FLORENCE, Italy: 16-18 June 2011

THURSDAY 16 JUNE –FLORENCE, ITALY

Today we are leaving Venice but first we needed to buy another suitcase because we had accumulated some additions.  Once again we got lost trying to find the original shop we found the suitcase in but we were successful eventually. 

About 1pm we headed out of Venice and along the bridge that joins Venice to the mainland.  We had had an amazing time in this incredible city but were excited now to be heading to Florence.  However before we got to Florence, Corky was keen to visit the Ferrari factory which is about an hour south near Bologna.  For some odd reason, the Sat Nav couldn’t pick up the town of Modena so we had to navigate towards that area and find our own way, it was quite confusing because the Sat Nav had shut down for that area and wasn’t cooperating.  It was even harder when we got into Modena and couldn’t find any signs or directions to Ferrari.  We decided to pull over and ask someone.  We had the wrong city, we needed to go to Maranello which was about 16kms from Modena but the Sat Nav couldn’t pick up anything while we were in Modena.  It was very odd, as though the town and surrounding area just didn’t exist according to the Sat Nav.  We wound around many streets trying as best we could to find our way out and in a direction that took us to Maranello.  Finally after what seemed like eternity, we found a sign pointing us in the right direction and we finally found Maranello and the Ferrari factory.

We were relieved and psyched, ready to check out these incredible cars however our excitement was soon turned to dismay when we were told by the factory guard that there were no tours of the factory.  Instead we could find Dino Ferrari drive and go to the museum there he said.  Oh great, without the Sat Nav working, we had to find Dino Ferrari Drive.  Back to finding our way the old fashioned way and we did it!  We didn’t spend long there but it was fun to browse and we were a little disappointed we couldn’t see the factory.  Never mind, we came to the area, we saw and Corky can now tick that one off his list too.

Next stop, Florence but first we had to get out of this armpit area of Italy.  It truly wasn’t an appealing area at all, very working class and unappealing.  The whole area looked run down and industrial.  Not the beautiful olive field, wine making regions were have come to love.  There were a lot of factories and warehouses.  We finally managed to escape the area and ‘voila’ our Sat Nav came back to life.  Clearly it didn’t like the area either, she wouldn’t even acknowledge we were even there.

We got to Florence early evening and found our way into the centre, the old part, the most beautiful and exciting part.  Our Sat Nav directed us to our hotel but we ended up going around a large square with thousands of people milling about and we had to drive through pedestrians to try and get where we were going.  We couldn’t find our hotel and kept going in circles.  It was very difficult because there were so many pedestrians and some roads we couldn’t go down and some were narrow cobbled laneways we practically got stuck in.  We did finally find it and we realised we had been going in circles trying to find it because our Hotel Pendini was situated right on the main square and we hadn’t noticed.  I ran up to check with the concierge where to park our car and we just had to leave it out the front with our hazard lights on and bring everything upstairs.  Someone would park the car for us.

I arrived upstairs before Corky because the lift wasn’t big enough for all of us and our bags.  The concierge asked me for our passports and I said we had left them safely in the house where we are staying in Tuscany.  That was not good enough, we were not allowed to stay there without having our passports.  I wasn’t really in the mood after a long day of travelling and difficulty in finding the hotel to be told that we were unable to stay there without having our passports.  By this time Corky had arrived and we both explained that we hadn’t needed our passports to stay at the hotel in Venice, but the concierge told us ‘No, it is impossible.  It is illegal to stay in a hotel in Italy without your passport (all this being said in a snobby Italian accent).  We will get fined.  We need to know you are not terriorists.”  We couldn’t believe it!  We were not going to find another hotel at this time of night nor drive back to our house 2.5 hours south.  He rang his Manager, of course we couldn’t understand the conversation but he said if we signed a document by the Police saying we are who we are then all may be alright (like that would stop a Terrorist doing anything!!)  Then I realised that I had scanned copies of our passports onto our laptop.  This brought a smile to his face.  We were able to email the copy of Corky’s passport to him to print out.  Problem solved (however the next day he still wanted Corky to sign a declaration to say that he was indeed he and that he knew all of us).  Ridiculous!

Once we had finally settled into our room and all problems behind us, we headed out for dinner.  We went into the square and found a lovely restaurant that looked out onto the square and had dinner there.  It was a balmy evening and there were people singing in the square.  Just perfect.  After dinner we had a wander and the kids went on the Merry-Go-Round and then finally home to bed, we were exhausted.

Our Hotel in the Arch and the building to the right off the Arch

FRIDAY 17 JUNE –FLORENCE, ITALY

Today we have been away for 10 weeks and we are starting to feel a bit tired.  The last few days we have done a lot of walking each day and each night we all go to bed very late.  It is the European way to eat late and we don’t have anything to get up for in the morning so it hasn’t been a problem going to bed late, we always sleep in to at least 9am each morning.  We enjoy the evenings.  After we have had dinner it is so lovely to walk around and watch the people and enjoy the music and atmosphere.  Venice and Florence both come so alive at night and it is fun being part of it.  During the day people are out sightseeing and shopping but at night everyone is out having fun, enjoying the bands and singers in the squares and we have enjoyed this too.

We managed to make it for breakfast just in time.  From the dining room window we had a beautiful view down into the street below because this part of the hotel sat high up in the arch that sat at one end of the square.  It is a beautiful hotel, very Italian and ‘posh’.  In the street directly below us were all the glamorous shops; Ferrari, Gucci, Louis Vuitton etc.  Location wise we couldn’t have picked a better position either.  We had 2 rooms across the hall from each other and they were very comfortable and thankfully with free internet access.

