Yesterday we had a much needed break. Today we squeezed in a glut and hammy workout along with some tombs and churches.
Our hotel breakfast (hotel Romagna) was pretty good. Cereal (always a win), warm milk (not a win), croisssssssants (delish!), turnip-tasting mystery jelly (gross), yogurt (who wants coffee flavor???? ME!), hot coco for the lady, 17 cups of coffee for me :). I would have had 19 but I kept breaking the machine. I guess it just can't handle an American hunger!
We plotted our daily route, trying to take in opening times, distance, proximity to a bagno and a gelateria. So after some sugar calculus and differential equations of the pee-pee order we set out.
First up, the duomo bell tower (Giotto's tower). There was a line to get in but we expected that being Saturday and all. After paying our €6 each we began the ascent. Stairs, stairs, stairs. The stair corridors were so skinny we barely fit ... It was a nightmare with people trying to go both ways. Seriously for €6 / person the church could either hire a traffic conductor or rig up a simple stop-light system any infant would understand. Besides the rush hour traffic on the stairs, the view were awesome. From the top you could see all over Florence. Grand indeed.
Next we jumped in line for the Duomo itself which only took about 4 minutes to get into. I had read a review of the duomo before coming which said something like 'the architects/painters must have run out of steam inside cause it's just a simple, bare hall'. Well I'm here to say that is a fact. The outside is super beautiful with loads of color and decoration. Inside just seemed like a random rural, poor church, albeit a very large one. It was nice to look around but really nothing special compared to all the others we've seen. Moving on.
We stopped for a couple supplies, did some window shopping and eventually found our next destination: The Basilica of Santa Croce. The piazza out front was bustling with shops and people, including a couple tour groups from a royal Caribbean cruise (long way from the water?). Had our first-elato (1st gelato serving) and then went inside the church.
The church cost €6 per person which I thought was a bit steep but it has some cool sights and a bagno so not a bad deal I guess. The tombs of Galileo, Machiavelli, Michaelangelo and a host of others are all in this one place! Along with some choice artwork, a nice cloister and a small museum the church houses tombs of well known Florentines. The inside floor looked more like a cemetery than a house of worship. Besides the big name tombs, the floor has hundreds of tomb markers. Saw some old crosses and art work, meandered around and then sat down to wait out a quick bout of rain.
From here we tried to find a suitable place to eat but came up empty everywhere we went. For a non-pig eater, your options in tourist Italy are pretty limited. We've had about 734 slices of pizza over the last few weeks so we wanted something a bit different. After striking out we did the unthinkable ... We ate at McDonalds. We never eat McDonalds, even jn the US. The McDonalds in Italy are probably the largest and most elegant ones I've ever seen in my life! They are ginormous, sprawling complexes with hundreds of people eating and hanging out. Oh and loads of youngsters smoking right in the doorways to make sure everyone gets their side of cancer causing agents along with their fat-macs and fries. I hate to say it but after 4 months, the fries were delectable!
Had some wine in our room afterwards before going out for dinner. We wanted a quick, small bite to eat so we could grab second-elato (gelato serving #2). The quick part didn't happen. We ordered simple cheese pizzas and then waited over an hour! Anyway, after pizza we had some Rick-Steves recommended gelato from Bermuda-triangle gelato. Not the best gelato by far. In fact, Rick Steves' guide book said Florence is Italy's gelato Capitol as in it has the best gelato. This is false. Florence had some of the worst gelato we've had. After 2 servings of gelato per day, everyday, we're something of a gelato expert. The best gelato in Italy has been hands down in Bologna.
Tomorrow we have our first Italian tour! We're taking a tour to a couple hill towns and them some wine tasting!!!
SIDE NOTE: we saw a florentine garbage truck today wrestle with a dumpster for about 10 minutes. The process to extract the garbage from the dumpster was like something out of a clown show. Grappling hooks, cigarettes, cranes and pulleys. This place is in desperate need of an efficiency expert!
Pics:
1) View of Florence from the tower.
2) Happy couple on top of the tower.
3) Carolyn in the cloister of Santa Croce.
4) Carolyn in front of Giotto's tower).
5) inside the tower.
6) Michealangelo's tomb.
7) This is a tomb in the floor of Santa Croce. This is what the whole church looked like.
8) Found this shirt in a store. Anyone ever hear of La Hola, CA????
9) Inside of the Duomo.
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