Rome-ing - Florence

Before we head off to Florence, one last thing about Venice. Many people opt to take a gondola ride in Venice, it's part of the experience right? Well, we did and we didn't. The gondola rides cost from 80 Euro for 30 minutes for up to five people; more if you go during the evening or want to be serenaded. Instead we did the gondola ferry. It's ferry service to cross the Grand Canal, especially useful at the wider part of the Grand Canal where there are no bridges or when you're a long way from a bridge and it only costs 2 Euros a person.

Our hotel in Florence,  the Berchielli, was in walking distance from the Santa Maria Novella train station. It was a very nice hotel located right on the Arno River about a block away from Ponte Vecchio.  Our room looked out onto an outdoor terrace where we enjoyed a couple bottles of wine. 

We arrived in Florence for the Blessing of the New Wine and the day before a big race day that would block of many streets in the Old Town. After settling into our hotel, we did a little walk around the area, crossing Ponte Vecchio and finding a wine window at Babae. On our first full day in Florence, we had  a walking tour in the morning, followed by the Accademia Gallery and then in the afternoon we climbed the Arnolfo Tower. I'd have to steal pictures for the walking tour from my sisters as I left my phone in the hotel room. The highlight of the Accademia Gallery was, of course, the statue of David.

Duomo

Arnolfo Tower

Arno River, our hotel was on the right 

Babae Wine Window

Climbing the Arnolfo Tower gave us some wonderful views of Florence but I was glad there were some places to stop on the way up. 

Our next excursion was a bus trip to Pisa, San Gimignano, and Siena with a lunch in the Chianti region of Tuscany. It made for a long day and we didn't have long to spend at each location, just a little over an hour at each place.  I would love to go back to San Gimignano and spend two or three nights there. 

Leaning Tower of Pisa

Lunch - First Course

 

San Gimignano

Siena

Our next day in Florence would be our free day.  In the morning, we went to Basilica Santa Croce where Michelangelo and other notables are buried and then crossed the Arno River to go to Piazzale Michelangelo. We also walked up to a monastery at the top of the hill but it was undergoing a complete restoration so was only open to the public on guided tours. On the way back to our hotel, we walked through a sculpture garden and we stopped for an appertifo, just one of many we had on the trip.

Basilica Santa Croce

Galileo's Tomb

Michelangelo's Tomb 

The next day it would be back to the train station to catch our train to Naples, but we enjoyed one last evening in Florence. The train was delayed the next day for about an hour. It turned out it was protestors on the tracks, who had to be removed by police but we got to Naples and took a short taxi ride to our hotel.  

Our time in Naples will be for the next post.