Breakfast consisted of lovely cheeses and meats, yoghurts, fruit, breads, cereals; all the usual things but in such a lovely surrounding and view.  It is cute the way the kids are growing up; they pair off and sit like married couples at their white table-clothed tables sipping hot chocolates and eating nutella-filled croissants and yoghurts.  Corky and I for just a brief moment can pretend we are alone having breakfast but that is so fleeting because before long there is a “can you butter my croissant” or “can you get me more juice”.

After breakfast we headed out for a look around the sites of Florence.  Top of our list was the Statue of David and the Ponte Vecchio.  We weaved amongst the people, wandered in and out of shops and eventually found the Rialto Bridge, not terribly far from where we are staying.  Of course it was very crowded so we had a walk up to the middle, admired the views from it and walked back again.  All the shops on the bridge were jewelry shops however when the bridge was built the shops were used for butcheries, fruit shops etc.  The Ponte Vecchio was the only bridge in Florence to survive being bombed during WW2 though either end were slightly damaged.

The next destination on our ‘tourist to do list’ today was a little more difficult; The Statue of David.  We went to the gallery where we believed it was held however they told us we had to walk up to the Duomo and see him there.  Fair enough.  We wandered through town for about 10 minutes till we found the building.  We realised we were at the right place because of the queue snaking along the building edge.  Before we decided to join the queue, Corky asked about the tickets.  He was told that the queue was 3 hours long because they only let 15 people in to see the statue at a time.  Nope, I have seen it before and we really didn’t want to wait in the hot sun for 3 hours.  We decided to give him a miss and besides there was an exact replica on show in the square outside the cathedral near the Ponte Vecchio.  We showed the kids that one instead.

We were hot and tired, feeling worn out after several days of walking in the heat so we went back to our rooms for a rest for a while.  It gave the kids a chance to play their iTouch’s and relax a bit.

Once we were feeling revived, we headed out for ‘lunch’ at 3pm.  In the square below our hotel, the Hard Rock Café had just opened 3 days prior, we just had to go there for a meal and now was the perfect time.  It was enormous and very new and the staff were excited when they heard we were from Sydney because the Hard Rock was just opening this week in Sydney too.  The poor guy serving us had only been on the job for 3 days and just couldn’t get anything right and our kids were the first children he had served.  We got there in the end.

A little more shopping then back to the hotel to change and rest a bit more before we headed out to dinner about 9pm.  We found a lovely Japanese restaurant (anything but pasta and pizza).   Once again the nightlife was booming and we enjoyed a slow leisurely walk back to our hotel.

SATURDAY 18 JUNE –FLORENCE, ITALY

After our late night out, we struggled to get out of bed but managed to do so in time to have breakfast before it finished.  Corky woke up with a cold this morning so he was a bit slow to start, coughing and spluttering.

We then left Florence around 12.30pm and headed south back to Montemerano.  We took the A1 autoroute south and along the way we found the Valdichiana Outlet Village that we had seen on the way up.  We just had to stop and have a shop.  The shops were fantastic and we managed to buy a few nice things.  We spent about 2 hours here and could have certainly stayed longer but we promised Francesco that we would be home before 9pm because of the concert in the Piazza below our windows.

We arrived back to the village at 8pm and dragged our straining suitcases up to our house.  As we approached the Piazza, we could see rows and rows of chairs set out and a ‘stage’ area which was a section of grass.  The 3 musicians were practicing their musical instruments and getting the lighting set up.  We were glad to be ‘home’ and we rushed up to say hello to Francesco.  You could clearly see he was very happy we were back in time for the concert.

We cooked dinner and unpacked our bags and settled back in.  Just outside our windows people were starting to gather and find seats for the concert, the musicians were still practicing.  The musicians were called Musica Di Terra Toscana – Lisetta Luchini with Luca Di Volo and Eleonora Tassinari.  Just after 9.30pm, the Piazza was full of people and the singers/musicians began.  Everything was in Italian but they certainly had great voices and played their various instruments very well.  There were many various instruments from the guitar, violin, flute, clarinet, saxophone to the piano accordion.   We leaned out our 2 windows that overlooked the Piazza to watch though the sound carried right into our living room.  The crowd seemed to enjoy it very much and there was a mixture of young and old and teenagers.  We definitely had the best seats in the house.

The concert finished about 11pm with a big applause and standing ovation.  The crowds quickly dispersed home however a group stayed behind and one man gathered the group around to tell a very vibrant and descriptive story.  Of course we couldn’t understand a thing but it was interesting to watch him enlighten the crowd with his storytelling.  He too got a rousing applause and roars of laughter when finished.  We then headed off to bed.

A few statistics for you as at the present date:

• Since 5 April, we have driven 12,155 kms
• We have between us bought 30 pairs of shoes
• Corky has grown and hence shaved off one beard
• One tooth has been lost by Jack
• We have taken 1243 Photos
• I have typed 61 pages and 33,955 no 33,957 words …..
• We have bought one extra suitcase
• We have been to 8 countries and 1 principality
• We have been away for 78 days.

And they are the stats we can clearly account for, not to mention how many pizzas we have had, how many kilometres we have walked or how many towns/villages we have seen.

Till next instalment ..... x