Florence was amazing.
Firenze molto buono.
Florence is so amazing that I love it more than Roma. Here's how Wednesday and Thursday went:
8:00 AM - Took the #8 Largo Argentina tram from Viale di Trastevere and then the 40 Express bus to Termini to catch our 10:15 Frecciargento train to Florence Santa Maria Novella Station.
8:45 AM - Arrived at Termini, had a small breakfast.
9:15 AM - Checked the Departures Board for our train to confirm the platform. Couldn't find it yet. We thought maybe it was too early.... so we decided to kill some time and browsed the Inglese section at Borri Books. Bought a book called "Queen Elizabeth I" - still a bit obsessed about that period.
9:45 AM - Train platform not yet posted. Ok, so maybe still too early.
10:00 AM - Getting a little nervous as train platform still not posted! Decided to ask Eurostar information booth dude. I said "Good morning!" and he started to sing "Good morning.... good morning... la la la la la". Hmm. I showed him our ticket, and he said "Yiesssss, train 9416 to Firenze SMN... it's on your right."
"Grazie mille!" was my response.
10:03 AM - Wait... what? Which right? His right or mine???? I still don't see the platform number posted. Getting a bit freaked out. Decided to go ask Eurostar dude again.
10:10 AM - Gah!!! Lineup hell!!!!
10:15 AM - My mind is racing. I know that my ticket allowed changes (just didn't know how many changes). Thankful that I didn't purchase the MINI fares because the tickets would have been totally worthless if we missed the train. My brain is going into overdrive Plan B mode. I should go up to the Customer Service kiosk to find out what's going on.... Apparently train schedules are not very reliable, why why why....
Wait! I said to Greggy - that British voice on the PA is announcing the Florence SMN train on platform 10. What the hell? Why didn't they post it?
"Greggy let's go I think it's platform 10".
I looked at the Departures board again, platform 10 is going to Venezo! While I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to go to Venice, I was pretty sure the tickets I got were for Florence.
I went up to a Trenitalia CSR chick. She didn't seem interested in helping us. But I got assertive (bitchy) and asked her if the Florence train is on platform 10.
"Yiess eeet eez."
"But it says Venezo?"
"Yiess, Venezo eez theee lassst stup."
"Ok, grazie."
10:20 AM - Got to platform 10, showed our ticket to the conductor, and he said "Yiesssss theese eez your carozza."
Breathed a sigh of relief.
After we found our seats, I figured out that what we should have done is use the Train number (in our case, 9416) instead of the destination name as there are stops along the way to our destination (duh!).
I learned. I am now an expert in the art of traveling by train.
10:25 AM - So excited!!! I've always wanted to take a train trip, but never had opportunity until now. My first experience turned out to be a great one.
The Frecciargento and Frecciarossa trains are the fastest train out of all available trains. You can take the slower trains for less price, but I wanted my first time to be in the fastest train in first class. It was quite reasonable, EUR 274 for return tickets for 2 adults. So just under $350 CAD. Not bad at all.
I took a lot of pictures, walked in between cars, checked out the WCs (bathrooms), went to the Food car, had some wine, etc. Feeling very Italian and posh.
There was a Filipino family of 4 traveling on same train and seated right in front of us.... I smiled at the adult male as he reminded me of my dad.
By the way, there are TONS of Filipinos in Italy! I don't understand why and didn't expect it at all. I remember seeing (and hearing) Filipinos all over the place. There was even a chick working in the Musei Vaticano cafeteria, speaking perfect Italian. So weird.
I just Googled "Filipinos in Italy" and holy cow! Filipinos are the 4th largest immigrants in Italy. I didn't know that at all! I just learned something totally new today and I'm just gobsmacked!
Ok, back to my Firenze story.
So got off the train, bought a Firenze map and looked for our posh hotel L'Orologio. It's a clock-themed hotel and is a 7 minute walk from the train station, which is the number one reason why I booked it in the first place. Convenient. Luxurious.
Checked in, room not yet ready but no sweat. Left our luggage with Reception and wandered around.
I am totally flabbergasted by everything I've seen so far in Rome, but boy oh boy the Duomo is really breathtaking.
Florence is well-known for being the hometown of the Medicis: aristocrats, royals, patrons of art (Michaelangelo, Da Vinci, Tiziano, Caravaggio, Boticelli, etc.). I must do more research on them because they are a fascinating bunch. I am not entirely sure where their wealth comes from, but my basic research tells me that they were pioneers of "medicine", which is obviously derived from their name "di Medici".
Florence has a different feel from Rome. It's a more cleaned-up, luxurious version of Roma, graced with spectacular architecture, marble statues galore, high-end shops, the Ponte Vecchio and Tuscan sun.
Found a place near the Duomo and had lunch. We ordered the mixed meat for our antipasti, followed by Eggplant parmigiana and Macaroni (it's not what you think) in pomodoro and spicy sausage sauce.
Delish!!! Brava!
The best meat we've had so far is called "Finnochio cuore" and I think that means the meat was cured using fennel. It was too good. We pondered buying one vaccuum sealed and bringing it home with us, but I don't think Canada Customs will like that too much. I must find it in Toronto.
Meanwhile, our food was perfect. We were full, but not like we want to kill ourselves full.
Went back to hotel and got our room key.
HOLY COW!!!!!!!
The receptionist must have taken a liking to us because what we got was a 2-story, 1 bedroom with office loft, 900 sq ft suite complete with all marble bathroom and a 100 sq ft balcony with views of the Duomo!
Happy happy dance dance whirl whirl glee glee!
This shows you that your best chance of getting an upgrade is to be as nice to the hotel staff as possible. The duplex cost double than my confirmed rate for a double superior room and I swear either we are really lucky or the receptionist was charmed by us... probably a bit of both.
Walked around quite a bit. We covered:
- The Acaddemia (didn't go in. David by Michaelangelo is in there but lineup galore and I don't do lineups).
- Ufizzi
- Gucci Museo (loved it)
- Plaza de la Republicca
- Ponte Vecchio
Greggy was starting to get tired and cranky but I still wanted to walk around.... I told him I'll walk him back to the hotel and then I'll go wander around by myself... but when we got back to the duplex I was also tired and took the opportunity to rest before dinner.
After a bit of rest and some wine plus prosecco out on the rooftop patio, we headed out in search of Di Garga restaurant but found Buco Mario first. No reservations but we got a table. Had the best frito fiore zucco con funghi (fried zucchini flowers and mushrooms). For mains Greggy got the salmon and I ordered the Steak Florentine.
The steak was HUGE.
It was good, but couldn't finish it. It was the size of my thigh.
Feeling full, but not overly full, we went back to our hotel where I took the best shower ever in the all-marble all the time lovely bathroom.
Slept.
Woke up at 6:00 AM the next day and had the gratis breakfast first, then schlepped around a bit more. Crossed the Ponte Vecchio over to the other side and went into Palazzo Piti museo.
I can't even imagine life back then. This palace used to be the palace of the Medici family and it is massive, the size of Titanic, with apartments trimmed in gold, marble, etc laced with all the Renaissance art that you can imagine.
What would it be like? I am so obsessed with that period.
Time to catch the 1:40 PM train back to Roma. A bit sad to be leaving so soon. I wish I planned for 2 days instead.
But no complaints, I will likely be back. Firenze will be my stop when I come back to Italy to see Sicily, Amalfi, Naples, Venice and Lake Cuomo region.
Arriverderci Firenze!!!
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