thanks to Jo and Gerard for the photos)

Wednesday 1 August 2007

I left for the airport at 4am, somewhat tired but looking forward to my first visit to Italy. After months of planning it was finally happening and I was looking forward to getting some much needed decent Summer weather rather than the rain we've been having in the UK.

Everything was running smoothly and on time so I arrived at Pisa airport just after 11 am. Of course, this is when it dawned on me that for the first time ever I was somewhere where I didn't know a single word of the language. Everywhere else I have been has either been English speaking or I have at least known a few words to help me find my way around. But as I stood outside the airport trying to work out how and where to get the bus into town, I realised I was stuck. I literally couldn't even remember simple phrases such as 'hello' or 'thank you' and of course couldn't work out the bus timetable at all. A little old lady at the bus stop was talking to me effusively, but I couldn't understand a word she was saying and finding that the ticket machine was broken, I frustratedly went back into the airport to see if I could get a ticket and some help there. There was an amusing interlude where the ticket clerk misread my hotel reservation and tried to put me on a train for Bologna, before I managed to convince him that I only needed to get to the town centre. Soon I was back out at the bus stop and soon the red line bus came along which the old lady indicated I should board.

Soon we were in the centre of Pisa and I soon noticed a sign indicating my hotel. I prepared to get off the bus at the next available stop, but the old lady was going frantic trying to stop me from getting off. Eventually, we got off several stops further down the line and she kindly spent about 10 minutes trying to show and explain the direction to me. To be honest it was a hard task, but careful listening meant that I eventually picked up a few directions and soon set off in the blazing midday heat to find my hotel. There was no way I could find my way back to where I'd seen the signs so had to trust that I'd managed to pick up enough of an idea from the old lady to continue. Unfortunately, although I walked in the direction she had suggested, I could see no other signs indicating the presence of the hotel and so, finding myself on the main shopping street I headed for the chemist to see if I could get further instructions from them (rightly or wrongly I always head for a chemist if I need instructions as they tend to have people who can speak at least a few words of English). I was pleased to discover that I was actually only just round the corner from the hotel and although it wasn't quite as straightforward as her directions suggested I soon found my way to the Hotel Bologna. This was a lovely old type hotel - pensione style, with rooms with high ceilings and comfortable beds. The dining room was decorated in the most beautiful style with paintings of the buildings along the banks of the Arno on each side, giving the effect that you were actually sitting in the river whilst dining. There was also a small terrace, which was quiet enough to relax in.

Having unpacked the essentials, I decided to take a walk around Pisa (although I was intending to leave the Tower until mum and dad arrived later in the day). I wandered through the shopping area and over the river Arno, enjoying the lovely hot weather and beautiful blue skies. I wandered through the old town, and eventually stopped at a cafe to have a panini and a beer. It was while I was having this that I received a text from mum saying that they had arrived at the airport and were just leaving for the hotel. As soon as I finished my meal, I walked back, expecting them to have arrived, but there was no sign of them. So I went to wait on the terrace, with my book (the brilliantly haunting and beautiful 'The Savage Garden' by Mark Mills) and settled down to wait. I know that I fell asleep, and that some time later I went back to my room to get a bottle of water, and still they hadn't arrived. When they did finally make it to the hotel, they explained that they had followed the sign that I had seen from the bus and it had taken them all round the outskirts of Pisa - if I'd have got off there I'd probably have still been walking!

Once settled in their room we took a walk back down over the Arno and made our way to the Campo dei Miracoli (the Field of Miracles) containing the Duomo, the Baptistry and of course, the Leaning Tower of Pisa. I had been warned that it wasn't the biggest building in the world, but I was still pleased to see it. The beautiful carvings and gargoyles on that and the other buildings made it worth the visit, although I have to admit that once you've seen it, there isn't really all that much else to do in Pisa. We wandered back through the old streets eating pistachio icecream and then eventually stopped at a lovely restaurant in the old town where we had a lovely meal - bruschetta as a starter for mum and I followed by wild mushroom crepes for us and a calzone for dad. we also had a couple of bottles of wine and finished with desserts. A slow walk took us back to the hotel where we relaxed for an hour of so on the terrace with another couple of drinks, before heading off to bed. I was shattered having had such an early start and had no trouble getting to sleep in the comfortable bed provided by the hotel.

(Thanks to mum & dad for the photos)