Adventures in Italy with Momma
Oct 29th, 2014, 02:56 PM
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I have to admit to a teary eye reading about this lovely trip with your Momma. I lost mine a couple of years ago and miss the trips with her - and the wonderful chats about life and love and all the possibilities of both.
Very much looking forward to more . . .
Very much looking forward to more . . .
Oct 30th, 2014, 12:55 AM
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Hi annhig - yes! We cooked with Carla and her charming daughter Elisabetta last night and had dinner with the family and one other guest last night. I'll be sure to write all about it.
LC - thank you... My heart goes out to you. Last year my Momma caught a bad bronchitis and though, in the overall scheme of life, it wasn't that bad - it did shake me up. It lit a fire under me and made me plan this trip so we could share this time and I wouldn't have regrets later. I'm so grateful for this trip.
LC - thank you... My heart goes out to you. Last year my Momma caught a bad bronchitis and though, in the overall scheme of life, it wasn't that bad - it did shake me up. It lit a fire under me and made me plan this trip so we could share this time and I wouldn't have regrets later. I'm so grateful for this trip.
Oct 30th, 2014, 09:00 AM
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rose, we are taking my mom to Europe in the spring and your report is making me look forward to it even more, and I love Italy.
LCBoniti, I'm so happy you were able to take trips with your mom and have those wonderful memories with her...big hugs to you.
LCBoniti, I'm so happy you were able to take trips with your mom and have those wonderful memories with her...big hugs to you.
Oct 30th, 2014, 10:30 AM
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I really enjoy this community - thanks for being so encouraging of me and other members of the community!
Day 5:
Woke up to a beautiful day in Florence! Today we were the only ones at the B&B, so we chatted with Carla about our plans for the day while amply breakfasting on hard boiled eggs, fruit, danish, orange juice and good hot coffee. There was also yogurt and bread with jam or nutella available, if we had wanted them. Certainly plenty to start the day off right.
We took the bus back to the train station and popped over to the the tourist information office to purchase Firenze cards. They are 72 Euro a piece now, but it covers a few more places than when I was last here. You also get unlimited bus fare and free public wifi for 72 hours. The wifi is kind of iffy - some places you can get it, some places you can't. But just the ability to go into the museums without reserving or standing in line makes it worth it to me. And we're getting alot of use from the bus system - makes things a little easier for Momma, not to have to walk so much.
The Basilica & Museum of Santa Maria Novella is right there, so we started there. We went through pretty much the entire museum. I really enjoyed it, especially the area where they have the vestiments that the priests used to wear - these hand embroidered garments were incredible. There was also a restoration of a painting happening in that room - fascinating to watch this young woman work, mixing paints, standing back to look at the painting, taking pictures as she went along. Momma couldn't get over the amazing responsibility that must be felt doing this work.
My favorite part of this site, though, was the church. Really as beautiful as everyone says. I fell in love with Vasari's Madonna of the Rosary - it brought tears to my eyes. Even though I'm not Catholic, I lit a candle for a friend who was undergoing surgery for colon cancer later that day. I figured it couldn't hurt.
We made a half hearted attempt to find the old SMN Pharmacy, but we were hungry and gave up in exchange for heading to the Mercado Centrale on the way. Momma bought a snazzy scarf from a little shop on the street for 5 Euro, as it was a tiny bit chilly. Since I last was here, the second floor of the Mercado has been transformed into the biggest food court I've ever seen. I showed Momma around the downstairs of the market and then we headed up to see if there was anything up there we wanted. We ended up getting a couple of bowls of vegetable bean soup and Momma got a small bruschetta with ham shavings and cheese as well. I planned to pick up a porchetta sandwich from Pork's downstairs on our way out, but the soup was bigger than I originally thought, so I settled for that and an espresso. The soup was more beans than vegetables, but it was good.
Next, we walked past the Medici Chapel - I would have liked to go in, but we were there too late and it was closed. Instead, we kept walking down, back to the Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral. We went in to see the inside of the dome (though neither of us were up for all the stairs to the viewing levels. We satisfied ourselves looking up from ground level). We also walked all around the church outside, so Momma could drink in the beautiful marble and scupltures on the building. Picked up more postcards and decided it was time to indulge in gelato.
My favorite gelato in all of Florence is Caribe, which is on Via Ricasoli, in between the Duomo and the Academia. We walked over and got due picolo cono - Momma got a berry flavored sorbetto and I splurged on their amazing pistachio, which costs fifty cents more than the other flavors, but was worth every bite! Once every drop was gobbled up, we caught a bus back up home and decided to rest and check in with family before time to get ready for dinner.
For tonight, we made reservations for Da Tito's - a traditional restaurant that's just about 7 minutes walk away. There seems to be some debate whether the service is too friendly or not friendly enough or what, but the food seems to get pretty solid reviews, so we decided to give it a shot. We got a 7:30 reservation and showed up just a few minutes before, to see a long line of folks waiting. Since we had a reservation, we were taken immediately to the back room, which seems cosier and more fun.
