Day 10 - 25 April, 2005: Florence, Fiesole

Today was a lazy day. We slept in, had breakfast, and went back to the room to get ready in a very leisurely manner. Today being an Italian National holiday, none of the big attractions in Florence were open. We took the bus up the hill to Fiesole to see what this little town had to offer. Fiesole is situated on the site of an Etruscan settlement that pre-dates the Roman Empire. There is also a fairly large Roman ampitheater and an archaeological museum that illustrates the history of the town.

After enjoying the museum, we strolled along the streets of the small downtown area looking for shops where Angela could find something to bring back for the house. We've taken to bringing back small pieces of pottery; and Angela found some wonderful bowls in a shop window; but alas, the shop was closed because of the holiday. By lunchtime, we were famished, so we stopped into a very busy restaurant to get some takeaway paninis. While I was waiting for our food, I was approached by an American woman who was married to the owner of the restaurant. I think she really enjoys when tourists come in, because she talked my ear off; in a very friendly way.

After lunch, we took the bus back into town. One of Angela's girlfriends had told her about the San Lorenzo market, which is a huge street market in the area arounding the San Lorenzo chapel, which was the private chapel of the Medici family. The market was crazy with vendors selling leather goods, silks, you name it. I wound up getting a belt, and Angela got another purse. We were also on the lookout for a street-artist to get a small watercolor. None of the artists around the chapel had what we were looking for, so we mosied on over toward the Ponte Vecchio, by way of some high-street shopping. I don't know why, but every vacation ultimately turns into a shopping excursion.

Ponte Veccio was a crush of people. I was happy to get to the other side, where the streets were a little wider. There were certainly a ton of jewelers plying their trade. We wanted to go to Piazza Michelangelo to get a good view of the old city, and passed by Palazzo Pitti on the way there. It was there that we finally found an artist with a style that we both liked. Two small watercolors later and we were on our way to Piazza Michelangelo.

My God! It felt like we would never get there. It was so far away; and it never seemed to get any closer. Once we finally got to the summit of the hill on which the piazza was located, the view was marvelous. It was tough to take pictures because of the time of day and the sunbursts through the clouds, but the Florentine "skyline" was beautiful, with the Duomo having such a commanding presence above the rest of the city. Florence is so much bigger than I had imagined. We didn't stay long, since we were getting hungry.

Angela had wanted to go to a restaurant recommended by one of her friends called "Beccofino." We tried calling them all day, but they never answered. The holiday strikes again! Damn! We wound up eating dinner in a small trattoria somewhere between the Uffizi and Santa Croce. Angela had been dying to try the Tuscan "Bread Soup," as well as the chicken liver pate that was the nastiest stuff I'd ever eaten. It actually tasted like eating mud.

Honestly, we're tired of Florence and are ready to go somewhere else. Tomorrow, we have to make our arrangements to get our tire replaced; hopefully the BMW Roadside assistance people will facilitate that. We're spending tomorrow night in Bolzano, by way of the Galleria Ferrari in Maranello. I hope they're testing the F1 cars at Fiorano.