Vacay, part 3 - Flo, flo, Florence

We researched what cities we wanted to visit in Italy via the web, guidebooks and recommendations from friends. We took mental notes as we narrowed the destinations down. Somewhere along the way we got our wires crossed and somehow thought that Florence was not a place we wanted to visit. We thought we had heard it was a scary city. Luckily we learned in time that it was Naples that our friends didn't like and in fact they looooved Florence. As you'll read and see below, we also had an amazing time in the city. It's all-around stunning and we were never bored.

Friday, Sept. 28
We arrived in Florence after a somewhat crazy morning at our Siena hotel. Note to readers: make sure you don't stay next to the hotel's breakfast room, especially if they serve cappuccinos and bang the coffee grounds out of the cappuccino maker loud enough to wake you up. 'Nuff said.

After a train ride from Siena to Florence, we checked in at Hotel David, an adorable bed and breakfast. We quickly checked in and then rushed to make our 2:30 reservations at the Accademia, home of the famous David statue. We started with a small exhibit about the history of musical instruments, which was especially fun for me as I used to play six different instruments. We ended with Michelangelo's David, which was very tall and quite stunning - more so than I expected.

We then walked around Florence, stopped for a quick lunch (caprese sandwich for me and pasta for Brent) at a cafeteria. Even what you'd think would be crappy food was still delicious. We visited Florence's gorgeous Duomo. The weather outside was very chilly and cloudy. We walked through the church and admired the beautiful decor. We also stopped outside to admire the intricate work of the gold doors of the Baptistery.

We continued to explore the city, crossing Florence's famous bridge, Ponte Vecchio. It's lined with jewelers and other vendors.

The city's cobblestone streets started to take their toll on my feet, so we tried to get a taxi to hotel. We found the nearest taxi stand, where the one taxi driver there refused to take us to our hotel because it wasn't far enough to be worth his time. It was still a 25-minute walk for us. He was unnecessarily rude and even laughed at us. That was the only low point in our Florence visit.

When we returned to our hotel, we did not feel like roaming too far for dinner. We asked the hotel receptionist (who really resembled Marketa Irglova from the movie Once) for a nearby recommendation. She sent us to a place called Gigi, just a couple of blocks away.

I started with bruchetta. Brent had antipasto and what he deemed as the "best, freshest olive ever."


My main dish was spaghetti with mussels. Brent had fettuccine with seafood.


We split a hazelnut torte for dessert, but we didn't get much of a picture of it.
Like nearly all of our dinners, we ordered wine. I was feeling adventurous, so we ordered a liter of red wine. (Most house wines are sold by the 1/2, full or 1 1/2 liter.)


Before the end of the meal, I was totally blitzed, while Brent was pretty buzzed.

Everything we ate was quite delicious, and obviously the wine was great. And this casual restaurant was more than reasonably priced.

Stuffed and feeling good, we giggled all the way back to the hotel.

Next up: Florence, Days 2 and 3

"Time is, eh, like empty bottle of wine. Only good when filled." - Bobby, The A-Team