We went all out and ordered a bisteca Fiorentino to share, along with a simple salad and a pasta - spaghetti with mushrooms - from a very brusque and busy waiter. A somewhat more pleasant waiter came and opened a bottle of the house chianti for us and then an even nicer waitress brought us a plate of cheese and olives on the house. When they brought the steak, I thought Momma was going to fall over in her chair - it was that big! But it was one of the most amazing pieces of steak that I've ever eaten. Be warned, you must like it fairly rare - they will not cook it longer (there's actually a sign that states this in no uncertain terms). Luckily, I like my steak pretty red, so we were very happy with everything. The pasta was perhaps a little dry, but nothing a drizzle of olive oil didn't fix. (70 Euro total tonight).
The walk back served us well, as it helped to settle our exceptionally full stomachs (and also allowed us to window shop at a darling clothing company on Via de Matteotti.Very cute sweaters and fun sweatshirts - we took a picture of one for my sister that said "Need More Sleep", because she always does.)
We had decided that we would attempt a short day trip to Pisa on the next day, so we hit the sack early to help get an early start (at least early for us!)
Day 5:
Woke up to a beautiful day in Florence! Today we were the only ones at the B&B, so we chatted with Carla about our plans for the day while amply breakfasting on hard boiled eggs, fruit, danish, orange juice and good hot coffee. There was also yogurt and bread with jam or nutella available, if we had wanted them. Certainly plenty to start the day off right.
We took the bus back to the train station and popped over to the the tourist information office to purchase Firenze cards. They are 72 Euro a piece now, but it covers a few more places than when I was last here. You also get unlimited bus fare and free public wifi for 72 hours. The wifi is kind of iffy - some places you can get it, some places you can't. But just the ability to go into the museums without reserving or standing in line makes it worth it to me. And we're getting alot of use from the bus system - makes things a little easier for Momma, not to have to walk so much.
The Basilica & Museum of Santa Maria Novella is right there, so we started there. We went through pretty much the entire museum. I really enjoyed it, especially the area where they have the vestiments that the priests used to wear - these hand embroidered garments were incredible. There was also a restoration of a painting happening in that room - fascinating to watch this young woman work, mixing paints, standing back to look at the painting, taking pictures as she went along. Momma couldn't get over the amazing responsibility that must be felt doing this work.
My favorite part of this site, though, was the church. Really as beautiful as everyone says. I fell in love with Vasari's Madonna of the Rosary - it brought tears to my eyes. Even though I'm not Catholic, I lit a candle for a friend who was undergoing surgery for colon cancer later that day. I figured it couldn't hurt.
We made a half hearted attempt to find the old SMN Pharmacy, but we were hungry and gave up in exchange for heading to the Mercado Centrale on the way. Momma bought a snazzy scarf from a little shop on the street for 5 Euro, as it was a tiny bit chilly. Since I last was here, the second floor of the Mercado has been transformed into the biggest food court I've ever seen. I showed Momma around the downstairs of the market and then we headed up to see if there was anything up there we wanted. We ended up getting a couple of bowls of vegetable bean soup and Momma got a small bruschetta with ham shavings and cheese as well. I planned to pick up a porchetta sandwich from Pork's downstairs on our way out, but the soup was bigger than I originally thought, so I settled for that and an espresso. The soup was more beans than vegetables, but it was good.
Next, we walked past the Medici Chapel - I would have liked to go in, but we were there too late and it was closed. Instead, we kept walking down, back to the Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral. We went in to see the inside of the dome (though neither of us were up for all the stairs to the viewing levels. We satisfied ourselves looking up from ground level). We also walked all around the church outside, so Momma could drink in the beautiful marble and scupltures on the building. Picked up more postcards and decided it was time to indulge in gelato.
My favorite gelato in all of Florence is Caribe, which is on Via Ricasoli, in between the Duomo and the Academia. We walked over and got due picolo cono - Momma got a berry flavored sorbetto and I splurged on their amazing pistachio, which costs fifty cents more than the other flavors, but was worth every bite! Once every drop was gobbled up, we caught a bus back up home and decided to rest and check in with family before time to get ready for dinner.
For tonight, we made reservations for Da Tito's - a traditional restaurant that's just about 7 minutes walk away. There seems to be some debate whether the service is too friendly or not friendly enough or what, but the food seems to get pretty solid reviews, so we decided to give it a shot. We got a 7:30 reservation and showed up just a few minutes before, to see a long line of folks waiting. Since we had a reservation, we were taken immediately to the back room, which seems cosier and more fun.
We went all out and ordered a bisteca Fiorentino to share, along with a simple salad and a pasta - spaghetti with mushrooms - from a very brusque and busy waiter. A somewhat more pleasant waiter came and opened a bottle of the house chianti for us and then an even nicer waitress brought us a plate of cheese and olives on the house. When they brought the steak, I thought Momma was going to fall over in her chair - it was that big! But it was one of the most amazing pieces of steak that I've ever eaten. Be warned, you must like it fairly rare - they will not cook it longer (there's actually a sign that states this in no uncertain terms). Luckily, I like my steak pretty red, so we were very happy with everything. The pasta was perhaps a little dry, but nothing a drizzle of olive oil didn't fix. (70 Euro total tonight).
The walk back served us well, as it helped to settle our exceptionally full stomachs (and also allowed us to window shop at a darling clothing company on Via de Matteotti.Very cute sweaters and fun sweatshirts - we took a picture of one for my sister that said "Need More Sleep", because she always does.)
We had decided that we would attempt a short day trip to Pisa on the next day, so we hit the sack early to help get an early start (at least early for us!)
