Day 1: Florence
NOTE: We have just begun our Fall 2004 trip to Italy starting with two weeks in an apartment in Florence and followed by four days in Mantova and four days in Como before coming home on October 23.
The Alitalia flight from Dulles on Thursday afternoon is packed. We leave about an hour late because of the long lines of planes waiting to take off but—due to a good tailwind—we only arrive in Milan about 10 minutes late. Our connection to Florence is also delayed by air traffic controls and we arrive close to noon…about an hour late. We retrieve our baggage quickly and hop in a cab for downtown Florence. The ride takes about twenty minutes and costs Euro 20.00. We arrive at our apartment building (the Palazzo Bardi) on the Lungarno Torrigiani, on the south side of the Arno River—directly across from the Uffizi Gallery. It is 12:30 pm. The weather is cool and overcast….it feels a little like it might rain.
The rental agent Maria meets us and shows us around the apartment. It is very much like the pictures—living room and bedroom in the front overlooking the river, bathroom and kitchen in the back on Via de’ Bardi. All the rooms are good sized, the furniture is comfortable and attractive, the kitchen is very well equipped and the bathroom has lots of counter space. There is also a large foyer/entrance and good closet space. The only drawbacks so far are that the shower is handheld with no place to hang the shower head while showering and, due to the fact that the apartment is built into the mezzanine of the building, the windows are small and the light is not great. But everything else looks to be fine. We learn how to use the dishwasher, stove and washing machine and then sign the rental agreement.
After Maria leaves, Diana takes a nap—she had only slept a couple of hours on the flights over…while I try to connect the computer and log on to the internet. I have my usual difficulty and have to check all the settings—no waiting for dialtone, pulse/tone dial, etc---and I still can’t make it work. The error message says “line is busy” but the phone works fine if I dial the number manually. Just as I am about the give up—on the 20th attempt—somehow it connects. I download my e-mail and check the Washington Post for results of the Presidential debate.
I have an errand to run in the afternoon….to deliver some cash for a friend to the Centro Guide Turismo…to pay for a guide service next week. I head out at 3 pm, cross the Arno, get some cash out of a Bancomat (ATM) and find the address….Via Ghibellina, 110. I ring the bell (there is no sign) and there is no answer. I call and there is no answer. I will have to try again later. I make my way back to the apartment, weaving my way through Florence’s centro storico---we have not spent a lot of time in Florence since our first trip in 1993 and I get a little disoriented. On my way back, I stop and buy a piece of “schiacciata”—fresh baked Tuscan flat bread coated with oil and sprinkled with salt…a Florentine speciality. Tasty.
After a short rest, we unpack the suitcases and store them away…since we will be living here for two weeks. I call the Centro Guide Turismo again and this time Sabrina is in the office so we head back there. When we get to the address, I ring the bell and still no one answers. When I call on the phone, the line is busy. Very mysterious. When Sabrina finally answers, I tell her where I am and she says that I am in the wrong place. Even though Florence has a confusing dual street numbering system—black numbered addresses are homes and offices and red numbered addresses are stores--there appear to be two “black 110s” on Via Ghibellina….I don’t understand.
We walk the two blocks to the “right” 110. The Centro Guide Turismo is located in a grand palazzo and we ascend one of those grand staircases that appear in movies. The office is a regular office—despite the imposing surroundings. We meet Sabrina and give her the money. We then take a circuitous route towards the apartment, stopping for our first gelato of the trip at “Festival del Gelato”…a very popular gelateria. The gelato is excellent---peach and frutti di bosco (mixed berries) for Diana and strawberry and lemon for me. We walk through the Piazza della Signoria, the major square in Florence, and across the crowded Ponte Vecchio.
It is now about 6 pm and I am fading fast…..I write some e-mails and we watch the news. At around 7 pm, we decide that we have to go out to eat very soon or we will both be asleep. So, even though it is still early by Italian standards, we go to the closest restaurant to the apartment—the Osteria Vasari, just around the corner. At 7:30 pm we are in fact the second customers of the evening. The osteria has about 10 tables in a brick walled, vaulted ceiling dining room behind the narrow entrance where the bar is located. It has paper place mats but linen napkins and soft jazz vocals are playing in the background. The menu is quite extensive—in Italian and English—and there are lots of enticing dishes.
