We were packed up and ready to leave the farm by 10am Sunday morning. Over the weekend the weather had turned hot with a heat wave including high humidity. It became increasingly difficult to keep our stone house cottage with no A/C cool, even with a powerful ceiling fan. Up until that point – the place really maintained a nice temperature, but by Sunday morning – it was too hot for us. The kind of heat where everything feels sticky and the last thing you want to do after a shower is blow dry your hair. We were looking forward to our next location that would have air conditioning to get us through the Tuscan heat wave!
As we packed our car and slowly drove off down the gravel road one last time, there was a bit of sadness to leave this beautiful farm, the family, and the security and quiet of the visit to the countryside of Tuscany. Just as we were thinking that and as if on queue, as we were pulling away and videoing our exit up pops the legend Carlo in our frame walking across the farm yard towards the olive groves. It was like seeing the high school quarterback star after the game, heading to the lockers. We reverted to high school again and were waiving and saying ‘Goodbye Carlo! Goodbye!’ while giggling. Really ANY family member could have popped into view at that point and we would have been equally star struck.
The drive into Florence on country roads and then the Autostrada took about 2 hours. I had to be on top of my game driving back into the thick of the City. The highway driving was the most interesting. When you have been driving on country roads all week – suddenly a 3-4 lane highway all in one direction seems luxurious and at the same time like you are speeding out of control. It doesn’t help that the speedometer reads in kilometers, so when it is saying 110, you have to keep reminding your brain that you are not actually driving 110 MILES per hour. It’s more like 68 miles per hour. Regardless, hasty Italians on their way to the City zip around you and often straddle lanes for long periods of time.
Soon enough we made it back to the Hertz counter and returned our car. We waited for about 20 minutes for a taxi that would take us to our Air BNB from Hertz. If we were thinking Florence was going to be less hot, it wasn’t and we were waiting in a hot garage. We were happy to see our taxi driver when he finally arrived and he had the AC pumping in the car.
It should have only been about a 10 minute drive, but it turned into a 25 minute drive when our driver had the misfortune of turning down a one way street with no exit for several blocks, behind a trash collection truck that was working the street on this Sunday. YES! We got to watch the truck lift, empty, and place back down no less than 20 trash cans at 5-6 different stops. There was no where we could go – so we endured through the process until we could get to a cross street and our taxi driver could move away from the trash collector.
We finally arrived at our Air BNB, literally steps from the Duomo, and a nice young woman was there to meet us. She brought us up to the apartment and showed us around. Then she pulled out a map and noted several different points of interest that we might want to take note of – here is the grocery store, here is good gelato, here are good sandwiches, here are the trash cans, etc. It was a crash course and orientation into City life for the next 3 days.
After she left, we decided to head towards the Mercato Centrale – a fancy restored warehouse where you can walk around to different vendors and try and sample different foods and each lunch (similar to the Ferry Building Marketplace in San Francisco). As we walked towards there, we kept getting turned around looking at the map and the Google Maps on our phone wasn’t working. It’s so interesting how you get to a new place and getting oriented does take a little time before you feel like you understand directions.
On the way to the Mercato Centrale, we saw the cutest little restaurant that caught our attention. We thought, why are we trying to walk all the way down there in this heat, with the cutest little restaurant right in front of us? We were both embraced the spontaneity of the moment and sat down. Our waiter was a delight and had a combo whistle or other sound he would make for emphasis at certain moments. As in, ‘Here is your wine!’ Punctuated by a whistle with a crescendo. It reminded me of cartoon sounds when there are no words.
We ordered the most delicious fresh salad with a balsamic drizzle and goat cheese – it was super refreshing. That was followed by the chef’s sample of three different pastas of the day (why limit yourself to just one?). We were headed to the Mercato Centrale originally afterall, so the sampling experience was fresh on our minds. We couldn’t even eat half of all of the dishes, but enjoyed the opportunity to sample. After a bottle of wine and the lunch, we were ready to head back for unpacking and a little rest (a nap for Dana and blogging for me).
But first we stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few supplies for the next few days. Farm life was on our mind and we naively thought we’d still want to make breakfasts in the City. 75% of what we bought that day (besides the bottled water), never was consumed. BUT, it felt better to know, we had a few things to munch in in the mornings if we needed a little something. Who knew we would want to finish the vacation so recklessly with cappuccinos AND pastries every morning. We should have known, I guess as at the farm we were limited to our coffee pot for breakfast each day – delicious yes, but a cappuccino it was not! We were ready for some fun with creamy foam.
Back at the apartment Dana enjoyed the lounge chairs on our deck with a view of Duomo and I blogged at our little kitchen table. After about an hour, when we were ready to head out again, Dana asked if I was interested in walking to the place that is on a hill and looks out over Florence boasting the best sunset view in the City. I appreciated that she had an idea of where she wanted to go, so I was up for whatever she thought sounded like a good idea.
Given that our Google Maps on our phone never seemed to find the streets in the City in a way to orient our walks, we were happy to actually see signage (that was subtle, and yet still helpful) pointing us to the other side of the Arno River and up to the Piazzale Michelangelo. The other side of the river is where locals tend to congregate more and it had a different feel than where we were staying – so close to the Duomo and packed with tourists throughout the day.
It was a nice walk over to the main view point, but once we got there, it of course was packed. It seemed as if everyone in Florence was up there trying to watch the sunset, and we were late to the party. We saw a church (Basilica San Miniato al Monte) that was even a little bit more of a climb, but looked less crowded – so we headed that way. It was the right decision – even with a few more steps to ascend. We arrived up there just as the sun was setting. It was so peaceful and it was fun to watch those that gathered in the same spot on the steps watching the free sunset show.
It was starting to get dark and we weren’t sure if the same stair path we took to get up here was going to be lit going down, so we decided to head back. Until…Dana saw this enchanting outdoor restaurant area with live music, views, and cocktails. We had already crossed the street and then said, ‘Can we go back? I really want a Pina Colada there.’ Who am I to stand between a woman and her Pina Colada in Italy.
It was a great decision, we really enjoyed listening to the music, sipping our drinks, continuing to people watch and of course look at the sky turn different shades of red as night approached. They offered us chips, olives, and peanuts with our drinks as little side refreshments – no doubt designed to be salty to make us more thirsty. Regardless, one drink was enough for both of us and we were ready for our check. It took about 30 minutes for us to get our waiter’s attention and then the check, but we weren’t in a hurry so it was okay.
The walk back in the evening – was much cooler, and the stairs were lit as we ascended down. Walking through the streets was nice, with lively restaurants on each corner and diners enjoying food and conversation on a balmy summer night. This side of the Arno definitely had a different feel that was fun to observe.
Once back over the Arno, to our side of town near the Duomo, we again heard beautiful music with musicians giving a free concert. With the crowds of Florence and it being at night, we decided not to stay. There were just too many shady characters around with eyes roving – and you could see them moving through the crowds to take advantage of unsuspecting tourists. We had our free concert in Montepulciano, we were fine to skip this one and keep walking.
We were definitely tired when we got back to our apartment. With one last look out on our balcony at Duomo lit up at night, we got ready for bed. In this apartment we each had big beds all to ourselves, which was nice. Verses the little nun twin beds we had previously where at times if felt like you were balancing on the ledge of a wall.
Tomorrow was going to be a big day. We had reserved a private Duomo tour in the afternoon, which included a tour of the church, secret terraces, and a climb up to the top of the bell tower. In some ways we were dreading it, and wondering what it would be like in the heat. But in other ways, we were thinking the views from up there would be spectacular and we would consider it our workout for the day. A little sweat wasn’t going to kill us!