It just keeps getting better.
We are on a train now, leaving Florence, Italy for Venice. Florence was everything I hoped it would be. It was a smaller big city (LOVE those), so it was much easier to walk around to the sights and to restaurants and to even go for a good hearty run with Dad. We arrived mid-day on Monday and decided to rent bikes to get an intro to the city. Bad idea on renting bikes first thing. We really had no idea where to go, and the lady who rented them to us was no help in guiding us. So, we headed away from the sights and what we thought was the city center congestion, and tried to find the river. We spent half our rental time finding the river and meanwhile, were stuck on some major streets with minimal space for bikes or even pedestrians. Quite the adventure!! We kind of just played follow the leader to the quietest road. Finally, we asked around and found a nice bike path for our squeaky rental bikes and navigated along a nice path.
Ma and Pa.
We decided that for meals, we were from now on referring to my Europe: On a Budget backpacker’s bible for restaurant recommendations. We headed to a small local place that first night, but had to wait a while because we arrived before they opened for dinner. So we walked the region (we were below the river, in a very non-tourist area) and sat on a park bench, watching the kids play soccer. One kid liked to cheat and would drop kick the ball into the goal every time. Of course, he scored and was super stoked because he thought he was a really good player. Once the restaurant opened, we found ourselves basically guessing on what we were ordering. You know it’s local when there’s no English menu and the waiter only speaks Italian. It turned out awesome though, and I ordered us frigoli (beans and tomatoes) to share as an appetizer. Nice lean protein. We kind of got laughed at by the locals, I’m sure. The family next to us was giggling about something in the way we ate. Probably, it had to do with the order we ate our food in. In Italy, they seem to eat their salads or other pre-meal dishes last, or at least on the side of their main course. We basically always ate our meals in Florence out of order. I just kind of wonder what locals find funny about our eating habits. That’s an interesting concept in itself.
Crazy purple flower tree.
First restaurant, very local near a family park.
On Tuesday, we got to see Michelangelo’s David. I kept calling it “Michelangelo’s Dave” because that’s what the Simpson’s call it on one episode. Dad and I would giggle every time one of us said “Dave”. We even found a box of Simpson’s chocolate biscotti (cookies). The box is def coming home as a souvenir. The David was sculpeted when Michelangelo was only 29 years old, but it was the piece of art that made him as famous as he was. The sculpture is huge in real life. His big toe was the size of my hand outstretched. We weren’t supposed to take pictures of it, but as you will see, I “didn’t notice the sign.”
We did all our sight seeing on Tuesday because Florence is so much smaller than Rome. We headed to the Duomo, which is the 4th largest church in Europe. It’s specific name is the Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral. It was HUGE. And gorgeous. Probably on my top 3 list of favorite European churches because it was so ornate, yet colorful, on the outside, and there was so much to it’s structure. The dome was incredible inside, and the people in the dome’s paintings even looked like they were sitting on a ledge that careened over us looking up, and it seemed as if their legs were hanging over the side. I decided I want to model my future kitchen floor after the marble pavement inside the Duomo. The mosaics inside the Duomo are incredible and tell a certain story, just like in every church we visited in Florence. It’s always so impressive to see how much effort goes into even the walls of the churches here. For lunch, we ate pizza and had a bottle of wine on a bench in the Piazza del Duomo. 
We also saw where the Medici family’s former castle was in the Piazza della Signoria. It’s an amazing plaza, and still stands as the major political and social area for Florentines. It has a copy of Michelangelo’s Dave, standing where the real one used to stand until 1873, and some other historical sculptures and art by Donatello and other popular artists. Lots of cafes too. There’s just so much meaning to these plazas and history too. Like in the Piazza Santa Novella. There used to be horse races inside it, and the church that faces it is soo historical and crazy beautiful inside.
The Duomo.
