Florence
Florence was a completely different experience than Venice. We spent 5 days in Florence. It’s definitely rich in culture and we got our fill of that here to be sure. The main thing we enjoyed in Florence was great food and great museums. I’m a bit cultured out to say the least however. I was forever impressed by the sheer quantity of statues everywhere and loved browsing the high-end stores in the center. However, I found less expensive shopping to be a disappointment. Our bed & breakfast host was wonderful and a great concierge which turned out to be a great help, but we messed up on how we decided to do Tuscany. Our intention was to visit Sienna and San Gimignano while in Florence but we didn’t want to spend the high amount of renting a car to drive it and decided to use public transportation (train and bus). Unfortunately, that was a mistake.
First of all let me say that I was sick with the flu by the time we hit Florence and getting to Florence was difficult since I booked the wrong train and nobody wanted to help in Venice and it was a mess until a man at the information booth (where this total bitch wasn’t helping me in the least) saw me bawling about to leave, because no one spoke English at the number I was told repeatedly I needed to call to resolve my train problem, and was kind enough to call for me and get the matter resolved. Anyhow, I was sick when we arrived and the day we decided to go to Sienna my husband got sick as well. Maybe it just wasn’t meant to be LOL. We did get to Sienna and walked around and enjoyed the little (very hilly) town, but we never made it to San Gimignano because we were simply exhausted and in no mood to figure out the bus schedules (again people that work there are of no help). So on another occasion we’ll drive through Tuscany and enjoy the wonders it has to offer like so many others do.
Aside from that we visited the Duomo, the Pitti Palace, the Uffizi, and the Accademia. The David in person is more impressive than we thought it would be. It was worth going to all of these museums without a doubt. We didn’t end up going to the Boboli Gardens and that’s another regret, but we did see a little bit of it and it looked beautiful. Aside from these places, our main enjoyment was just walking around the city and browsing different shops. We did get a complete kick out of seeing people in suits or dressed up with high heels on bikes and scooters. That was a fantastic sight! We also loved the little Smart Cars everywhere and seeing a small garbage truck, a small ambulance, and other miniature vehicles.
One of our memorable experiences was watching this woman play the violin in the square accompanied by a man playing an accordion. It was beautiful. Also, despite our mishaps, I’m glad we made it to Sienna. We did enjoy wandering through the center and the fan shaped plaza. Have tons of pictures for everyone though!
Florence Pictures:
Cultured Out! lol
Sienna Pictures:
First of all let me say that I was sick with the flu by the time we hit Florence and getting to Florence was difficult since I booked the wrong train and nobody wanted to help in Venice and it was a mess until a man at the information booth (where this total bitch wasn’t helping me in the least) saw me bawling about to leave, because no one spoke English at the number I was told repeatedly I needed to call to resolve my train problem, and was kind enough to call for me and get the matter resolved. Anyhow, I was sick when we arrived and the day we decided to go to Sienna my husband got sick as well. Maybe it just wasn’t meant to be LOL. We did get to Sienna and walked around and enjoyed the little (very hilly) town, but we never made it to San Gimignano because we were simply exhausted and in no mood to figure out the bus schedules (again people that work there are of no help). So on another occasion we’ll drive through Tuscany and enjoy the wonders it has to offer like so many others do.
Aside from that we visited the Duomo, the Pitti Palace, the Uffizi, and the Accademia. The David in person is more impressive than we thought it would be. It was worth going to all of these museums without a doubt. We didn’t end up going to the Boboli Gardens and that’s another regret, but we did see a little bit of it and it looked beautiful. Aside from these places, our main enjoyment was just walking around the city and browsing different shops. We did get a complete kick out of seeing people in suits or dressed up with high heels on bikes and scooters. That was a fantastic sight! We also loved the little Smart Cars everywhere and seeing a small garbage truck, a small ambulance, and other miniature vehicles.
One of our memorable experiences was watching this woman play the violin in the square accompanied by a man playing an accordion. It was beautiful. Also, despite our mishaps, I’m glad we made it to Sienna. We did enjoy wandering through the center and the fan shaped plaza. Have tons of pictures for everyone though!
Florence Pictures:
Cultured Out! lol
Sienna Pictures:
posted by Flavia at 3:20 PM
2 Comments:
I'm loving your pictures! I know what you're saying about Florence, when we left there my husband mumbled something about never needing to see another piece of art for the rest of his life. The statues were crammed into every corner!
You look amazing in the photos, especially where you're "cultured out"!
hehe, thanks Susan!! we had tons of fun :).
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