Another Italian Trip Report - May 2005
Jun 21st, 2005, 09:12 AM
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Days 17, 18, and 19 – Chianti region.
The chianti region was beautiful, not the same as southern Tuscany. More trees, but still lots of open spaces with the vineyards and olive groves scattered about. We visited Greve in Chianti and proceeded to Radda stopping at as many of the wine estates as we could and still manage to drive safely on the winding roads. It was misty out, but that didn’t deter our pursuit of the vineyards for their wine tasting. This was a very enjoyable part of our trip.
It was fairly early when we arrived in Greve so we got ourselves another good cup of cappuccino and a doughtnut at the local bakery. The shops were just beginning to open. There is a wonderful meat store with lots of salami and sausage hanging from the ceiling. It was packed with people. They had every imaginable type of sausage. Bought some for later in the day to eat with cheese and bread and some to take home in the suitcase. We are always bummed about not having these types of stores back home.
We did lots of driving today, in and out of the vineyards and managed to buy at least a bottle at each enoteca. Met lots of other tourists and shared our stories and some pointed out directions to places they just visited and we would go off in pursuit. It was a very enjoyable day stopping at all the towns along the way to Radda and then back to Castellina to our little bit of heaven. Arrived back around 4:00p and rested by the swimming pool, sampling a little cheese and salami and waiting for dinner. Such a life of leisure, Will I be able to come down to earth?
Our last day in Chianti was spent in Siena. We parked at the St. Francisco car park and just across the street there is an escalator that takes you up the steep hill into town. What a nice feature.
FYI: The Basilica di San Francesco is at the top of this hill so we entered for a visit. There is an interesting story regarding 223 hosts that were stolen by thieves for the silver chalice they were in. This happened in 1730 and the hosts are still intact with no deterioration for all these years. This also appeared to be the church of Padre Pio, the priest who had the stigmata of Christ’s wombs. This is probably only of interest to Catholics.
Wandered through the streets, visiting all the churches on our way to the Campo.
The Campo was just packed with tourists. Do the Italians really like us invading their cities in such mass? Of course it is good for the economy, but the crowds in some high tourist areas are overwhelming. We sat for a while in the campo, taking lots of pictures of the campanile which we couldn’t go up in, large crowds waiting. Not on our priority list. Visited the Church of Catherine of Siena, who is the Patron Saint of Europe. Bought a book about her life which I shall read some day. We visited so many churches that they all run together in my mind. To our disbelief there were churches on every block and one time two churches side by side. Each a different parish. That is another story in itself.
Day 20 and 21 – Florence
Decided to drive into Florence to drop off the car rather than Siena. I mapped it our street by street from the internet on Mappy.com and it wasn’t difficult to find the Hertz drop off spot. It was near the train station and they called a cab for us. I’m not saying that driving in Florence isn’t easy , but it is doable if you just take your time and have a good navigator to watch for the street names, which are on the side of buildings, etc. Also streets are very narrow and if a truck stops to unload you just have to wait it out until he is finished. No room to go around.
We did arrive at our hotel safely.
Hotel
B&B In Piazza della Signoria
Via dei Magazzini, 2
50122 Florence
Tel: 39-55-23.99.546
Fax +39 055 2676616
Email: [email protected]
www.inpizzadellasignoria.com
€360 per night for the two rooms.
This was a fantastic place. We had connecting rooms, the Beatrice and Dante. You can look on the website and take a virtual 360 degree tour of the Beatrice room bathroom. It is just beautiful. Frescos on the wall, sunken whirlpool tub for two, nice large French windows in the bath. I gave this room to my brother and sister in law. She loves baths and they would both use the whirlpool. My husband is not a whirlpool type guy, so it would not have been appreciated by him. He’s a shower and go. They were in 7th heaven. At the end of each day they would sit and soak and . . . . whatever and they always had a smile on their faces.
We were greeted as we arrived, someone brought our luggage up the flight of stairs to the reception area, offered us refreshments as we waited to check in and were very helpful in any suggestions we needed. On the day were checked out we were presented with a very nice bottle of Chianti wine for each couple. A very nice gesture, and the wine was excellent.
All rooms are decorated with great furniture, flat screen TV, only good for CNN and coffee and tea. Outside the door is a Culligan water cooler with hot and cold water. There were many choices of tea in each room.
The breakfast room had a long communal table with a wall of windows looking out on Piazza della Signoria. There was everything you could imagine to eat. Fresh fruit plate, basket of good rolls, large platters of meat and cheese, yogurt and they will fix an omelet or however you might want your eggs. I had a nice bacon omelet, yes bacon. It was gooood. Everyone shares stories of the previous day and it was a friendly atmosphere.