Oct 30th, 2014, 01:36 PM
#27
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Oh gosh - can't believe I forgot this, but we also went to the Academia after the gelato to see Michelangelo's David! I walked Momma into the main hallway with her back turned and then made her close her eyes until I turned her around, so she could get a good first look at him. I am still amazed by the detail of this sculpture and how lifelike it is. We spent a little time looking at some of the other things in the gallery, but focused mainly on David. What a guy!
Oct 30th, 2014, 02:10 PM
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Fodors is indeed a lovely, supportive community. Thank you for your kind comments and thoughts.
How could you forget David?!! Must have been that huge steak.
Sounds perfect to me.
I'm interested to hear what your Momma thinks of Pisa. I actually enjoyed the town very much.
How could you forget David?!! Must have been that huge steak.
Sounds perfect to me. I'm interested to hear what your Momma thinks of Pisa. I actually enjoyed the town very much.
Nov 2nd, 2014, 04:37 AM
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Hi all - Things came to a little bit of a stop... I caught a bad cold and haven't really had the ability to concentrate long enough to post. We're taking the day off to rest in the countryside, so I'm feeling better and will try to get back on track.
LC - Momma loved Pisa and only wished we had more time there...
Day 6:
Today is Pisa and cooking!
So that we don't commit a sin in Momma's eyes, we head back to the train station for a day trip to Pisa, which is really a half day trip, because we have a cooking lesson tonight and need to be back by 4:00 pm. Truthfully, I've never much had the urge to see Pisa - Lucca perhaps, but not Pisa. Maybe too many bad jokes about Pisans and the tower? But it's the one thing that Momma has really lobbied for, so we're gonna make it happen.
We take a quick trip through the train station in Pisa to use the restroom and walk past a McDonald's - which sells beer, by the way. We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto. We quickly procure a city map and bus tickets and head directly for the Field of Miracles. We arrive just outside the wall and after extracting Momma from the vendors selling purses and such, we enter the field.
Wow... it really is beautiful. The baptistry and the cathedral in particular - really amazing details. Of course, it was fun to see the tower and take silly pictures for my sisters, but I personally felt like the cathedral was the real showstopper. I wished we had time to go get tickets and go inside, but we were a little hungry and had to make an early train back to Florence, so not this time.
Knowing we have to be back in Florence by 4:00, we pull ourselves away and start down Via Santa Maria, keeping an eye out for pizza a taglio or something that we can pick up and eat as we walk. At first, we find only very touristy looking restaurants, but as we meander down some side streets, heading for the Ponte di Mezzo, there are some cute shops and I think we pass a gelateria that I've read about, but we're on the hunt for something a little more substantial right now. We eventually find a little pizza shop just before the river, as we get a few pieces - we both choose a cappriciosso, and Mom gets a slice of vegie and I get a slice of prosciutto. The first slice is heavenly and hot, but by the time we get to the second, it's cooled off and not quite as good - could have probably stopped at one slice, but oh well. We're on vacation, right?
We stop on the Ponte di Mezzo and take in the beautiful river Arno. It's peaceful and restful, but we have a train to catch, so off we go. We take the Corso Italia back towards the station - there are some lovely, higher end stores on this street and we snap some pictures for my fashion loving Auntie. Once back on the train, we agree that a couple of hours really isn't enough and would recommend more time for a visit to Pisa. At the Florence SMN station, we grab a quick coffee and then head towards "home".
We're scheduled for a cooking class with Carla and her daughter Elisabetta tonight. It was really nice to see Elisabetta again - she visited parts of the US earlier this year, so she told us about her travels in Oregon, Washington and Idaho. The menu for the night was traditional Tuscan farm cooking - Crostini Toscana for a starter, Bread Soup for a Primi, and Guinea Fowl for a main. The Bread Soup is what many think of as Ribollita, but Carla said that on the day you cook it, it's just bread soup - it becomes Ribollita the second day after you re-heat it.
Elisabetta poured us a glass of white wine and we got started. First we got the soup on the stove, as it needs to cook for several hours. The main ingedients are cabbage, cannilini beans and Tuscan bread, but there is also celery, carrots, red onion and potatoes thrown in there. Carla uses both black cabbage and a white cabbage that looked a little like Napa cabbage, plus a couple of small handfuls of chard for taste. We were introduced to a mezzaluna, which I've seen at William Sonoma, but had never seen in actual use - Mom was amazed at what a handy tool it is (so now I know what to get her for Christmas!) We also learned - butta, butta, butta (in the old times, when certain things were disposed of by throwing them out the window, you were supposed to yell "butta" three times, so people below would know to get out of the way.)
Next up was the crostini - chicken liver and red onion chopped up finely and cooked in lots of butter and olive oil to make a pate-like topping for our crostini. While we were working, Elisabetta whipped us up a little bite to have with our wine - something her grandmother used to make as an after school snack for her and her brother. She took slices of Tuscan bread, rubbed them all over with tomato, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkle of salt, chopped up the remaining bits of tomato for the topping and there you have it - simple, but so tasty!
For the guinea fowl, Carla rubbed leaves of sage in a salt and pepper mixture and stuffed the sage and some small pieces of guanciale (pig cheek) under the skin of the bird pieces. It went into a large pan on the stovetop with olive oil, more sage and salt and some white wine. After about 40 minutes, we poured in a spoonful of tomato paste diluted with water and a bottle of tuscan olives and let heat through.
