WEEKS 3 & 4

The start of the week got off to a very slow start as we were both very tired from the weekend in Chamonix and one of us took longer than usual to get over a monster hangover.  Tuesday we spent most of the afternoon looking at shops around the Via de Tornabuoni area (every expensive label you could think of).

We also stumbled upon a little shop that has become one of our favourite lunch destinations - Marione'.

Wednesday was a great day as I got my results from my final CA exam and passed, such a relief!  We decided it was only fair that we go back shopping and actually buy something this time.

Anna can keep making us walk past T&Co all she wants, but we're only looking!

That night we went out to the restaurant that has become a fortnightly destination, Borgo Antico for a beautiful meal and a bottle of Rose and a cheers to no more study!!!!!!!!

Thursday I was back in the gym while Anna was honing her Italian (which is getting better and better each week), before we had lunch at Pino's.  Pino is a great man and has a little shop near our apartment; we go there all the time for toasted panini's.  My usual is either roast pork or roast beef with pecorino cheese, roast potatoes, lettuce and pesto sauce, OMG amazing and only 3.50 euro!  Anna's palate is a little bit more expansive than mine and so her lunch changes each time we go in.  I am hoping that by the end of our stay in Firenze, Pino will have added my panino to his list and call it something like the Aussie Panino or even the Lachie panino haha.

That afternoon we again went shopping without actually buying anything, spending most of our time in the Salvatore Ferragamo shop and the shoe museum underneath it that included shoes worn by stars such as Sophia Loren, Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe - more exciting for Anna.....

That night after a home cooked meal of take-away souvlaki's, we went to Pallazzo Strozzi (Thursday nights are free!) with a couple of Anna's friends from her school.  One exhibition was a huge art display called 'Americani a Firenze' which was dedicated to the work of American painters who spent time in Italy, focusing in particular on their relationship with Florence in the decades spanning the close of the 19th and dawn of the 20th centuries.  We then went to the 'American Dreamers' exhibit which comprised work of artists who used fantasy, imagination and dreams to create what the called contemporary art; it was plain weird.

Friday was a bit of a nothing day as we scoured the city looking for easter eggs in readiness for Sunday.  We ended up finding some, but were not impressed with the lack chocolate eggs on offer.  We were however suitably impressed with the imagination of some.  I wish we had bought them.......

As we had decided not to go away this weekend, Saturday was the perfect day to go to the Uffizi Gallery, especially as the weather continued its trend of raining all day!  The night before Anna had told me that one of the reasons she loved me was my ability to push in front of queue's and today it was utilised with magnificent results.  We were able to skip a 2-3hr long line (at least 300-400 people) and were in the gallery in less than 10 minutes, Bruce Mcavaney would have called it a very special effort.

Even with my lack of excitement for art, the Uffizi was a pretty impressive place and even housed pieces of art that I recognised such as Botticelli's 'Birth of Venus'.

That night we had a quiet night as we were up early to get a good position for Florence's Easter Sunday celebrations, the 'Scoppio del Carro' (explosion of the cart) - A 30ft tall antique cart is hauled in by a team of huge white oxen, escorted by 150 soldiers, musicians and people in 15th century dress.

A mechanical dove is fitted to a wire stretching from the top of the cart, to the altar inside the cathedral.  The cardinal of Florence lights a fuse which sends the dove flying out of the church, igniting the cart outside.  A 20 minute display of fireworks follows, which was so amazing, it was that loud it sounded like a war was going on!

A successful display from the explosion of the cart is supposed to guarantee a good harvest, stable civic life and good business.  Funnily enough, the last time the explosion of the cart was not carried out successfully, it was 1966 when later in the year Florence was ravaged by horrible floods!

Monday and Tuesday were public holidays and there was not much to do as everything was closed.  We spent the days walking around town, continuing our scrabble battle, reading our books and had home cooked meals with Gossip Girl on the laptop!  This was helped by the fact that it was still raining, it has been such a bad few weeks of weather, it better get better soon!

Wednesday, was again shitty weather, so I slept in and then read all about how badly the Dees had been going.  Anna and I went to the market for lunch, mucked around for the arvo, went to the gym and then for the second time, went to Pin Gusto for dinner where you pay 20 euro each for all you can eat Japanese, which again saw us walking out a few kg's heavier!

