Fantastico, Firenze

The natives call it Firenze...I don't know why we call it Florence? Somehow, Firenze seems to fit so well. And yet, we visit Hard Rock Cafe and there are almost  no promotional materials that say 'Firenze', only Florence. Even the street vendors seem to have opted for souvenirs that mostly identify Florence over Firenze. "Pertruppo", (unfortunately) as my dinner companions said last night...but I am getting ahead of myself now.

This is truly a fantastic city in the heart of Italy. I am glad that we made this trip an exploratory one covering six cities and towns - but if fortune favored me to return, I would stay in Tuscany for most - if not all - of the vacation. Venice/ Treviso, Milan, and Turin all deserve their honors, but Siena and Florence are truly spectacular. The architecture alone is worth the effort but adding in the hilly geography, the unique history and culture, castles, palaces, art, science, and the people of this great city make it all the more special. Anything less than a month in Florence is not enough to fully take in the whole of the Florentine experience, but it's a great start and we certainly made the most of the three days and two nights we were there.


I could probably write a book on this part of our journey, but three experiences stand out. First, the museum of Leoardo da Vinci - a relatively small museum on Via Cavour. While it was small, it was by far my favorite museum. It is dedicated primarily to Leonardo's technology and anatomical research projects, rather than his art. The highlights are some 50-60 machines reproduced from Leonardo's original sketches. Most are actually working machines, and many are interactive; you are welcome to play with them as much as you like. The picture is a model of the tank he designed initially to be  powered by horses but then modified to be powered by "8-manpower".

The second is the Palazzo Pitti just across River Arno via Pont Vechio where the Medici family renovated a mansion formerly owned by Luca Pitti. The Palace on its own is just an amazing piece of architecture and decoration (Raphaels and Reubens abound), but the gardens (the Giardino Bobolini) with their many sculptures and fountains are just extraordinary. We trotted around these for over an hour and were it not for the heat (38 degrees celsius!) and the fact we had to catch our train back to Venice and home, we could have stayed the whole day I'm sure.

Finally, there was the marvellous experience of our pensione (our B'n'B - thank you AirBnB!)  at 13 Via Leonardo DaVinci where our hostess, Carla offered a lesson in local Tuscan cuisine. The kitchen (cucina) was very simply appointed, but well organized for me and the three ladies (Carla, my wife, and Carla's daughter - the last two both going by Elisabetta...I just called them una and due - my wife being una, of course :-)) to enjoy cooking and sharing some local organic wines. We made a tomato/bean soup, a delicious pate of chicken livers and hearts, garlic and lots of olive oil for the crostini, and then a rosemary and garlic stuffed roast of rabbit (coniglio arrosta) which was served with pomadoro tomatoes , beans, and of course accompanied by lots more wine. Then of course, the grappa, biscotti dipped in Vin Santo (a fortified wine similar to an ice wine), fresh local golden cherries, and then "nocino" - a homemade walnut liqueur that somehow looked, smelled and tasted a lot like walnut flavored Buckley's cough syrop and kicked like a mule.

That last bit was a bit of a blur, as you can imagine. What I do recall was a wonderful conversation Elisabetta (una) and I had, first with the whole family and as the evening grew late, alone with Alberto -Carla's son. He spoke of the ongoing challenge of preserving traditions like preferences for Italy's many great grapes and their wines, golden cherries that taste much more delicious than their red cousins but cannot sell, and even Italian language and titles - against the erosion and incorporation of other European and American influences and tastes.

We leave today, Friday, to go home via Frankfurt and London, and we hope that families in Italy will keep the traditions they chose to share with us during our due settimane sulla luna.

After we get home, I will write a series of reflections that may be useful for anyone thinking about travelling to this lovely country. Until then, arrivederci, a presto.

Oggi fa bella

Ok - it is hot!!!! The natives say "Oggi fa bella" (it's a nice day). Sorry there Luigi, where I come from, we'd use the old Adrian Kronauer weather report (if you don't get it, get the movie Good Morning Vietnam, now!). I   am friggin' melting here. Temps have been constantly high 20s to mid 30s with no rain, little cloud and little wind. So it just hangs there. And as for Rick Steeves' packing list...pack you, Ricky boy. What the hell do I need a heavy fleece and a long-sleeved shirt for? Now that I've had my rant, I feel much better.

Well this has been a great day, in part because my darling bride and I decided to take separate excursions - not that we don't love each other's company, but we recognize that we have different interests and shouldn't hold each other back from exploring our own preferred routes. For example, when my lovely lady decides that a good idea for a Siena mid-day tour would be walking up the five hundred and five steps of the tower attached to the civic building in Piazza del Campo (did I mention it is hot?), that is just the time I feel I should pursue my interests in checking out the local birra (beer) in the Piazza del Campo while watching the locals laugh at the crazy tourista climbing the stairs of the "Torre" to get a panorama and a selfie from the top.

Actually, in truth I headed to the Fortezza Medica, an ancient fortress from which I could sketch, paint and take pictures of some unbelievable  vistas of Tuscan countryside. I have been enjoying getting back to drawing and painting and what a great place to bring back this old hobby of mine. It seemed the lizards were also being entertained as they found something quite attractive in my water color pencil case and became increasingly comfortable taking the shortcut across my legs instead of around my back. Tried to get one to take home, but unlike us humans they are damned fast in this heat!

Catching up with my missus, we then headed up to see a couple of fantastic religious icons of the town: the sanctuary of Saint Caterina (where I did a sketch of Saint Catherine's statue); and the Franciscan Church near the Ovile gate (these city gates are amazing... pics to follow). THEN, I went to sample the local artisan birra, while my beloved did a tour of the Duomo. You go, girl...I'll hold down the fort against the heat in this cool, shaded sidewalk bar and gelaterie. :-)

This weekend is a special one for the town of Siena. Already a national holiday in celebration of Italy's becoming a Republic, this is the weekend the town selects the horses for the great race in the Palio (to be held in July), and I'll tell ya' this is bigger than a Habs versus Leafs Stanley Cup playoff. I got all the dirt on this nasty little competition from our hostess...ten horses only are selected from the seventeen districts of Siena (each represented by an animal or icon - see the panther sculpture attached representing the enemy of our host district...there are no red wings), and this weekend the last four are to be selected (it should be three but some nasty bugger got a game misconduct - for two years - department of player safety maybe?) so there was an extra straw to draw and the Piazza del Campo was more jittery than watching the smoke at the papal conclave when a new pope is picked! From the noise outside last night, there was lots of wailing and gnashing of teeth and I was so grateful for my earplugs that allowed me a decent night's sleep ( in spite of the heat).

We finished our "sera" at the best restaurant in Siena - Osteria San Guiseppe on Via Guiseppe Dupres. Seriously, if you ever get to Siena, this is a must-try meal. We got the last available reservation and it was for 7pm (our hostess thought this was shameful  - what decent patron eats before 9pm?) and we were told we would have to be finished by 8:50pm. Only two hours? What's the world coming to? If you've eaten in Italy, you'll know that two hours is the Italian idea of fast food. It was phenomenal and we used every bit of our allotted time to plug through four courses, each one a mouth-watering treat.

We leave tomorrow for Florence, but a piece of my heart will stay forever in Siena.  We are coming to the end of our Due Settimane, and I am working on a sort of "lessons learned" post to wrap up this blog. Feel free to comment on this blog if there's anything you'd like me to cover. Did I mention it's hot?