Rome to Florence

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July 22 Saturday



Up at 5 to get ready and to finish some more blogs. I'm slowly catching up to present day. I ate breakfast with Ali and Fahi. We discussed our views of Vatican City over breakfast. Then at 8 we were off for Florence. Just minutes into the trip, Willie Nelson's song "On the Road Again" began to play over the speakers. We all had a good laugh.



The scenery along the road to Florence was full of ponds, wheat fields, sunflower fields, and river crossings. We passed quite a few old buildings and farm homes of stone and terra-cotta roofs. Simply beautiful. About 2 hours into the trip we saw in the distance hillside with lots of smoke billowing up to the sky. The sky became cloudier as we approached Florence. It may be an umbrella day. We stopped for a quick rest stop about 30 minutes before getting to Florence. I waited too long to get to the restroom and there was a small line. It would have been shorter but some women weren't checking all the doors. When I tried to come out of the stall the room was filled with old women blocking me from leaving the stall. After saying excuse me a couple of times and no movement occurred, I squeezed my way through the group. I made my way to the door since the room was packed. Upon reaching the hallway I saw that the line was much longer than before. I grabbed and paid for my favorite combo on this trip, Magnum Almond Ice Cream bar and orange flavored Monster energy drink. We boarded the bus and were off again.





Florence or in Italian, Firenze, the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the Metropolitan City of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants (as at 2013), expanding to over 1,520,000 in the metropolitan area. Florence was a centre of medievalEuropean trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of that era. It is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has been called "the Athens of the Middle Ages". A turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful Medici family and numerous religious and republican revolutions. The city attracts millions of tourists each year, and the Historic Centre of Florence was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982. The city is noted for its culture, Renaissance art and architecture and monuments. The city also contains numerous museums and art galleries, such as the Uffizi Gallery and the Palazzo Pitti, and still exerts an influence in the fields of art, culture and politics. Due to Florence's artistic and architectural heritage, it has been ranked by Forbes as one of the most beautiful cities in the world.



After making a quick stop upon entering the outskirts of the city to get a parking permit for the bus, we entered the old town of Florence. We were taken to the Piazza de Sante Croce. Some left to go visit a leather making demonstration. I opted not to go since I don't like leather. I was able to visit the Church of Santa Croce.



The Basilica di Santa Croce (Basilica of the Holy Cross) is the principal Franciscan church in Florence, Italy, and a minor basilica of the Roman Catholic Church. It is situated on the Piazza di Santa Croce, about 800 meters south-east of the Duomo. The site, when first chosen, was in marshland outside the city walls. It is the burial place of some of the most illustrious Italians, such as Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, the poet Foscolo, the philosopher Gentileand the composer Rossini, thus it is known also as the Temple of the Italian Glories.



It was a lovely church. I enjoyed it much more than St. Paul's. I did find Galileo tomb and a marker noting Florence Nightingale. I then went to find a restaurant to eat at as well as look at the different souvenir shops to see what their prices would be. Of course the closer you were to the church the pricier the items were. Or lunch I settled on a restaurant right there in the Piazza. I ordered the bruschetta and the insalata caprese, which they considered a salad even though it's just fresh mozzarella cheese, tomato and basil. It seems like all of a sudden I've decided I like the taste of tomatoes at least how they cook them or sliced them or fix them here in Italy. I also noticed a few other people from our. I found a really good souvenir shop on the other side of the Piazza. Then at 2 o'clock we met up with our guide Giovanna. For an hour and a half we walked around the old town and she showed us parts of its history. It was very interesting and informative. During part of our tour some women in white face paint came up to ask us for money. Our guide it merely told us to watch our purses and wallets. She said they were Gypsies and that they are known to pickpocket. I asked her about it and she said that most gypsies are pickpockets. She also mentioned that they are more wealthy than most people in the city. We continued with our tour and she showed us the home that Michelangelo lived in. At 3:30 we met up with Scott back at the church. It was a very hot day. The rain never showed up like it had forecasted and so is also very muggy. After waiting for some people who had gone to get some ice cream, we then walked along the river to get to the bus. Unfortunately there was no shade for about 15 minutes. That did not put me in a very good mood and I got snippy with Scott. After everybody ordered the bus, he brought up that that was the only path to the bus and the bus could not make it into the center tour of the town. I felt bad, so we got to the hotel, I apologize to him. I was overheated and my skin was feeling like it was burning. Of course once I got to my room on the second floor which of course is their first floor, I did have quite a bit of sunburn on my arms and back of my neck and on my face. We are staying in another Nilhotel, a modern hotel finally. The hotel is across the street from the new Justice Department that is very modern and is apparently hated by the Florentines according to our local guide. My room is small but serviceable. The AC is working greatly. The window has an electric metal shutter that comes down over the window. It has a double use of blocking the sun and as a security measure. I do have only a single bed though for tonight. Hope I don't fall out. I jumped into the shower and the shower nozzle promptly fell apart. After putting



We left at 5:45 for a 30 minute ride to our dinner. Along the way Scott played some classic opera for us to listen to. We visited the Machiavelli home, which is now a restaurant, he lived in during the 13th century. We were greeted by a guitarist and a singer. We were given a blue colored champagne type drink. Next we were met by Machiavelli's "wife" who gave us a tour of the home before we went outside to eat. I sat with the Pashma family and Dana and Brian who live near me in California. The appetizers and pasta was delicious. The main course for me was a large thigh of what had to be the largest chicken ever cooked. It was ok but I don't like meat on the bones. The desert with strawberry layer was good. The other was a cake made with real coffee beans. I didn't know that when I took a bite. Yuck. While they served coffee I ducked out to give my parents a FaceTime call. After a few of my travelers jumped in on my FaceTime I had to get on the bus back. Everyone was in a good mood as Scott and Luigi played music on the way back to the hotel. Some of us (Ann, Howard, Melanie, Zoe, Mick, Kylie, Cameron, Charne, and Dana) hung out in the bar for a late night cocktail. Howard bought my whiskey which was so nice of him. Although when he found out that I ordered Jack Daniels, he threw a fit jokingly. We had laughed and cracked jokes while Cameron and I discussed his family. Overall it was a good evening.

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Photos

Rome to Florence (22)
needed a bandage and was given a roll of bandage where you cut off the size you need...very cool