Firenza – Florence – day five – Friday
We were a little nervous about the train to Florence. I think somehow I had bought tickets to a station just outside and not to the central station. When we got near I asked someone if this train went to the main station (stazione central?) si, si. but then we stopped at the one I had tickets for and I asked her if there was another station (un oltra stazione?) si, si en un momento. So we just stayed on and got off at the main station. Oops! No one really checks the tickets but you need to buy them and stamp them before you get on the tren.
We were kind of tired after we checked into our lovely hotel so were rested. Our room overlooked the Arno and the Ponte Vecchio, the oldest bridge across the Arno and the entrance to Florence. On the bridge are small shops on each side that sell gold and jewelry. After a rest I dragged Annie out to the Duomo and she dragged me to the top of it. It was almost 5:00 and I think they stop letting people go to the top at 5:30 so we were some of the last people to go up. It is a long way up (463 steps) and my legs were burning but the view was great and we were proud of ourselves. I am afraid of heights but one has to make oneself do things. On the way up we had to squish up these narrow stairwells and passageways with the people coming down. Since were the last group, it was very open coming back down.
That night we went to a little place recommended by Fodors, called CasaLinga – which means housewife for a wonderful meal. Annie had the grilled T-bone steak – bistecca fiorentina that she loved and I had the mixed antipasto that included the crostini di fegatini (toasted bread with liver pate – a regional specialty) and assorted cheese and meats. It was huge so it was good that I only also ordered ribollita, which was a stew with celery or fennel, spinach and I think cannellini beans, which are used in a lot of Tuscan cooking. I also had quarter of a liter of chianti which was very nice. Annie had a sip and liked it. Then we walked back across the Ponte Vecchio where the people gathered and a young Italian man was singing John Lennon’s Imagine and playing his guitar with an amp. It was very pleasant evening.
We were a little nervous about the train to Florence. I think somehow I had bought tickets to a station just outside and not to the central station. When we got near I asked someone if this train went to the main station (stazione central?) si, si. but then we stopped at the one I had tickets for and I asked her if there was another station (un oltra stazione?) si, si en un momento. So we just stayed on and got off at the main station. Oops! No one really checks the tickets but you need to buy them and stamp them before you get on the tren.
We were kind of tired after we checked into our lovely hotel so were rested. Our room overlooked the Arno and the Ponte Vecchio, the oldest bridge across the Arno and the entrance to Florence. On the bridge are small shops on each side that sell gold and jewelry. After a rest I dragged Annie out to the Duomo and she dragged me to the top of it. It was almost 5:00 and I think they stop letting people go to the top at 5:30 so we were some of the last people to go up. It is a long way up (463 steps) and my legs were burning but the view was great and we were proud of ourselves. I am afraid of heights but one has to make oneself do things. On the way up we had to squish up these narrow stairwells and passageways with the people coming down. Since were the last group, it was very open coming back down.
That night we went to a little place recommended by Fodors, called CasaLinga – which means housewife for a wonderful meal. Annie had the grilled T-bone steak – bistecca fiorentina that she loved and I had the mixed antipasto that included the crostini di fegatini (toasted bread with liver pate – a regional specialty) and assorted cheese and meats. It was huge so it was good that I only also ordered ribollita, which was a stew with celery or fennel, spinach and I think cannellini beans, which are used in a lot of Tuscan cooking. I also had quarter of a liter of chianti which was very nice. Annie had a sip and liked it. Then we walked back across the Ponte Vecchio where the people gathered and a young Italian man was singing John Lennon’s Imagine and playing his guitar with an amp. It was very pleasant evening.
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