We split a plate of mixed cured meats and marinated vegetable crostini….the salami and ham are very tasty as are the eggplant, dried tomato and zucchini crostini toppings. Diana has a dish of pasta bowties filled with pear and cheese and served with butter and sage sauce. I have the local tortelli special from the Mugello—just north of Florence…pasta stuffed with potato and sauced with a rich meat ragu. For dessert, Diana has an apple tart and I have a panna cotta….Diana’s dessert was better. We drink the house Chianti…a little light but we have no problem finishing the bottle. The service was very pleasant and we think that we will likely return here at least a couple of times during the next two weeks. The bill comes to Euro 51…about $65.00 US—a little more than we are used to paying for most dinners in Italy.
On the way out, the host hands us a bottle of the house wine in a gift bag…we don’t know if they give a bottle to all the customers or if they chose us in particular for some reason…but it is certainly a nice gesture and cements our intention to return.
Luckily it is only two minutes back to the apartment….between the wine and lack of sleep, the bed is very inviting and we are asleep very quickly.
Tomorrow, we have to do some exploring in the neighborhood and buy some supplies for the apartment.
PS from Diana. I think it’s my job to add something about how it feels to be here. It feels great! Familiar yet still and all challengingly foreign; loving how people are out walking and socializing in a way that doesn’t seem to happen much at home; those fabulous Tuscan doors on those fabulous buildings; the impossibly thin and chic women in their impossible, stylish shoes; all the tourists, with all the opportunities to overhear odd, ridiculous bits of conversations and feel smugly superior, while realizing we too are clumsy tourists, often just as oblivious as those we mock; happy to be on vacation even if I wake up from a nap with family and work worries swirling around in my head; and very happy to be back here in beautiful, fascinating Italy with my intrepid, knowledgeable guide.
The Alitalia flight from Dulles on Thursday afternoon is packed. We leave about an hour late because of the long lines of planes waiting to take off but—due to a good tailwind—we only arrive in Milan about 10 minutes late. Our connection to Florence is also delayed by air traffic controls and we arrive close to noon…about an hour late. We retrieve our baggage quickly and hop in a cab for downtown Florence. The ride takes about twenty minutes and costs Euro 20.00. We arrive at our apartment building (the Palazzo Bardi) on the Lungarno Torrigiani, on the south side of the Arno River—directly across from the Uffizi Gallery. It is 12:30 pm. The weather is cool and overcast….it feels a little like it might rain.
The rental agent Maria meets us and shows us around the apartment. It is very much like the pictures—living room and bedroom in the front overlooking the river, bathroom and kitchen in the back on Via de’ Bardi. All the rooms are good sized, the furniture is comfortable and attractive, the kitchen is very well equipped and the bathroom has lots of counter space. There is also a large foyer/entrance and good closet space. The only drawbacks so far are that the shower is handheld with no place to hang the shower head while showering and, due to the fact that the apartment is built into the mezzanine of the building, the windows are small and the light is not great. But everything else looks to be fine. We learn how to use the dishwasher, stove and washing machine and then sign the rental agreement.
After Maria leaves, Diana takes a nap—she had only slept a couple of hours on the flights over…while I try to connect the computer and log on to the internet. I have my usual difficulty and have to check all the settings—no waiting for dialtone, pulse/tone dial, etc---and I still can’t make it work. The error message says “line is busy” but the phone works fine if I dial the number manually. Just as I am about the give up—on the 20th attempt—somehow it connects. I download my e-mail and check the Washington Post for results of the Presidential debate.