Surprise surprise, thursday was another shitty day.  I decided to visit Palazzo Davanzati in the morning.  It was built in the 1400's and home to the wealthy Davanzati family from 1578.  It was a really interesting building and gave you a real insight into how the rich people lived back in the really old days.  The original owners faces are carved on the pillars in the courtyard (quite a nice touch, I think I'll have that done in my house) and the bedrooms on the first and second floors were fascinating.

Afterwards I met Anna and her school friends at the market for lunch, which was a delicious pasta ragout and a roast pork roll.  Anna then introduced me to her favourite fruit lady, who was much friendlier than my favourite fruit man.  She even gave me a free mandarine so I bought a bottle of limoncello off her, which I am now drinking before dinner reach night!

That night we went out for aperitivo which we go to roughly once a week.  You go to one of many bars around town and buy a cocktail for around 6-8 euro and then you have all you can eat dinner for the night  which varies depending on what bar you are at, but usually consists of different pasta's, rice dishes, salad's etc.  pretty good value!

Friday morning I went to the gym, then we packed our bags and headed for Milan!

CHAMONIX

Thursday we had organised to go to Chamonix in the French Alps to visit Leila who owns a bar there and has been living there for roughly the last 4-5 years.  I had been there once before in summer 2008 and absolutely loved it, so I was really keen to take Anna there and hopefully see a bit more snow than last time.
We flew from Firenze to Geneva in Switzerland on a small 80-odd seater plane, Anna was shitting herself, it was quite amusing.  It was a picture perfect day and the view out the window flying over the Alps was ridiculous!

We had a minivan take us from the airport to Chamonix, which is just over the border in France.  It was great to see Leila after a long time and great to finally meet her boyfriend Olivier.  They are living in Olivier's parents chalet just to the north of Chamonix, about a 5 min drive from the town centre.  It is a perfect place and had amazing views up to the Mont Blanc.

We had a nice dinner at home, accompanied with some French wine and almost half a bottle of Olivier's favourite French liqueur which instantly made us ready for bed.

The next morning we woke with the plan to take the cable car upto the Aiguille de Midi, but we were advised that it was too windy and hopefully it would be ok the next day.  Instead we walked around town, did some shopping and bought a bunch of supplies and made lunch sitting out in the sun.
The town of Chamonix is absolutely beautiful, all the buildings look like ginger bread houses, we loved it.  It also has a river that runs right though the middle of it, so cold as it is the result of glaciers melting from higher up the mountain.

No matter where you are in Chamonix, provided it is a good day, you can look up and see where the cable-car takes you upto the Aiguille de Midi (3,842m) and also the Mont Blanc (4,807m - the tallest mountain in Europe).

the Aiguille de Midi is the highest peak in the middle and the Mont Blanc is in the distance to the right

That night, Leila and Olivier took us out to their favourite restaurant Atmosphere (above).  We were lucky enough to have a table right on the river.  The great seats were accompanied by great food.

The next morning we arose and got ready for a really great day!  Although I had been up before, I was really excited to take Anna in the cable-car upto the Aiguille de Midi, the highest accessible point in Europe without getting out and hiking!
The cable-car starts off from Chamonix (1,035m), crossing the forrest above the treetops, reaching an altitude of 2,317m in 10 mins. We then got out and had a walk around in the snow and looked up at where the second cable-car was to take us........

The second part of the trip takes you over glaciers and up the north face of the Aiguille de Midi to reach the summit at an altitude of 3,842m or 12,602 feet!  There are various platforms and terraces and bridges etc where you can look out and as you can see, the views were spectacular!

catching the Mont Blanc!

Many skiers take the trip upto the Aiguille de Midi to ski the 'Valley Blanche' - A 23km run that takes you through incredible glacier bowls, around crevasses and seracs and when the conditions are great, you can ski right back into town.  This is at the top of my bucket list!

After a pretty hairy ride back down the mountain, it was back to Leila's bar for a few refreshments.

Anna and I went out for dinner that night as Leila had to work.  We decided we wanted to try some traditional cheese fondue.  Stupidly, we ordered the wrong thing and ended up with beef bourguignonne, which is basically pieces of raw meat that you cook in your own pot of hot oil.  The boiling hot oil kept spitting out onto Anna, it was very funny........