Now it was time to build the soup in the soup bowl. We layered thin slices of Tuscan bread in the bottom of the bowl and then ladeled about a third of the soup in. Another layer of bread, and so on until all the soup was in the tureen. Then, drizzled a lot of olive oil on top and we were ready to sit down and eat.
Different wines with every course, plus a cheese course and some lovely cookies that were in season to celebrate the upcoming holidays - we were stuffed! But it was so much fun to laugh with Elisabetta and Carla while we cooked and to get the history of Florence and Siena from Carla's son (who, being a Florentine, had a decidedly one sided perspective) and the other guest at the B&B (a gentleman from Umbria, in town for a training class for work). We ended the evening with a little drop of a homemade walnut liquore, given to the family by a friend. That was some strong stuff and they weren't kidding when they claimed that it would make you sleep well. I was out as soon as my head hit the pillow and didn't awake again until about 8:00 the next morning!
I definitely recommend having a home cooked meal in Florence if you ever have the chance!
LC - Momma loved Pisa and only wished we had more time there...
Day 6:
Today is Pisa and cooking!
So that we don't commit a sin in Momma's eyes, we head back to the train station for a day trip to Pisa, which is really a half day trip, because we have a cooking lesson tonight and need to be back by 4:00 pm. Truthfully, I've never much had the urge to see Pisa - Lucca perhaps, but not Pisa. Maybe too many bad jokes about Pisans and the tower? But it's the one thing that Momma has really lobbied for, so we're gonna make it happen.
We take a quick trip through the train station in Pisa to use the restroom and walk past a McDonald's - which sells beer, by the way. We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto. We quickly procure a city map and bus tickets and head directly for the Field of Miracles. We arrive just outside the wall and after extracting Momma from the vendors selling purses and such, we enter the field.
Wow... it really is beautiful. The baptistry and the cathedral in particular - really amazing details. Of course, it was fun to see the tower and take silly pictures for my sisters, but I personally felt like the cathedral was the real showstopper. I wished we had time to go get tickets and go inside, but we were a little hungry and had to make an early train back to Florence, so not this time.
Knowing we have to be back in Florence by 4:00, we pull ourselves away and start down Via Santa Maria, keeping an eye out for pizza a taglio or something that we can pick up and eat as we walk. At first, we find only very touristy looking restaurants, but as we meander down some side streets, heading for the Ponte di Mezzo, there are some cute shops and I think we pass a gelateria that I've read about, but we're on the hunt for something a little more substantial right now. We eventually find a little pizza shop just before the river, as we get a few pieces - we both choose a cappriciosso, and Mom gets a slice of vegie and I get a slice of prosciutto. The first slice is heavenly and hot, but by the time we get to the second, it's cooled off and not quite as good - could have probably stopped at one slice, but oh well. We're on vacation, right?
We stop on the Ponte di Mezzo and take in the beautiful river Arno. It's peaceful and restful, but we have a train to catch, so off we go. We take the Corso Italia back towards the station - there are some lovely, higher end stores on this street and we snap some pictures for my fashion loving Auntie. Once back on the train, we agree that a couple of hours really isn't enough and would recommend more time for a visit to Pisa. At the Florence SMN station, we grab a quick coffee and then head towards "home".
We're scheduled for a cooking class with Carla and her daughter Elisabetta tonight. It was really nice to see Elisabetta again - she visited parts of the US earlier this year, so she told us about her travels in Oregon, Washington and Idaho. The menu for the night was traditional Tuscan farm cooking - Crostini Toscana for a starter, Bread Soup for a Primi, and Guinea Fowl for a main. The Bread Soup is what many think of as Ribollita, but Carla said that on the day you cook it, it's just bread soup - it becomes Ribollita the second day after you re-heat it.
Elisabetta poured us a glass of white wine and we got started. First we got the soup on the stove, as it needs to cook for several hours. The main ingedients are cabbage, cannilini beans and Tuscan bread, but there is also celery, carrots, red onion and potatoes thrown in there. Carla uses both black cabbage and a white cabbage that looked a little like Napa cabbage, plus a couple of small handfuls of chard for taste. We were introduced to a mezzaluna, which I've seen at William Sonoma, but had never seen in actual use - Mom was amazed at what a handy tool it is (so now I know what to get her for Christmas!) We also learned - butta, butta, butta (in the old times, when certain things were disposed of by throwing them out the window, you were supposed to yell "butta" three times, so people below would know to get out of the way.)
Next up was the crostini - chicken liver and red onion chopped up finely and cooked in lots of butter and olive oil to make a pate-like topping for our crostini. While we were working, Elisabetta whipped us up a little bite to have with our wine - something her grandmother used to make as an after school snack for her and her brother. She took slices of Tuscan bread, rubbed them all over with tomato, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkle of salt, chopped up the remaining bits of tomato for the topping and there you have it - simple, but so tasty!
For the guinea fowl, Carla rubbed leaves of sage in a salt and pepper mixture and stuffed the sage and some small pieces of guanciale (pig cheek) under the skin of the bird pieces. It went into a large pan on the stovetop with olive oil, more sage and salt and some white wine. After about 40 minutes, we poured in a spoonful of tomato paste diluted with water and a bottle of tuscan olives and let heat through.
