The day started with the complimentary breakfast at the hotel, served in a rock-walled room directly below our apartment. A very good breakfast. We chatted with a group of 6 from Lincoln NE who were staying at the hotel for a full month. They loved Italy and Tuscany in particular. For one it was her 12th visit to Italy.
They gave us advice on how to get into Florence and we took it: drive to Scandicci, find a place to park and take the tram to the railway station in Florence. Which is what we did. On the way down the mountain we encountered a car and had to back up to let us pass. That had Marlene cursing again.
We were fortunate to find a free parking spot only a few hundred yards from the tram station. Figuring out how to get a tram ticket took only a few minutes and we had to wait only a few minutes more for the tram (aka “light rail” or “trolley”) to arrive. The ride to Florence took about 20 minutes.
The train station has a huge underground shopping mall, complete with a video tunnel. In the course of shopping (nothing bought) I somehow managed to lose the cloth bag we had brought with us (empty except for stale bread for the pigeons). We spent a few minutes searching for it, unsuccessfully.
Our walking destination was the Piazza del Duomo, the heart of Florence. On the way we spent some time in the Piazza di Santa Maria Novella. Marlene wanted to see the interior of the basilica there but there was an entrance fee. Nothing pisses Marlene off more than churches that charge entrance fees. We didn’t go in.
The cathedral in the Piazza del Duomo (Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore) – and the building that gives the plaza its name – was free to enter. It was beautiful and I loved the fresco on the dome. But after seeing the ornate cathedrals in France it felt empty.
The other huge building in the square – the Baptistry of St John – also charged a fee and we also skipped it.
When we exited the cathedral we walked toward the river. We found the plaza with the Galleria della’Accademia where Michaelangelo’s status of David is located. But the entrance fee was exorbitant and the entry was timed so we passed. But the plaza had an open-air gallery of some very impressive statues.
We finally made it to the river and it was beautiful. A perfect day, weather-wise.
The Ponte Vecchio – a bridge with high-end shopping – spans this river. We walked to it but only to look. On the way there Marlene fell off the curb and, fortunately, escaped with only a scraped knee. She could easily have broken a bone so we felt fortunate.
On the way back to the train station we encountered another church – the Chiesa di Santa Trinita – and it was quite lovely. We encountered a few other interesting buildings and sights along the way but finally made it back to the train station. We took the tram back to the car.
We wanted to get some bread and we had been told of several markets in Galuzzo, a little town south of our hotel. Going there not only got us some bread (at a huge supermarket with underground parking) but also let us approach the hotel from another direction. The roads on this approach were less intimidating than the other.
We had dinner of ramen and sausage in our apartment. Then we played cards and I lost again, 0-3. Then I blogged and edited photos. Lots of photos.
It was a good day in Florence. We logged over 14,000 steps. And my back, though aching, was less painful than in Venice. Healing, I hope.
ATW-2 Day 18: Paris, France, to Landau, Germany
The four nights in Paris were memorable in both good and bad ways. But the hotel in which we resided for the final 3 days was very fine: Sejours and Affaires Paris Vincennes. This seems to be a hotel geared toward long-term stays by students. But it isn’t a dormitory, isn’t affiliated with a school and certainly welcomed us. So kind of an oddball, but quite comfortable. Clean bathroom, comfortable bed and a kitchenette that allowed us to actually cook meals on a stove. WAY better than the first Paris hotel.
It also had garage parking, for an additional 13 euros per day. I paid for parking but in retrospect might have skipped it as there was free parking on the street and the area seemed quite safe.
Anyway, we checked out of the hotel around 9am and embarked on a 7-hours-plus journey across France, into Germany. We made one stop, in Vitry-le-Francois, on a whim because we saw the towers of a cathedral. It was younger than the cathedrals we had visited in and near Paris, being built in the 17th century, but it was quite beautiful. We were glad we stopped. And it felt good to stretch the legs.
We wandered the town for a bit and bought a pistachio eclair – a first for us. Then we got back on the road.
The border between France and Germany has almost entirely disappeared. The only notice that we left France was a small sign with “Allemagne” (Germany in French) on it. There was a checkpoint but it appeared that no one was being stopped.
We stopped for some groceries at an Aldi in Virty-le-Francois as we knew that we would have access to a full kitchen and were craving a home-cooked meal. We got some sausage that could be pan-fried.
One difference between France and Germany became obvious pretty quickly: the speed on the roads. In France we were often frustrated by slow drivers. Almost no one traveled more than 10 kph over the limit, which made mine one of the fastest cars on the road. That flipped in Germany: I was one of the slowest. Germans drive FAST. This is encouraged by the lack of a speed limit on many sections of the expressways / autobahns.
We had dinner and played cards. Do I need to tell you who won?