Sunday morning we were greeted by another perfect day.  Pretty amazing to wake up and look at this out your window......

Leila knew that I was more excited than a fat kid in a candy store to go skiing, so whether she actually wanted to or not, it was greatly appreciated that she took Anna and I skiing for a few hours.  After getting our outfits organised from their basement which holds more ski gear than a ski shop, we were off to hire boots and ski's.  Then some tasty French pasties for breakfast and we hit the slopes.  Unfortunately there weren't many lifts open because we were nearing the end of the winter season, but we still had a great time.  As you can see from the photo, the weather was so good, we didn't even need jackets!

After a nice big lunch, it was back home to relax and read our books out in the sun.  Just as I was getting comfortable, Olivier propositioned me with a "couple of beers" with his mates down at one of their locals.  3 pints later and Olivier's mates called it quits.  We decided we were having fun, so it was onto the next bar for more beers before meeting the girls for dinner.  A few pre dinner drinks at a really cool bar and Olivier and I were starting to talk dribble.

burnt schnoz 

Dinner was great and still holds a spot in our top-5 of the trip so far, although Anna had to remind me the next day what I actually ate.  We fixed up the bill and by this time it was almost midnight.  Olivier suggested one more drink, so Anna and Leila went home and Olivier and I went out for one more drink, which turned into a lot more.  I had a fantastic night, but getting home at 3:30 and being picked up by the airport transfer at 6:30 is not a good idea and I spent the whole trip home with my head in a paper bag.

WEEK TWO

Monday was a pretty cruisy day after our weekend in Chianti.  Anna was back at school and I was back in bed, reading up on AFL news and watching tv.  That afternoon we went for a stroll, I tried to get artistic with my camera and then we read our books for a while before heading out for dinner, pasta again!

Tuesday I was back into my gym routine while Anna was at school and then we went to the Santa Croce.  It is a church for the celebration of national glory, housing the tombs of many illustrious Italians including Michaelangelo, Dante and Galileo.  Other wealthy Italians were buried in the floor of the church which was a bit weird walking over the top of them!

the tomb of Michaelangelo

Outside the Santa Croce is a huge area very popular with the youngsters and as it is only a few mins from our place, we frequent here quite a bit.  At the end of June, Florence celebrates its patron saint, John, with a calico storico match (soccer with no rules!) in the square which we are really looking forward to.

Wednesday was a day dedicated to shopping and walking around the markets.  I am yet to purchase anything because the majority of shops here are for women, but Anna has done her best to make up for the both of us!  The main market in Firenze (mercato centrale) has enough food to feed Africa, we love it! We buy most of our fruit from here and occasionally come for lunch as well.

CHIANTI & SAN GIMIGNANO

We decided our first weekend away would be in Chianti.  We hired a car and as it was much cheaper to get a manual, Anna was the designated driver, which suited me just fine!

Just south of Firenze, this is the largest wine region in Italy, and is responsible for producing 'Chianti Classico' which is usually what we drink when we go out for dinner, which is basically every night haha.  We booked a cheap little B&B just outside of the main town of Chianti (Greve), and after Anna successfully navigated us out of the hustle and bustle of Firenze, we were there 45 mins later pushing our two tiny single beds together to make a double!

We went straight into Greve that night to have a look around and after Anna struck up a friendship with the local patisserie chef, we decided on a cute little family run restaurant for dinner in the main Piazza.  Whilst it was a great place and Anna enjoyed her meal, I made the mistake of ordering the 'veal hoof off the bone' which was actually a plate of gelatinous fat and was fucking disgusting!

Next morning we set off for the day, first stop was 'Castello di Verrazzano' which is one of the most well known vineyards in the Chianti region.  The castle at this wine estate was home to Giovanni da Verrazzano who explored the Nth American coast and is commemorated in New York by the Verrazzano bridge which crosses the Hudson River.  It was a lovely spot with plenty of great photo opportunities!

Next stop was a tiny little medieval village called Montefiorale which was way up in the hills overlooking Greve.  Again it was a great spot for photos and a chance for yours truly to continue the sampling of vino!

Lonely Planet then came through with the goods by putting us onto a small town called 'Panzano in Chianti', known throughout Italy for the butcher shop run by Dario Cecchini.  The burger with vegetables and potatoes was amazing and good for a change from the usual proscuito/cheese/pesto panini that I have basically had every day!