Now it was time to build the soup in the soup bowl. We layered thin slices of Tuscan bread in the bottom of the bowl and then ladeled about a third of the soup in. Another layer of bread, and so on until all the soup was in the tureen. Then, drizzled a lot of olive oil on top and we were ready to sit down and eat.
Different wines with every course, plus a cheese course and some lovely cookies that were in season to celebrate the upcoming holidays - we were stuffed! But it was so much fun to laugh with Elisabetta and Carla while we cooked and to get the history of Florence and Siena from Carla's son (who, being a Florentine, had a decidedly one sided perspective) and the other guest at the B&B (a gentleman from Umbria, in town for a training class for work). We ended the evening with a little drop of a homemade walnut liquore, given to the family by a friend. That was some strong stuff and they weren't kidding when they claimed that it would make you sleep well. I was out as soon as my head hit the pillow and didn't awake again until about 8:00 the next morning!
I definitely recommend having a home cooked meal in Florence if you ever have the chance!
Nov 2nd, 2014, 04:50 AM
#30
sounds absolutely delicious, rose. I was lucky enough to "help" a family cook dinner in Tuscany once and it was so much fun.
Do you think that you will be copying any of those dishes when you get home? I still make the bread and tomato appetiser, but haven't tried octopus salad yet!
Do you think that you will be copying any of those dishes when you get home? I still make the bread and tomato appetiser, but haven't tried octopus salad yet!
Nov 2nd, 2014, 06:11 AM
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Your cooking school sounded exquisite.
DH and I really like Pisa and made it a base one time. As you say, away from the Tower, it's a lovely place to visit. I'm very sorry you missed the Duomo--much great art and history therein.
More, please, very soon! Oh, do you have a link for Elisabetta?
DH and I really like Pisa and made it a base one time. As you say, away from the Tower, it's a lovely place to visit. I'm very sorry you missed the Duomo--much great art and history therein.
More, please, very soon! Oh, do you have a link for Elisabetta?
Nov 2nd, 2014, 06:54 AM
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Hi Ann - I think we will.. We already made the tomato and bread appetizer at our place in Tuscany and I took copious notes. I think Momma is looking forward to cooking the soup for her husband and some friends!
TDudette - it's not a cooking school so much as a B&B where you can ask for a cooking lesson. The website for the B&B is http://www.bandbleonardodavinci.com/. The owners name is Carla and her daughter Elisabetta helps her with the cooking lesson. It's a very homey, comfortable place... Nothing at all fancy about it, but the people are so lovely that I am comfortable there.
TDudette - it's not a cooking school so much as a B&B where you can ask for a cooking lesson. The website for the B&B is http://www.bandbleonardodavinci.com/. The owners name is Carla and her daughter Elisabetta helps her with the cooking lesson. It's a very homey, comfortable place... Nothing at all fancy about it, but the people are so lovely that I am comfortable there.
Nov 2nd, 2014, 07:14 AM
#34
rose - I have bmked the pensione where you stayed. You never know when you'll need the name of a good B&B in Florence! BTW, the one I stayed at near Santa Croce didn't give cookery lessons, but the owner did take people in tours of the nearby San Ambroglio market which was a lot of fun.
Nov 4th, 2014, 11:34 AM
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Totally agree about Pisa after dark. Plus lots of university students so it has a very young feel - at least in the neighborhood where we stayed.
And also agree with a cooking class in Florence. We did a pasta making class and it was a highlight of many highlights for us.
And also agree with a cooking class in Florence. We did a pasta making class and it was a highlight of many highlights for us.
Nov 5th, 2014, 01:24 PM
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Day 7:
After a really good food and walnut liquore induced sleep, we woke a bit earlier so that we could get a good start over to the Uffizi. We took a regular bus in to the train station and then crossed the street and hopped on one of those cute little electric buses. This has been one of the benefits of the Firenze card - unlimited bus use and easy entry into the museums with no reservations needed and no waiting in lines.
We walked around the inner courtyard of the museum first and checked out the statues of many historic figures - Dante, Machievelli, Amerigo Gespucci, Galileo, and others. I opted to rent an audio guide, thinking that Momma would like to know a little about what we were seeing, which she did, but not by listening herself. She preferred for me to listen and then give her the highlights. But I love listening to all the fascinating little details, so this worked well for us. Having been to the Uffizi before, I knew that it would be way more than we would be up for seeing, so we chose between 4 to 6 rooms per floor that we really wanted to focus on and set off. I adore the Botticelli room and always spend the most time there. Momma really liked the room with the portraits of the Medici family members and the few Caravaggio and Caravaggio-like paintings.
Since we hadn't had lunch, we stopped at the second floor cafe and "splurged" on table service - ordering a few sandwiches and coffees to perk us up. Made friends with lots of little (very cheeky) birds, who fly right on to the table and would eat the sandwich off your plate if you gave them half a chance. But the view was lovely and we laughed alot, so it was definitely worth the slightly higher prices to get table service. As I kind of expected, we were starting to fade a bit, so the number of rooms we spend more than a passing glance in was a little fewer than upstairs.
