I love Italy. I could go there once a month and be happy. Our dog walker is from Rome and she just told me how she doesn't feel the need to go back to Italy since she's from there. I, of course, think she's crazy. But I guess it's the same as if she wanted to travel around the US Midwest. That's the last trip I want to take, but it would be new to her, and therefore exciting. But really, Italy or Indiana? Please.
We took a short weekend trip to Florence, and made day trips to Bologna and Siena while there. None of these cities was new to us, but we found a cheap fare on BA, found a sale on a Florence hotel on Jetsetter.com, and we were off. We hadn't been to Italy since Dec. 2009, and I found myself thinking "wow, it's been a year and a half since we've been to Italy." My next thought was "wow, the fact that we can even go to Italy once every 18 months is amazing. That's the benefit of living in London and having Europe on our doorstep!"
We flew to Pisa, caught the train to Florence and arrived about midnight Friday. We checked in to our hotel and immediately went out to find food, or more importantly, gelato. I must admit, I love Oddono's here in London. I think it's so good, and even better that some of the crap places IN Italy. But still, having gelato in Italy is pretty nice. The first night we had mediocre stuff, so really Oddono's would have been better, but at least we were in Italy!
On Saturday we took the train to Bologna. The train is only 40 minutes (but also 25 euros one-way) so super easy. Bologna is a very pretty city. We went there in Nov. 2009 for the weekend and enjoyed it so were happy to return for the day. We walked around, looked at the architecture, which is quite interesting, and then ate lunch and of course got gelato. We returned to Osteria dell'Orsa, a place we ate at on our last trip. It's good food and cheap too. We had gelato at Sorbeteria Castiglione (also a repeat visit), which was MUCH better than the previous night. I was happy. We took the train back to Florence and witnessed our first of three Italian arguments. This one had to do with a train ticket, as two people thought they had reserved the same seat. After much heated arguing and yelling the man finally realized the woman had a ticket for the day before so he made sure to make that as clear as possible, yelling it and shaking the ticket in her face. She then spent the rest of the ride walking back and forth and trying to gain sympathy from the conductor. Not sure if she succeeded.
Later that day we walked around Florence. I spent a summer studying there after my sophomore year of college, so Florence will always hold a soft spot in my heart. However, we remembered what traveling in Europe is like during the summer as Florence was OVERRUN with Americans. They were everywhere. Last summer we stayed away from typically touristy cities so our Florence weekend with 9 million other Americans was a harsh reminder of what Europe can be like in the dead of summer. We heard more English than Italian, overheard way too many asinine American conversations (seemingly conducted in the loudest voice possible) and probably got caught in almost every photo taken of the Duomo and Ponte Vecchio. But still, we were in Italy. I can't complain...too much. We ate pizza (pretty good, doughy crust which I like, fairly cheap, at il Pizzaiuolo near Santa Croce) and we had gelato. Yes, we had more.
On Saturday we took the bus to Siena for the day. FYI, if you go to Siena from Florence in the middle of summer get to the bus station early. We got there 25 minutes before the bus left and we got two of the last seats, and we sat apart. However, we did get to witness the second Italian argument, this one between an older woman and the bus driver. She was complaining about the bus leaving late. And man did she complain. She really yelled at the driver. It was pretty funny to see a small gray haired woman vigorously argue the finer points of timeliness. And she wouldn't stop! The bus driver couldn't have cared less.
We also happened to miss the Palio by one day and I am ok with that. Here we did the same - walked, saw Americans, listened to Americans, dodged American photos, ate in a restaurant while an American teenager went through EVERY single event her high school puts on (prom, homecoming, spirit week, grad week, a dance where girls ask guys, some other week long thing and on and on). Thanks to a brilliant suggestion we ate at La Taverna di San Giuseppe. I had spinach and ricotta gnudi with a ragu and they were really good. Dave liked his red wine risotto with sausage. Without the rec we would have never found the place so score! Oh, we also got gelato. This time at Grom, the chain.
After taking the bus back to Florence (much emptier than the first trip) we had an hour to kill so we tried to get a sandwich at the great hole-in-the-wall place near Dante's house. But alas it was closed so we had to settle for gelato. I am starting to sound like a broken record. This time - Perche No. Still one of our faves even though it's right in the heart of tourist land. Then it was time for the train to Pisa and our 11pm flight to Gatwick. At the airport we saw our third and final argument. This time it was between an older man and the security people. He was quite pissed he had to check his bag and he too really yelled at everyone. It went on, and on, and on. And one of the women with him then tried to take three full bottles of water and iced tea through security. I really didn't know people were still unaware of the no liquids rule. She then got really mad when they confiscated all three bottles. It was a good time all around.
We stayed at the Hotel Helvetia & Bristol because we found the sale rate on Jetsetter. We had never stayed there before and actually we liked it. The location is great, especially if you are coming from the train station. It's about a 10 minute walk from the station, and the hotel is located right by Piazza della Republica so very close to all the main sites in Florence. We had the most basic room, but it wasn't tiny by any means. I would stay there again, if only because the location was so convenient. It was also nice not to be too near the Ponte Vecchio, as it is hard to avoid the crowds when staying right there.
Even though I just spent the whole post complaining about the tourists I do love Italy. I love the food, the culture, the cities, the sights, the fiery Italians and all their hilarious arguments. I hope to see more of the country. And soon!
OK, Riley Rating time! (And no snazzy rating picture yet, sorry Riley)
I'm not sure if Riley would like Italy. For one thing, too many people. She would have to do a lot of dodging. And also, the streets might be a little rough on her paws, what with the cobblestones/uneven paving. There aren't a lot of grassy parks in the city centers, so no place for her to run. We didn't see that many other dogs, so she may not be able to socialize very much, and trust me, she likes to socialize. So overall Florence, Bologna and Siena get 3 Rileys. Pretty cities, good food, but probably not very Riley friendly. But still, it's Italy, so that counts for something!
Up next - Helsinki and Tallinn. But that's in two weeks so stay tuned.
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