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.