Into the home stretch: Siena to Florence

October 21, 2016

Well, we had quite a start to our last day in Siena. It was a comedy of errors, and we met some great people. We enjoyed our last breakfast in the cellar of the Antica Torre. I found it quite funny that we ate on a rooftop terrace in Rome and an underground cellar in Siena. Both were unique and fun.

Breakfast in the cellar. Not a great picture, but it gives you the idea. There was another floor below this one, and we were well below ground. We thought it was the dungeon, but it was the wine cellar.

We started our walk to the train station. We had learned from a couple we met in the Duomo that there are a series of moving sidewalks and escalators that take you from the train station to the old town and back. Brilliant. I looked it up online and away we went. It is about 200 metres from Porta Camolia. Well, we followed the signs to the train station (turns out they were for cars, not people) saw an old gate and assumed (never, never assume) the gate was Porto Camolia. To make a long story short, we walked all the way to the train station (2.5 km), no shortcuts for us.

I was so disappointed that I had missed the stairway to heaven that I left Keith at the train station, crossed the road and went back to the old town via the escalators to check it out. There are six escalators and two moving sidewalks, and you access them from inside the mall that is directly across the street from the train station. It was fun, and definitely the way to go. So in ten minutes I went from train station to old town and back.

When I got back to the train station Keith had just discovered he had the hotel key in his pocket. Consternation all round, but he had the brilliant idea of putting it in a cab, so it was a short lived crisis.

Then we waited at platform one, as instructed, for our train to Florence. We met all kinds of fellow tourists and were swapping stories when I started to notice people rushing to platform three. Hmmmm. Sure enough, they had changed the platform and away we all went at a run. We all got on the train, which didn't move. After some time there was a long announcement in Italian, but we all gave it the Latin shrug. None of us noticed we were the only ones on the train. Fortunately an Italian lady did and made the effort to tell us that the train had broken down and we were to get off.

More consternation, many people asking questions in Italian of the lone employee, and when it was finally the tourists turn we learned the next available train was to Empoli, where we could connect to Florence, and left from, you guessed it, platform one, in three minutes. Back the group of us ran, but there was no train. We all stood waiting for it to arrive, when one of our group discovered there are two platforms one (you can't make this stuff up) and you can't see one from the other. Our train had already left. Fortunately it was only a twenty minute wait until the next direct train to Florence so all was well that ended well, and we met some great people and laughed our way through the whole process. What else can you do?

Arriving in Florence was straightforward and we had no problem finding our hotel the Domus Florentiae. We spent the afternoon wandering around, eating pizza and admiring the Duomo. I dragged Keith through a significant number of leather shops, we had the most expensive gelato of the trip, and a very good time. We went back to the room to discover the wifi was down, a Vodaphone problem, so had a nap! When we went to go out for the evening it was bucketing with rain...we borrowed the hotel umbrellas and braved the elements but didn't stay out long. We chose our dinner spot because it had free wifi, but after ordering discovered it was for European SIM cards only. Fine for the CC, who didn't need it anyway as he has data, but I was out of luck. Fortunately back at the hotel things were up and running again. Tomorrow we will be culture vultures at the Uffitzi Gallery.

The first thing we saw in Florence. This wonderful family is travelling for nine months with their children. We had a great chat, and my greatest wish at that moment was that I lived in Florence so I could offer them a place to stay. What an inspiring couple.

It is amazing what you see when you simply walk, or preferably, ride your bike.

There is some serious statuary in Florence.

The next day our tickets for the Uffitzi were for 1:30 PM, which gave us lots of time to explore the old town before our cultural experience. I dragged Keith through more leather shops...as an aside I ended up leaving Florence without buying a thing. I became completely overwhelmed by the choice and started having those 'do I really need it?' thoughts. The answer to that is no, of course, so I am coming home empty handed. That is perfectly fine with me because the next time I am here I plan on having my personal shopper with me (my sister in law) as she whips me into shopping shape and I love anything I have purchased when I am with her.

The Uffitzi was terrific. The CC downloaded Rick Steve's app on our phones and so we had a guided tour at our pace and a lot of fun. The number of tours in that gallery is mind boggling, but we just paced ourselves in between them. A wise move because otherwise you have a crowd of thirty or so people between you and what you want to see. Once they move on you are golden. We really got a kick out of several tour groups of teenagers. They were so much fun to watch. I am honestly not sure they got much out of the gallery, but they were having a very, very good time. They made me laugh out loud.

View of the Ponte Vecchio from the gallery.

Here is what I mean about tour groups. They were all around this sculpture, then moved to the next highlight, leaving us to enjoy an unobstructed view.

Then as soon as they were through with Joseph and Mary and baby Jesus, we again had them all to ourselves, and thanks to the CC we had Rick Steves explaining to us what we were seeing.

I guess the thing with tours is it is like trying to drink from a fire hose. You can only take so much in. Rick Steves did a great job of explaining this fabulous sculpture, but for the life of me, I can't remember the explanation, except that it involved snakes, which was pretty obvious. I highly recommend the app though...it was great.

After the Uffitzi we had a restorative gelato and walked some more. This time we were looking for the definitive place for me to have a Florentine steak, as recommended by a friend.

When we went out for dinner it was hilarious. I had the Florentine steak, but my girlfriend didn't tell me that one serving was enough for three! I couldn't believe it. Fortunately Keith helped me out. The couple at the next table had the Florentine steak for two and all four of us burst into laughter when it arrived...they had a kilogram of steak to share. We made new friends over those enormous steaks. Keith's Osso Buco was delicious as well, and we sipped an entire litre of red wine before weaving our way back to the hotel. I am not riding my bike, and need to stop eating as though I am, but it was a perfect evening.

Back to Verona tomorrow to pick up Keith's bike and sip Campari in our favourite bar. We are marching north, and while I am having my usual bittersweet feelings about the end of a trip, I am getting anxious to see my doctor and physiotherapist. YouTube physio can only take you so far!

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