I have an errand to run in the afternoon….to deliver some cash for a friend to the Centro Guide Turismo…to pay for a guide service next week. I head out at 3 pm, cross the Arno, get some cash out of a Bancomat (ATM) and find the address….Via Ghibellina, 110. I ring the bell (there is no sign) and there is no answer. I call and there is no answer. I will have to try again later. I make my way back to the apartment, weaving my way through Florence’s centro storico---we have not spent a lot of time in Florence since our first trip in 1993 and I get a little disoriented. On my way back, I stop and buy a piece of “schiacciata”—fresh baked Tuscan flat bread coated with oil and sprinkled with salt…a Florentine speciality. Tasty.
After a short rest, we unpack the suitcases and store them away…since we will be living here for two weeks. I call the Centro Guide Turismo again and this time Sabrina is in the office so we head back there. When we get to the address, I ring the bell and still no one answers. When I call on the phone, the line is busy. Very mysterious. When Sabrina finally answers, I tell her where I am and she says that I am in the wrong place. Even though Florence has a confusing dual street numbering system—black numbered addresses are homes and offices and red numbered addresses are stores--there appear to be two “black 110s” on Via Ghibellina….I don’t understand.
We walk the two blocks to the “right” 110. The Centro Guide Turismo is located in a grand palazzo and we ascend one of those grand staircases that appear in movies. The office is a regular office—despite the imposing surroundings. We meet Sabrina and give her the money. We then take a circuitous route towards the apartment, stopping for our first gelato of the trip at “Festival del Gelato”…a very popular gelateria. The gelato is excellent---peach and frutti di bosco (mixed berries) for Diana and strawberry and lemon for me. We walk through the Piazza della Signoria, the major square in Florence, and across the crowded Ponte Vecchio.
It is now about 6 pm and I am fading fast…..I write some e-mails and we watch the news. At around 7 pm, we decide that we have to go out to eat very soon or we will both be asleep. So, even though it is still early by Italian standards, we go to the closest restaurant to the apartment—the Osteria Vasari, just around the corner. At 7:30 pm we are in fact the second customers of the evening. The osteria has about 10 tables in a brick walled, vaulted ceiling dining room behind the narrow entrance where the bar is located. It has paper place mats but linen napkins and soft jazz vocals are playing in the background. The menu is quite extensive—in Italian and English—and there are lots of enticing dishes.
We split a plate of mixed cured meats and marinated vegetable crostini….the salami and ham are very tasty as are the eggplant, dried tomato and zucchini crostini toppings. Diana has a dish of pasta bowties filled with pear and cheese and served with butter and sage sauce. I have the local tortelli special from the Mugello—just north of Florence…pasta stuffed with potato and sauced with a rich meat ragu. For dessert, Diana has an apple tart and I have a panna cotta….Diana’s dessert was better. We drink the house Chianti…a little light but we have no problem finishing the bottle. The service was very pleasant and we think that we will likely return here at least a couple of times during the next two weeks. The bill comes to Euro 51…about $65.00 US—a little more than we are used to paying for most dinners in Italy.
On the way out, the host hands us a bottle of the house wine in a gift bag…we don’t know if they give a bottle to all the customers or if they chose us in particular for some reason…but it is certainly a nice gesture and cements our intention to return.
Luckily it is only two minutes back to the apartment….between the wine and lack of sleep, the bed is very inviting and we are asleep very quickly.
Tomorrow, we have to do some exploring in the neighborhood and buy some supplies for the apartment.
PS from Diana. I think it’s my job to add something about how it feels to be here. It feels great! Familiar yet still and all challengingly foreign; loving how people are out walking and socializing in a way that doesn’t seem to happen much at home; those fabulous Tuscan doors on those fabulous buildings; the impossibly thin and chic women in their impossible, stylish shoes; all the tourists, with all the opportunities to overhear odd, ridiculous bits of conversations and feel smugly superior, while realizing we too are clumsy tourists, often just as oblivious as those we mock; happy to be on vacation even if I wake up from a nap with family and work worries swirling around in my head; and very happy to be back here in beautiful, fascinating Italy with my intrepid, knowledgeable guide.
1 Comments:
Thanks for the entertaining part about the confusing red vs. black address system in Florence; it truly had me laughing, sice I went through almost the same ordeal back in March!
Can't wait to read about the rest of your trip!
Buon viaggio!
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