Wednesday 28 May 2003

Very Warm with Sunny Spells

Tom and I awoke and had breakfast early for a change. We got our stuff together and drove into Viareggio where we tried to park – some time later we parked then walked to the train station. Tom bought our return tickets to Firenze in Italian, and the chap understood – we are getting better at this lingo. Unfortunately the next train was not until 11:40 (now 10:30). We went for a wander and Tom found a street café selling 30 flavours of hot chocolate. I had a cappuccino, Tom had dark hot chocolate and we each had a morning pastry. Tom’s chocolate was so thick it was almost just runny chocolate.

We caught the train which left on time but the carriage was very hot. After a while, the ticket chappy said that the air conditioning was broken in our carriage but working in other carriages – we moved then sighed with relief. We arrived just fifteen minutes late and headed off for a nice lunch. We chose a place from the tourist book (called ZaZa’s) and were not disappointed. The thermometer on the way in read 29°C (84°F) in the shade. We ordered bruschetta al pomodore and artichokes in roman oil. Both were yummy and I satisfied my need to find out what proper bruschetta tastes like. For mains, I had beef with a creamy truffle sauce and rocket salad, and Tom had veal escalope with salted, rosemarried potatoes. For pudding, I had vin santo and cantalluci biscotti and Tom eventually had a crepe with chocolate filling. Then we went back to the train station to make a hotel reservation, which we did without too much trouble, paying €90 for a place in the very centre of Firenze.

We walked to the hotel to check our room and pick up a key. However, it was not that easy. We found the right location and a little sign but inside there were just stairs leading up to rooms and a very ancient lift. We walked around the block to see if the front entrance was around the other side – it was not. Finally feeling a little lost and confused we found a bell by the door. Tom rang it and a bodiless voice said that reception was on the 5th floor – of course, why didn’t we think of that! We got into the lift – feeling too hot to walk up five flights of stairs – and there was a plaque pointing to number five which read ‘reception.’ It turned out that our rooms were not in the hotel but in an apartment five minutes walk away. Before we left though, the hotel receptionist invited us onto the veranda to see the views from the top of the hotel across the city. After much admiring, we left to find our apartment. We found the right building without too much trouble but again finding the right door was a little more complicated – we had overlooked the completely unmarked door at the top of the first set of stairs. Silly us. The room was cool, dark and large with a sofa and coffee table, double bed, chairs and dresser. The bathroom was fully tiled and the little windows overlooked the courtyard. Tom hit the shower!

After a freshen up, we planned a route down to the Arno to take in the Ponte Vechio, the Ufitzi exterior and the renowned Bar Vivoli, a gelataria from the guide book. The ice cream parlour was not so appealing or exciting, so we presumed it was the wrong one (on checking the book later it was not). The bridge looked lovely from a distance in the setting sun and we had fun walking in the area in and around the Ufitzi, which was not so appealing as it was covered in scaffolding. We walked back towards the main piazzia looking for a bar showing the football match – two Italian teams playing in the Champions League final at Old Trafford in Manchester. However everything seemed to be shutting up – oh dear. We found a snack bar (peckish by now) and they had a projector screen out back. We took our drinks and munchies (pizza and a panini) through – we were the only ones there until about five minutes before the match, when lots of tourists came in with only one group of Juventus fans present. The football went on and on – no one scored – well Milano did but it was disallowed. Tom fancied a little more to eat and returned with a yummy looking streusel filled with almond sponge and two forks – very, very tasty. The football went to extra time and we gave up on it as being way too dull. Outside it was still very warm, so we decided to walk back down to the Ponte Vechhio to see it at night (well, Tom wanted to and I did not have strength to disagree). The walk was worth it. The cool air freshened us up and we went back to the room cooler and more ready for bed. It was midnight when we went to bed and it soon became apparent that we were not alone – at first, we ignored the buzzing of the mosquito, too tired to care. However, when she invited in a few friends some time later, we were not amused. The light went on and Tom got one immediately – splat – my O neg will be forever on a Florentine wall. The others were more difficult customers but every time the light went off they were there moving in for the kill. Despite Tom’s surprise (to me) tactics they remained and we eventually fell asleep about 3:30am completely covered by the sheets!