Next, we strolled over to the Ponte Vecchio and oggled all the pretty jewelry, and then headed up towards the Pitti Palace and oggled all the pretty shoes and bags and clothes as we made our way up. By the time that we finally arrived, we only had time to either see the gardens or one of the museums, so we decided on the Costume Museum. But this is where things took a wrong turn. We asked for directions and were pointed to the stairs, rather than the elevator (which we did not know existed). After what felt like about 4 or 5 flights of stairs, we were still nowhere near the museum, so we stopped and settled on the Palantine Apartments. Which were interesting in a way, but not what we were really most interested in seeing. So, as it always seems to be for me, the Pitti Palace, despite my best effort, continues to just feel like a mistake for me. Just not my thing. And then, of course, on the way out, we saw the sign pointing towards the lift. Oh well.
So there was, of course, only one thing to do to make up for our disappointment and exhaustion. Gelato. We jumped on a little bus-let and headed back to Caribe for some ciocolatti and pera for me and tiramisu for Momma (she's not into mixing her flavors).
We nursed ourselves with a little R&R back at "home" before making plans for dinner. to our delight, Carla asked if we would be interested in staying in again for dinner, so we could taste our soup as actual Ribolita - and of course we were delighted to, considering that we would need to pack up and get an early night's sleep in advance of our departure in the morning. It really had soaked up all the flavors and was even more tasty as Ribolita, than it had been as Bread Soup! Along with some various nibbles, like the remainder of the Crostini Toscana and Cannelini beans in a tomato based sauce, it was a very satisfying meal and was a great way to end our time in Florence.
A few notes on the B&B Leonardo Da Vinci - I adore Carla and her daughter Elisabetta, and that is enough to make me want to stay there. The breakfasts are plentiful and good, the rooms clean and comfortable, and the cooking lesson and hospitality were amazing. Carla supplied us with bottles of water every day and we wanted for nothing. The room we stayed in had a double bed and a single bed, which was slightly on the hard side, but fine. The en suite bathroom was nice to have, however, it included a claw foot tub with just a spray attachment - no actual shower. So it was a bit interesting to navigate the washing of the hair. But overall, we enjoyed our stay there, and the quiet neighborhood where it is located.
After a really good food and walnut liquore induced sleep, we woke a bit earlier so that we could get a good start over to the Uffizi. We took a regular bus in to the train station and then crossed the street and hopped on one of those cute little electric buses. This has been one of the benefits of the Firenze card - unlimited bus use and easy entry into the museums with no reservations needed and no waiting in lines.
We walked around the inner courtyard of the museum first and checked out the statues of many historic figures - Dante, Machievelli, Amerigo Gespucci, Galileo, and others. I opted to rent an audio guide, thinking that Momma would like to know a little about what we were seeing, which she did, but not by listening herself. She preferred for me to listen and then give her the highlights. But I love listening to all the fascinating little details, so this worked well for us. Having been to the Uffizi before, I knew that it would be way more than we would be up for seeing, so we chose between 4 to 6 rooms per floor that we really wanted to focus on and set off. I adore the Botticelli room and always spend the most time there. Momma really liked the room with the portraits of the Medici family members and the few Caravaggio and Caravaggio-like paintings.
Since we hadn't had lunch, we stopped at the second floor cafe and "splurged" on table service - ordering a few sandwiches and coffees to perk us up. Made friends with lots of little (very cheeky) birds, who fly right on to the table and would eat the sandwich off your plate if you gave them half a chance. But the view was lovely and we laughed alot, so it was definitely worth the slightly higher prices to get table service. As I kind of expected, we were starting to fade a bit, so the number of rooms we spend more than a passing glance in was a little fewer than upstairs.
Next, we strolled over to the Ponte Vecchio and oggled all the pretty jewelry, and then headed up towards the Pitti Palace and oggled all the pretty shoes and bags and clothes as we made our way up. By the time that we finally arrived, we only had time to either see the gardens or one of the museums, so we decided on the Costume Museum. But this is where things took a wrong turn. We asked for directions and were pointed to the stairs, rather than the elevator (which we did not know existed). After what felt like about 4 or 5 flights of stairs, we were still nowhere near the museum, so we stopped and settled on the Palantine Apartments. Which were interesting in a way, but not what we were really most interested in seeing. So, as it always seems to be for me, the Pitti Palace, despite my best effort, continues to just feel like a mistake for me. Just not my thing. And then, of course, on the way out, we saw the sign pointing towards the lift. Oh well.
So there was, of course, only one thing to do to make up for our disappointment and exhaustion. Gelato. We jumped on a little bus-let and headed back to Caribe for some ciocolatti and pera for me and tiramisu for Momma (she's not into mixing her flavors).
We nursed ourselves with a little R&R back at "home" before making plans for dinner. to our delight, Carla asked if we would be interested in staying in again for dinner, so we could taste our soup as actual Ribolita - and of course we were delighted to, considering that we would need to pack up and get an early night's sleep in advance of our departure in the morning. It really had soaked up all the flavors and was even more tasty as Ribolita, than it had been as Bread Soup! Along with some various nibbles, like the remainder of the Crostini Toscana and Cannelini beans in a tomato based sauce, it was a very satisfying meal and was a great way to end our time in Florence.
A few notes on the B&B Leonardo Da Vinci - I adore Carla and her daughter Elisabetta, and that is enough to make me want to stay there. The breakfasts are plentiful and good, the rooms clean and comfortable, and the cooking lesson and hospitality were amazing. Carla supplied us with bottles of water every day and we wanted for nothing. The room we stayed in had a double bed and a single bed, which was slightly on the hard side, but fine. The en suite bathroom was nice to have, however, it included a claw foot tub with just a spray attachment - no actual shower. So it was a bit interesting to navigate the washing of the hair. But overall, we enjoyed our stay there, and the quiet neighborhood where it is located.