I saw some of the other rooms and they were all very nice. It is more expensive than previous places I have stayed at in Florence, but definitely worth the splurge.
I did purchase 10:00am tickets to the Academia to see DAVID from the internet before we left home. Http://www.florenceart.it. €22 per person, not the best deal, but worth it to us. With our printed off vouchers, we walked past the long line of tourists waiting to enter and presented them to the ticket agent and in 2 minutes we were in the museum.
David speaks for itself when you see it. Remarkable work Michaelangelo. You can see every little muscle, every vein in the hand and it’s all in stone. Definitely my favorite piece of art.
There is lots to see and do in Florence: Pitti Palace, Boboli Gardens, Santa Croce, Uffizzi, Medici this and that, the piazzas, shopping, and the San Lorenzo market. We headed for the San Lorenzo market. My brother in law (BIL) needed to find a bag in which to put all his purchases of wine, cheese, and various other items too numerous to mention. We shopped the narrow streets lined with vendors selling lots of leather goods, knockoff purses, neat Gucci summer bags, etc. Entered the two story market building with the food. Here he (BIL) purchased more salami, pecorino cheese, which I have failed to mention, but was an overwhelming favorite of us all, and they shrink wrapped it to take home on the plane. Loved looking at all the variety of mushrooms, cheese, meats, and the chickens with the feet attached and whole pigs. Are you getting the picture here – we are food lovers more than art lovers.
Ristorante
Il Ritrovo
Via de Pucci 4/A
055 281688
We stopped by to make reservations for the evening. I believe it was a Thursday night. There were so many posts regarding this restaurant, a few who thought it was ok, that I definitely wanted to try it.
Not a disappointment. This was on our top 10 lists for good places to eat. Marco is the owner and because it was not a busy night for him, and his wife didn’t speak English, he would come by our table and entertain us with his many funny stories, we just had the best night there.
Everything is made by him on the premises, fresh every day. It was a great meal and of course I don’t remember what I ate because I didn’t journal and we didn’t pay for the meal this night so had no receipt of what we ate. But I do know it was good, we oooohed and aaaahed a lot during dinner. Hmmmmmm. We spent a lot of time there eating and listing to Marco’s stories. He offered us after dinner drinks and another bottle of wine, he appeared to be very insistent, but we declined as it was getting rather late and we were leaving early in the morning. Did we insult him by not accepting his kind hospitality?
The chianti region was beautiful, not the same as southern Tuscany. More trees, but still lots of open spaces with the vineyards and olive groves scattered about. We visited Greve in Chianti and proceeded to Radda stopping at as many of the wine estates as we could and still manage to drive safely on the winding roads. It was misty out, but that didn’t deter our pursuit of the vineyards for their wine tasting. This was a very enjoyable part of our trip.
It was fairly early when we arrived in Greve so we got ourselves another good cup of cappuccino and a doughtnut at the local bakery. The shops were just beginning to open. There is a wonderful meat store with lots of salami and sausage hanging from the ceiling. It was packed with people. They had every imaginable type of sausage. Bought some for later in the day to eat with cheese and bread and some to take home in the suitcase. We are always bummed about not having these types of stores back home.
We did lots of driving today, in and out of the vineyards and managed to buy at least a bottle at each enoteca. Met lots of other tourists and shared our stories and some pointed out directions to places they just visited and we would go off in pursuit. It was a very enjoyable day stopping at all the towns along the way to Radda and then back to Castellina to our little bit of heaven. Arrived back around 4:00p and rested by the swimming pool, sampling a little cheese and salami and waiting for dinner. Such a life of leisure, Will I be able to come down to earth?
Our last day in Chianti was spent in Siena. We parked at the St. Francisco car park and just across the street there is an escalator that takes you up the steep hill into town. What a nice feature.
FYI: The Basilica di San Francesco is at the top of this hill so we entered for a visit. There is an interesting story regarding 223 hosts that were stolen by thieves for the silver chalice they were in. This happened in 1730 and the hosts are still intact with no deterioration for all these years. This also appeared to be the church of Padre Pio, the priest who had the stigmata of Christ’s wombs. This is probably only of interest to Catholics.
Wandered through the streets, visiting all the churches on our way to the Campo.
The Campo was just packed with tourists. Do the Italians really like us invading their cities in such mass? Of course it is good for the economy, but the crowds in some high tourist areas are overwhelming. We sat for a while in the campo, taking lots of pictures of the campanile which we couldn’t go up in, large crowds waiting. Not on our priority list. Visited the Church of Catherine of Siena, who is the Patron Saint of Europe. Bought a book about her life which I shall read some day. We visited so many churches that they all run together in my mind. To our disbelief there were churches on every block and one time two churches side by side. Each a different parish. That is another story in itself.
