runlong

Buongiorno! We return from a wonderful trip to Florence that left me very relaxed and yearning for fresh mozzarella and chianti.

This was a semi-planned leisure trip for my husband's work, but we had a lot of free time. Just to keep it short, here were my impressions of some of the places we saw and things we did.

First let me say that Florence in late May is CROWDED. It's not a complaint, just an observation. Hey, we're all tourists, right?

Things I loved:
1. Our hotel on the Arno River, Grand Hotel in Piazza Ognissanti. It was impeccable.
2. Eating gelato just about anywhere. Everyone ask where the best gelato is - I say it's ALL good. Don't knock yourself out trying to find the "best".
3. Dinner at L'Osteria di Giovanni on Via Moro. Try the bistecca, it was enormous and delicious for two.
4. Castle of Verrazano - wonderful wine presentation, lunch and VIEW!
5. Italian people - they are gracious and charming, not to mention patient with my horrible Italian. We should all appreciate the bilingual culture.

Things I didn't love:
1. Gypsies - I find it disgusting that people use their babies to lure tourists into giving them money. Isn't there a department of social services in Italy?
2. Chicken liver pate - I will try anything once, and I can say with absolute certainty that chicken liver on crostini has crossed my palate one too many times.
3. This will probably be met with some rude comments, so accept my apology in advance. I am an American, I love America. I was frankly embarrassed at times by the behavior of some Americans that I saw in Florence in resturants, on tours, etc. First of all, Italians are not required to speak English to us. We are THEIR guests. I saw Americans getting frustrated by mispronunciations and correcting Italian tour guides. The guide reacted well to it, but she did not have to. Sure, we all pay money to be there and enjoy ourselves, but we are not entitled to have the world speak English to us. Enough of my rant, sorry.

3mkids

You are absolutely correct about the Americans expecting Europeans to know English, but not the other way around.

pdx

mmmm....I'd eat chicken liver pate on crostini every day , and the mozzarella and drink chianti, too. I love Florence but it has become more crowded every year. But you do what you gotta do to see a Botticelli now and then. What did you bring back for your baby boy? We collected those silly metal pencil sharpeners over the years and it's kind of cool, now fifteen years later.

scrb

I just got back myself. I didn't see any gypsie children.

Prices were a bit of a shock. Someone said Firenze is the most expensive city in Italy.

Vivoli is suppose to be the best gelato. I really couldn't tell the difference. But the weather was perfect for gelato.

runlong

pdx,

For our baby, we found a shop were a lady was making hand puppets and we bought him one that is a dragon. He adores it! Also, I found a great clothing store called Baroni and we bought him some navy blue leather shoes. He won't ever appreciate them, but I think they are precious on him. He thinks the puppet is WAY cooler than that.

artlover

Would love to hear more about your trip. I so happen to agree with rant 3--we were embarassed by very tipsy and loud American tourists at two dinners in Italy last year, so I know what you mean about that and the language chauvinism. I know I try to speak at least some basics in my hosts country, even if I do sound comical doing so.

runlong

Now that the baby's napping, I can write a little more about the trip. We arrived in Florence via Alitalia after our layover in Milan around 11am. We trip planners took us directly from the airport to the hotel where they had a brunch waiting for us. After that we got oriented with the city. We took a walk to the Duomo which is amazing from the outside - unfortunately we never went in while we were on our trip. We did, however go into the Baptistry, which had a ceiling beyond belief. I've never seen mosaic that intricate.

We took a day trip to Greve in Chianti and San Gimignano. I loved Greve, there were a lot of locals there, shopping for salami in one of the famous shops in the square. I managed to bring some vacuum packed salami and prosciutto home (don't tell anyone).

San Gimignano was very pretty and the view was wonderful, but it seemed like Disney's version of "Tuscany-land". Although the town truly is old and very historic, it was hard to see beyond the tourist shops to the real history of the place. Like I've said before, I'm a tourist, so what am I complaining about, right? But it would have been nice to see some authenticity. I did enjoy our time there, though, since it's rare to have a view like that from where I live (ha!).

We cruised the Ponte Vecchio looking for deals on jewelry. No deals anywhere, but it was fun to window-shop. The street market was open on Saturday and the leather deals are not bad. They sell just about anything you can imagine, so it was worth a walk-through.

We took a day trip to Rome on the Eurostar. Great train, great day. We spent 8 hours seeing everything on our list. St. Peter's, the Pantheon, the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, the Forum... It was an exhausting day, but worth every blister. Rome is a beautiful place, and appeared to be less crowded that Florence because everything is so spread out. We took the metro twice to make good time.

If I gave any advice it would be to have a lighter lunch of a sandwich and a soda somewhere and save your appetite for a 4 course dinner. Spend the money, it's worth it. To me, it was easier to get roped into a bad tourist meal at lunchtime than at dinner. That may not make sense, but after one overpriced, mediocre, several course lunch, we learned.

If I had it to do over, we would have spent more time in Rome and skipped San Gimignano, drank more in Chianti (ha!), and had more quick lunches on the go.

2travlr

We just got back 3 days ago after spending 5 days in Florence. I am also embarassed on how some American tourist reacts to the Italians. My friend reacted the same way and I basically laid it down to him that we are the guest and we should at least learn a few words to get by. I do not appreciate people acting really dumb and stupid in your host country and think that we are Americans and we can do whatever we want in your country. If that so, then stay in the U.S. and complain as much as you can.

Anyway, Florence was a wonderful city. We stayed outside the city in Serpiole, we stayed at Il-Poggiolo Agriturismo Farm house and it was great. waking up and having your breakfast overlooking the Tuscany countryside is awesome. Serpiole is about 2 miles outside Florence city boundary line and is accessible by Bus#14 to Careggi and transfer to a small bus #43. Had a great time and will probably go back with the family.