Nov 6th, 2014, 09:41 AM
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Day 8:
Time to say ciao to my beloved Florence... there was so much more we would have liked to do, but it was time to move on to the country. After final hugs and arrivederla's with Carla, we took the bus to the tramvia out to Sansovino to pick up a car. I had booked through Kemwel and we were to pick up the car at the Hertz office, just on the other side of the river on the outskirts of town.
I made a snap decision to rent a GPS - luckily they had one available. (We ended up having a love/hate relationship with him, but all in all, it was a good decision). The first car we were given had a broken cover for the trunk area, and knowing we would be making some stops and wanted that area adequately covered, I notified the Hertz guy and he ended up giving us a different (and slightly bigger) car. It was certainly bigger than the Fiat 500 I drive at home, but it ended up being a tad more comfortable for Momma, which was going to come in very handy.
We programmed the GPS (whom we ended up referring to as "the guy") with the directions to our first stop - Greve in Chianti. Luckily the route he took us was the same route I took a few years ago or Momma would not have believed that it was the right way. Getting out of Florence down these tiny little streets where you have to back up or pull into someone's front drive if another car meets you coming the opposite direction. She kicked herself for not taking video of that street later!
We joked about having now been in planes, trains and automobiles (not to mention a boat and a tram) and enjoyed the gorgeous drive to Greve. We quickly found a little parking strip and walked a block looking for a restroom. We found a lovely little place called Caffe S. Anna. It was incredibly cute and boasted free wifi, so we decided to grab some lunch. We were looking in the deli case and thinking we would get just some heated up slices of pizza when the proprietor (I think) led us to a table and offered us menus - score! Momma had an anchovy and capers pizza (she's hooked on anchovies now!) and I had pasta - both were so much better than we had originally expected. Highly recommend this little place!
We then trotted off to Piazza Matteoti - found the amazing butcher shop, Antica Macelleria Falorni, and between that and the wine shop across the piazza, we loaded up on some staples (wine, sausage, cheese, liver pate for Crostini Toscana, cookies and more wine) - which ended up being a very good decision later! There are some very cute shops here, but we were at the hour when most things were closed, so we decided to push on to Castellina and a gellateria I had read about.
So this was the first of our disagreements with "the guy". I put in the address for the gelateria, but apparently he did not agree and led us through and past Castellina before I realized what had occurred. The clock was ticking on into the afternoon, so I decided that gelato would have to wait til another day and we would need to push on to our farm house, so we wouldn't arrive in the dark. I punched in the coordinates and off we went.
We saw a little frutta e verdura shop as we went through one of the towns, so decided to stop and add some oranges, apples, grapes and tomatoes to our stock, in case we didn't get to our place in time to hunt for these things. As Momma waited in line to pay, an older gentleman (the husband of the woman running the register?) announced that he spoke English. I asked if there was a place nearby to get bread and he took me by the arm and ushered me out of the shop and across the street. He asked where I was from and when I answered he smiled widely and told me that he smokes American cigarettes!
After our purchases were made, we pushed off again. And this is where it really went off the rails. Apparently, the coordinates to the place we were staying, don't really work if you try to get there from this part of Chianti. You have to go down to the main highway going through Siena and then in takes you there. And in the back of my mind somewhere, I know I had read this already, but in my haste, I neglected to follow instructions. So we ended up at a Podere, but not the right one. Not even close - it was probably a good hour away from where we were supposed to be. And it was now about 4:45 and the sun was seriously on it's downward trend.
I reprogrammed the guy to take us to Siena and we got there just as the sun dipped below the horizon and the street lights came on. For some reason, the guy saw fit to lead us up and through Siena, instead of around it, plus we were now caught in rush hour traffic, so by the time we were through Siena and on the way towards Pianella (the Podere we wanted was just 5 minutes or so past there), it was pitch dark. Going down unfamiliar, dark country roads was apparently not Momma's idea of fun, but bless her, she stayed calm while I kept moving forward and eventually and joyfully we found the Podere Luchignano Secundo agriturisimo. The driveway was a bit terrifying in the dark, but we made it the last 50 meters and we were there!
Wanting to get out of the car and kiss the ground, we met Enzo and his son Duccio, who I think were just as glad that we had finally arrived as we were. They helped us unload and then showed us around the apartment and demonstrated how the kitchen appliances and such work. Once we settled things up with them and confirmed our Sunday evening cooking class, they were off and we hungrily assembled our picnic dinner and several glasses of wine!
It was too dark to see anything outside, but we were thrilled with the inside of the apartment. You know how often you see pictures of places like this and then when you get there, you realize that it's not as nice, big, clean or whatever as the pictures show? Well, this place is better than the pictures. The apartment was quite large and the rooms were beautiful. I had found this place through a Fodor's poster, so I had assurance that it was nice, but it was really quite luxiourious. And Duccio even hunted down a ceramic Halloween pumpkin candle for us (it was Oct 31)!
Our only issue was that they hadn't turned the heat on yet, thinking to save us some money, as they felt it was still pretty warm out. In the end, it would have taken a few days to get the place heated up, so we settled for extra comforters on the beds and bundling up in blankets or sitting in the kitchen where the oven kept things warmer at night.
