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Published: April 10th 2009
I have had little to no luck with the internet, so this is waaay past due.
The Carrow Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants left Venice on Tues, March 31. The day was cloudy, but NO RAIN, so we were happy. We set out to find a small place for a light breakfast...after much searching, we found a wee place and ordered 4 coffees, some juice and 6 small pastries. Went to pay for it afterwards...the bill was €45.30!! Turns out our little cappucino's were €4.50 each (vs €2 at the little place we were at yesterday)...and I still don't know how much the little pastries cost us.
We had little choice but to pay the bill and left sadder but wiser.... Went on a madcap dash through Venice, trying to find a cathedral or even small church that was open with no line up to get in...no luck, but had a hoot getting pretty much completely lost. Those of you who know me will not believe it, but I was able, after a quick conversation with Carlo at a vegetable stand (after we all admired the incredibly beautiful fruit & veg) somewhere WAY far away from where we started, to find our way back to San Marco Square, still occupied by the screaming hordes of hormonal Italian school kids. We beat a hasty retreat.
The bus ferry ride to the Train Station was far more pleasant than our arrival, altho we arrived just in the nick of time to board our train...and we were on our way to Florence. Uneventful trip; arrived on time at 3:42. We knew we were near our destination when the rain began....
It was pouring when we arrived - same old, same old - we followed the directions given by Frederica at the B&B Il Marzocco...but definitely something was lost in translation. We wandered around in the rain - we were on the right street, but simply could not find the B&B. Finally one passerby we stopped spoke enough English to point us in the right direction, and we quickly found ourselves in the LOVELY B&B. Frederica (who, from my email correspondence I had assumed was a sweet little old lady, but who is actually a stunning Florentine in her early 20's...) runs the front desk and goes to university, where she is studying languages. She was a complete charmer...extremely outgoing & friendly...she gave us a 30 minute rundown of the sights to see, marking everything on a terrific map, including good restaurants, etc.
Rooms small but lovely & very comfortable, and extremely convenient for walking to all the sights.
By this point we were starving, as we hadn't had lunch and it was now almost 5pm...we headed out to find one of the restaurants Frederica suggested...after searching up and down the street, at 6:30 we gave up and just went into a small cafe for a sandwich...we couldn't wait any longer! (Talking later to Marco, the owner of the B&B, we learned Frederica's sense of direction could use some improving....) I made the fatal mistake of ordering a cheeseburger...I KNOW!! WHAT WAS I THINKING?? It was dreadful.
Back to the B&B, stopping for a gelato on the way. At the gelato bar, we chatted to a young couple from England - both doctors - and learned there is a huge medical conference going on in Florence for the week.
Interesting.....
Laurel & Nancy were pooped, so they went to bed; it was only just past 9pm, so Diane & I stayed up & chatted for a couple of hours. Great time together.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1
Up early - over breakfast we chatted with a Taiwanese doctor staying at the B&B and attending the medical conference. Turns out it's the World Organization of PSYCHIATRISTS Conference...and there are about 8,000 psychiatrists in Florence for the week! We saw them from time to time throughout our stay - wearing name tags and carrying the red portfolios they were obviously given. (Hmmm....red portfolios. A bit Freudian??) Laurel suggested we make name tags for ourselves that just say "Patient".
We headed off to the Galleria Academie, to see Michelangelo's "David"...to get there we went through the famous outdoor market of Florence, where you can buy cut-price leather goods, scarves, tshirts...and "guaranteed Made in Italy"...most obviously made in China. But fun - and someplace to come back to.
We got to the Galleria only to find it was closed "for a staff meeting" until noon. Augh. We had reservations at the Uffizi Gallery and couldn't stay, so we bolted back towards the Uffizi. When we arrived there, we were extremely glad that Frederica had made reservations for us - the line-up for tickets was huge. The small fee charged for reserved tickets MORE than worth the cost!
The Uffizi is amazing and obviously requires more than just a few hours. We saw Botticelli's, including his famous "Venus", da Vinci's, ancient sculptures...overwhelming. We stayed for about 3 hours and could have stayed for days.
Spent the afternoon poking around Florence...we had split up, with Nancy & Laurel heading back to the B&B for a nap...Diane and I walked the famous Ponte Vecchio (the bridge built in 1324 and now FILLED with jewellry stores under the homes that line both sides of the bridge).
As we sauntered back towards the B&B, we came across the Salvatore Ferragamo shoe store...and the Ferragamo Shoe Museum! Well, what's a girl to do?? We spent a terrific hour or so in the museum. I now know more about Ferragamo than I need to know...including the fact that I will never be able to afford a pair of his shoes!
Dinner at a un-touristy local restaurant recommended by Frederico...it was noisy, crowded, a bit overly-hot...with good food and wine. I felt extremely Italian.
Oh -- it rained most of the afternoon. Sigh.
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Daphne
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Happy Easter!
Glad to hear everything is going great, good to know there are a bunch of shrinks around in case you need intense psychoanalysis after dealing with those astronomical restaurant bills, yikes! Florence sounds as wonderful as could be imagined, I'm sure seeing all the art, architecture and all its history is nothing less than astounding. Hope you get a break with the weather and all have a great Easter weekend. Take care