By this stage I had tasted a fair share of wines, but it wasn't over yet!  We went back to Greve to a special wine cellar where you could taste over 140 different wines.  2 hours of this, with the last 20 mins dedicated to grappa almost put me on my arse, but not before a big bowl of pasta.

The next morning we woke up with another average breakfast supplied by our B&B and set off for a short stop at a town in Sth Chianti called 'Castellina in Chianti' before driving west to our next destination, San Gimignano.  Anna had been here before, but was excited to go again and I was equally as excited as I had heard much about it.  Driving into SG, the 14 towers of this walled hill town look like a medieval Manhattan.  There were originally 72 towers built by families to flaunt their power and wealth, but that has now decreased to 14.  Nevertheless it was a fantastic place, no wonder so many people talk it up.  We toured some of the museums and the Palazzo Comunale, had lunch, had gelati, played funny buggers and climbed the palazzo's Torre Grossa (the tallest of the remaining 14 towers) for amazing views of the town and surrounding countryside.

WEEK ONE

Firstly, our apartment is amazing.  Right in the heart of the Santa Croce district, it is less than a 5 minute walk to many of the major sites including the Duomo and the Ponte Vecchio.  It is on the corner, so we have windows looking out onto the street on both sides, it is perfect!

The first few days we spent just wandering around this great city and getting used to how all the traffic (both human and cars) works.  This included me stepping in a huge pile of horse shit in my thongs, getting it all in my toes, which I am now claiming was just chocolate gelati!

Anna's Italian is very impressive.  We went to the Mercato Centrale and had lunch (paparadelle with wild boar ragout - one of the main dishes here) and struck up a conversation with some locals sitting on our table.  Anna was able to talk to them fluently for over 20 minutes, it was great.

Apart from enjoying great food, we also started to visit some of the tourist attractions, including the Galleria dell'Accademia which houses the statue of David and the Pallazzo Vecchio which used to be the palace of the Medici's who ruled Florence for many years.  We also went for a walk unto the Piazzale Michaelangelo which is about a 20 min walk uphill and great views from the top!

There is a very popular and busy bar right below our apartment - Looking up from the outside tables, you can see our apartment on the top floor on the corner with the Demons scarf hanging out the window!
You will also notice that Anna has embraced the European lifestyle with the odd smoke.....

The Piazza della Signoria is a huge square and one of our favourite places as it is the hub of Florentine life.  It includes the Palazzo Vecchio, the fake statue of David, many great restaurants and cafe's and also the Loggia dei Lanzi, an open air museum with many great sculptures including Perseus which my grandmother told me so much about before i set off.

We had a great dinner with some of Anna's classmates and we decided to feast on a traditional 'Bistecca de fiorentine' which is a 1kg T-bone steak.  They bring it out to you uncooked to make sure you are happy with the cut and then take it away to be cooked, although they don't cook it very much because it is served very rare!

One of the things I love so much about Florence is that you can see the Duomo from so many places, so if you ever get lost, all you have to do is look for the big dome and you can get yourself back on track!

LONG JOURNEY

The day finally arrived to leave Australia.  Still feeling a little hungover from the weekends festivities, i finished packing and unpacking and packing again my bags, had lunch with mum and went out to the airport with dad as he was going to work at the same time.
Luckily I scored a business class seat, and it was smooth sailing, great food and lots of movies for the next 8 hours to Singapore.

A 7 hour stopover in singapore meant it was 4:00am Australia time before we boarded for london. I was asleep before take off and woke up 5 hours later with my seat fully lowered into its bed position and tucked up inside a blanket, great service!
Weather issues in London forced us to circle Heathrow airport for 2 hours before landing which meant that i was in a real hurry to get to the bus station and a 1 hour bus ride to Gatwick airport before boarding another plane to Bologna in Italy.
This time it was plane issues that forced us to sit on the runway for 2 hours before being pulled back to the gate, having to get off and re-board another plane. A 2 hour plane ride and I was finally in Italy!!
I then had a 45 min train ride from Bologna to Florence, where i finally laid eyes on Anna for the first time in 6 weeks, it was great to see her!!
42 hours from when I left home, I was in Firenze........what a journey.