Day 20 and 21 – Florence
Decided to drive into Florence to drop off the car rather than Siena. I mapped it our street by street from the internet on Mappy.com and it wasn’t difficult to find the Hertz drop off spot. It was near the train station and they called a cab for us. I’m not saying that driving in Florence isn’t easy , but it is doable if you just take your time and have a good navigator to watch for the street names, which are on the side of buildings, etc. Also streets are very narrow and if a truck stops to unload you just have to wait it out until he is finished. No room to go around.
We did arrive at our hotel safely.
Hotel
B&B In Piazza della Signoria
Via dei Magazzini, 2
50122 Florence
Tel: 39-55-23.99.546
Fax +39 055 2676616
Email: [email protected]
www.inpizzadellasignoria.com
€360 per night for the two rooms.
This was a fantastic place. We had connecting rooms, the Beatrice and Dante. You can look on the website and take a virtual 360 degree tour of the Beatrice room bathroom. It is just beautiful. Frescos on the wall, sunken whirlpool tub for two, nice large French windows in the bath. I gave this room to my brother and sister in law. She loves baths and they would both use the whirlpool. My husband is not a whirlpool type guy, so it would not have been appreciated by him. He’s a shower and go. They were in 7th heaven. At the end of each day they would sit and soak and . . . . whatever and they always had a smile on their faces.
We were greeted as we arrived, someone brought our luggage up the flight of stairs to the reception area, offered us refreshments as we waited to check in and were very helpful in any suggestions we needed. On the day were checked out we were presented with a very nice bottle of Chianti wine for each couple. A very nice gesture, and the wine was excellent.
All rooms are decorated with great furniture, flat screen TV, only good for CNN and coffee and tea. Outside the door is a Culligan water cooler with hot and cold water. There were many choices of tea in each room.
The breakfast room had a long communal table with a wall of windows looking out on Piazza della Signoria. There was everything you could imagine to eat. Fresh fruit plate, basket of good rolls, large platters of meat and cheese, yogurt and they will fix an omelet or however you might want your eggs. I had a nice bacon omelet, yes bacon. It was gooood. Everyone shares stories of the previous day and it was a friendly atmosphere.
I saw some of the other rooms and they were all very nice. It is more expensive than previous places I have stayed at in Florence, but definitely worth the splurge.
I did purchase 10:00am tickets to the Academia to see DAVID from the internet before we left home. Http://www.florenceart.it. €22 per person, not the best deal, but worth it to us. With our printed off vouchers, we walked past the long line of tourists waiting to enter and presented them to the ticket agent and in 2 minutes we were in the museum.
David speaks for itself when you see it. Remarkable work Michaelangelo. You can see every little muscle, every vein in the hand and it’s all in stone. Definitely my favorite piece of art.
There is lots to see and do in Florence: Pitti Palace, Boboli Gardens, Santa Croce, Uffizzi, Medici this and that, the piazzas, shopping, and the San Lorenzo market. We headed for the San Lorenzo market. My brother in law (BIL) needed to find a bag in which to put all his purchases of wine, cheese, and various other items too numerous to mention. We shopped the narrow streets lined with vendors selling lots of leather goods, knockoff purses, neat Gucci summer bags, etc. Entered the two story market building with the food. Here he (BIL) purchased more salami, pecorino cheese, which I have failed to mention, but was an overwhelming favorite of us all, and they shrink wrapped it to take home on the plane. Loved looking at all the variety of mushrooms, cheese, meats, and the chickens with the feet attached and whole pigs. Are you getting the picture here – we are food lovers more than art lovers.
Ristorante
Il Ritrovo
Via de Pucci 4/A
055 281688
We stopped by to make reservations for the evening. I believe it was a Thursday night. There were so many posts regarding this restaurant, a few who thought it was ok, that I definitely wanted to try it.
Not a disappointment. This was on our top 10 lists for good places to eat. Marco is the owner and because it was not a busy night for him, and his wife didn’t speak English, he would come by our table and entertain us with his many funny stories, we just had the best night there.
Everything is made by him on the premises, fresh every day. It was a great meal and of course I don’t remember what I ate because I didn’t journal and we didn’t pay for the meal this night so had no receipt of what we ate. But I do know it was good, we oooohed and aaaahed a lot during dinner. Hmmmmmm. We spent a lot of time there eating and listing to Marco’s stories. He offered us after dinner drinks and another bottle of wine, he appeared to be very insistent, but we declined as it was getting rather late and we were leaving early in the morning. Did we insult him by not accepting his kind hospitality?
May 14th, 2006, 02:01 PM
#22
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This is a very belated ending to my trip report. My mother of 91 passed away and I just never got back to finishing the report.
So I'm just adding a few paragraphs to get closure to my report.