So we were happy to have arrived and that we had some food to get us through the night. And then I started to sneeze and cough.
Time to say ciao to my beloved Florence... there was so much more we would have liked to do, but it was time to move on to the country. After final hugs and arrivederla's with Carla, we took the bus to the tramvia out to Sansovino to pick up a car. I had booked through Kemwel and we were to pick up the car at the Hertz office, just on the other side of the river on the outskirts of town.
I made a snap decision to rent a GPS - luckily they had one available. (We ended up having a love/hate relationship with him, but all in all, it was a good decision). The first car we were given had a broken cover for the trunk area, and knowing we would be making some stops and wanted that area adequately covered, I notified the Hertz guy and he ended up giving us a different (and slightly bigger) car. It was certainly bigger than the Fiat 500 I drive at home, but it ended up being a tad more comfortable for Momma, which was going to come in very handy.
We programmed the GPS (whom we ended up referring to as "the guy") with the directions to our first stop - Greve in Chianti. Luckily the route he took us was the same route I took a few years ago or Momma would not have believed that it was the right way. Getting out of Florence down these tiny little streets where you have to back up or pull into someone's front drive if another car meets you coming the opposite direction. She kicked herself for not taking video of that street later!
We joked about having now been in planes, trains and automobiles (not to mention a boat and a tram) and enjoyed the gorgeous drive to Greve. We quickly found a little parking strip and walked a block looking for a restroom. We found a lovely little place called Caffe S. Anna. It was incredibly cute and boasted free wifi, so we decided to grab some lunch. We were looking in the deli case and thinking we would get just some heated up slices of pizza when the proprietor (I think) led us to a table and offered us menus - score! Momma had an anchovy and capers pizza (she's hooked on anchovies now!) and I had pasta - both were so much better than we had originally expected. Highly recommend this little place!
We then trotted off to Piazza Matteoti - found the amazing butcher shop, Antica Macelleria Falorni, and between that and the wine shop across the piazza, we loaded up on some staples (wine, sausage, cheese, liver pate for Crostini Toscana, cookies and more wine) - which ended up being a very good decision later! There are some very cute shops here, but we were at the hour when most things were closed, so we decided to push on to Castellina and a gellateria I had read about.
So this was the first of our disagreements with "the guy". I put in the address for the gelateria, but apparently he did not agree and led us through and past Castellina before I realized what had occurred. The clock was ticking on into the afternoon, so I decided that gelato would have to wait til another day and we would need to push on to our farm house, so we wouldn't arrive in the dark. I punched in the coordinates and off we went.
We saw a little frutta e verdura shop as we went through one of the towns, so decided to stop and add some oranges, apples, grapes and tomatoes to our stock, in case we didn't get to our place in time to hunt for these things. As Momma waited in line to pay, an older gentleman (the husband of the woman running the register?) announced that he spoke English. I asked if there was a place nearby to get bread and he took me by the arm and ushered me out of the shop and across the street. He asked where I was from and when I answered he smiled widely and told me that he smokes American cigarettes!
After our purchases were made, we pushed off again. And this is where it really went off the rails. Apparently, the coordinates to the place we were staying, don't really work if you try to get there from this part of Chianti. You have to go down to the main highway going through Siena and then in takes you there. And in the back of my mind somewhere, I know I had read this already, but in my haste, I neglected to follow instructions. So we ended up at a Podere, but not the right one. Not even close - it was probably a good hour away from where we were supposed to be. And it was now about 4:45 and the sun was seriously on it's downward trend.
I reprogrammed the guy to take us to Siena and we got there just as the sun dipped below the horizon and the street lights came on. For some reason, the guy saw fit to lead us up and through Siena, instead of around it, plus we were now caught in rush hour traffic, so by the time we were through Siena and on the way towards Pianella (the Podere we wanted was just 5 minutes or so past there), it was pitch dark. Going down unfamiliar, dark country roads was apparently not Momma's idea of fun, but bless her, she stayed calm while I kept moving forward and eventually and joyfully we found the Podere Luchignano Secundo agriturisimo. The driveway was a bit terrifying in the dark, but we made it the last 50 meters and we were there!
Wanting to get out of the car and kiss the ground, we met Enzo and his son Duccio, who I think were just as glad that we had finally arrived as we were. They helped us unload and then showed us around the apartment and demonstrated how the kitchen appliances and such work. Once we settled things up with them and confirmed our Sunday evening cooking class, they were off and we hungrily assembled our picnic dinner and several glasses of wine!
It was too dark to see anything outside, but we were thrilled with the inside of the apartment. You know how often you see pictures of places like this and then when you get there, you realize that it's not as nice, big, clean or whatever as the pictures show? Well, this place is better than the pictures. The apartment was quite large and the rooms were beautiful. I had found this place through a Fodor's poster, so I had assurance that it was nice, but it was really quite luxiourious. And Duccio even hunted down a ceramic Halloween pumpkin candle for us (it was Oct 31)!
Our only issue was that they hadn't turned the heat on yet, thinking to save us some money, as they felt it was still pretty warm out. In the end, it would have taken a few days to get the place heated up, so we settled for extra comforters on the beds and bundling up in blankets or sitting in the kitchen where the oven kept things warmer at night.
So we were happy to have arrived and that we had some food to get us through the night. And then I started to sneeze and cough.