One of the most interesting Florentine churches on the inside, however, was the Santa Croce. It held the tombs of Galileo, Marconi (invented the radio), Di Vinci, Michelangelo, Dante Algheri, Machiavelli, Barolini (artist), Foscolo and Rossini. Dante was actually responsible for creating the current Italian language. (I learned this in Eat, Pray, Love by the way because I’m reading this again, being in Italy and all….) Most European countries named their language after the main city’s Latin-derived dialect. France decided the Parisians had the best dialect, so French is derived from the language of the Parisians. Portuguese, after the Lisbonians. Spanish, after the Madrians. However, with Italy, no one could decide on which city to pick. So they decided they’d pick the prettiest language. Everybody really liked how Dante Algheri wrote his poetry in The Divine Comedy. He hated Latin, thought it was corrupt. So he wrote his poetry based on the language of his city’s people, the Florentines. So, Italy based its country’s language on Dante’s language because it was the prettiest sounding when spoken aloud. Dante turned out to be much more important of a person than I originally thought, so seeing his tomb was very eerie.
Santa Croce.
Michelangelo's Tomb.
We visited the Ponte Vecchio in the evening, that bridge where expensive jewelery shops sit atop. The bridge was built for the Medici family so they wouldn’t have to cross into town from their residence, which lay in the Piazza Pitta, south of the river. We hit up another restaurant recommended by my guidebook, because the others had been so successful to try out. The one Tuesday evening was amazing. And the gnocchi was AMAZING. And pretty inexpensive too. We decided to be more Italian and try a bunch of courses, so we first ordered a pasta dish, then tried to share a meat dish of chicken and veggies. We filled up first, however, with that tempting bread and olive oil and olive paste, and had ordered a bottle of Tuscany wine…so the meal was super filling. I think they forgot our meat dish so we were sitting for awhile and the place was so small, that of course they noticed until I asked about it. The guy felt bad so he gave us 3 free shots of sweet liquor, called Marulla, or something of that nature. I don’t remember. Such a nice, yummy, authentic, cute, adorable, place out of Touristville. I was so happy with the night, I got gelato after. So of course, I was not only stuffed in bed, but super awake from all the glorious food calories giving my mind energy.
Ponte Vecchio.
Yummy dinner at San Spirito.
The last day, we saved to hang out and take our time walking through some small streets near our hotel. We had planned a wine tasting tour at a castle in the Chianti region of Tuscany. I was so proud because I heard through some good nosy detective work while waiting in line for the David about a great tour this girl was about to take. Found out it was at the Castle de Verrazzano. It was in the Chianti region near a small town called Greve. We took a local bus, roundtrip only 6 euro, to toward this small town about an hour out of Florence. We stopped at a random stop in the middle of the Tuscan countryside and found the castle’s wine shop on the road. Then, because I don’t think many take a public bus to the Tuscan wine region, we got to trek up this huge hill that took us about 30 minutes to climb. But the view was incredible, so it was okay. And, we were way early. We get there, and there’s only 4 of us total in the group, until a young Finnish couple arrives late and makes it 6. But still, to get a 2 hour wine tasting tour through a castle, then, sit at a table and taste 3 wines, 1 sweet wine, and olive oil on bread…it was just like a private tour!! For only 14 euro! Mom and Dad loved meeting the Europeans. I loved how inexpensive everything turned out to be for such a great trip. After, Dad and I ate Simpson’s cookies as we headed back to Florence. Mom slept.
The Castello di Verrazzano wine shop, just off the road.
Making the hike up to the Castel, through vineyards of course :)
Pretty.
View of Tuscany behind me.
Tasting room inside.
Big wine barrels.
Olive oil is created here.
The local wild boar are aging here.
Sweet wine here, aka Grappa.
Tasting included olive oil on bread, 3 different wines, and sweet wine for dessert with cookies.
View of the Castella di Verrazzano.
That night, we had an amazing view of the sunset on the river and city below from the Piazzle Michelangelo. Saw another replica of Dave. Drank more wine, ate olives and nuts and enjoyed the moments we were sharing together. To top it all off, we had another amazing meal at another amazing little restaurant. I had some great pizza with spicy salami and split it with Dad’s gnocchi. We finally had some veggies when we all shared a caprice salad. SO YUM. Florence has def had the best food so far!
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