-------
Florence, Italy
Il Ritrovno Restaurant
I have since learned that Antonio has moved on and no longer has his restaurant. What a shame.
After a wonderful stay in Florence we were off to the Cinque Terre and Vernazza for three nights. This was truly a highlight. I had previously been to the Cinque Terre in 1996 and things certainly had changed. Of course it was swarming with people, why wouldn't one of the most beautiful spots on earth attract the masses. The harbor had been revamped since my last visit and it was now a meeting place for weekend Italians out to catch some sun. Under the brightly colored umbrellas that dotted the harbor families gathered to spend the day together enjoying their free time. Children surrried about, bikini clad beauties stretched out on the cobbled terrace taking in the rays and teenagers and grandparents enjoyed the day. A wedding was taking place at the small church in the harbor and everyone was there to cheer the happy couple as they exited the church.
We had a room overlooking the harbor (Maria Franca's Rooms) and we did our laundry and hung it to dry "Italian Style" for all the world to see. The view was wonderful and it was enjoyable to see the early morning merchants out sweeping up after a busy night, washing down their restaurants and chatting among themselves across the harbor.
We walked in the early morning from the southern most village of Manarola along the Via della Amore to Riomaggiore, on to Corniglea and up, up and over and down to Vernazza. This was quite a trek for me as I felt it was strenuous. The day was warm and the trails were busy. Many german power walkers on this route. But when it was over and done with it felt great to have accomplished this walk.
Our travel partners did the walk from Monterosso back to Vernazza the following day, but my husband and I opted for the train.
We trained to Milan where we caught a very nice train called "Pegasus". We had a 5-course dinner on the train as it passed through some of the most wonderful scenery in Switzerland. We arrived in Basel around 9:00 pm to catch the night train to Amsterdam and had the Double Deluxe compartment with a shower/Toilette and other amenities. A splurge that was welcome.
We stayed at the Canal House on Kaisergracht in the Jordaan district. We just love this hotel. A memorable restaurant our last night was The Season’s and I put this on my top 5 choices for a good night out.
My Italian Trip took place last May 2005 and being this is May 2006 and I have no travel plans before me, the weather in Minnesota is cold and rainy for two weeks now and more in store for next week, I only have this travelogue to fill the void until I'm off again. Looks like 2007 France (Normandy/Loire/Burgundy/Provence) I hope.
So I'm just adding a few paragraphs to get closure to my report.
-------
Florence, Italy
Il Ritrovno Restaurant
I have since learned that Antonio has moved on and no longer has his restaurant. What a shame.
After a wonderful stay in Florence we were off to the Cinque Terre and Vernazza for three nights. This was truly a highlight. I had previously been to the Cinque Terre in 1996 and things certainly had changed. Of course it was swarming with people, why wouldn't one of the most beautiful spots on earth attract the masses. The harbor had been revamped since my last visit and it was now a meeting place for weekend Italians out to catch some sun. Under the brightly colored umbrellas that dotted the harbor families gathered to spend the day together enjoying their free time. Children surrried about, bikini clad beauties stretched out on the cobbled terrace taking in the rays and teenagers and grandparents enjoyed the day. A wedding was taking place at the small church in the harbor and everyone was there to cheer the happy couple as they exited the church.
We had a room overlooking the harbor (Maria Franca's Rooms) and we did our laundry and hung it to dry "Italian Style" for all the world to see. The view was wonderful and it was enjoyable to see the early morning merchants out sweeping up after a busy night, washing down their restaurants and chatting among themselves across the harbor.
We walked in the early morning from the southern most village of Manarola along the Via della Amore to Riomaggiore, on to Corniglea and up, up and over and down to Vernazza. This was quite a trek for me as I felt it was strenuous. The day was warm and the trails were busy. Many german power walkers on this route. But when it was over and done with it felt great to have accomplished this walk.
Our travel partners did the walk from Monterosso back to Vernazza the following day, but my husband and I opted for the train.
We trained to Milan where we caught a very nice train called "Pegasus". We had a 5-course dinner on the train as it passed through some of the most wonderful scenery in Switzerland. We arrived in Basel around 9:00 pm to catch the night train to Amsterdam and had the Double Deluxe compartment with a shower/Toilette and other amenities. A splurge that was welcome.
We stayed at the Canal House on Kaisergracht in the Jordaan district. We just love this hotel. A memorable restaurant our last night was The Season’s and I put this on my top 5 choices for a good night out.
My Italian Trip took place last May 2005 and being this is May 2006 and I have no travel plans before me, the weather in Minnesota is cold and rainy for two weeks now and more in store for next week, I only have this travelogue to fill the void until I'm off again. Looks like 2007 France (Normandy/Loire/Burgundy/Provence) I hope.
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