(April 15, 2014)

We tried something new today and took our breakfast ‘to go’, enjoying the pastry and the on the banks of the river Arno as we walked to the Pitti Palace. We arrived soon after they opened, around 8:30 am, and had the place pretty much to ourselves for most of the time.

Another place I couldn’t take pictures, the Pitti Palace was the home of the Medici family starting in 1549 and is basically a huge treasure-house of paintings, jewelry, sculptures, and the most luxurious of possessions. (To give you and idea of how big it is, to see all of the museums it contains, they recommend a pass that gives you unlimited access for three days.) It looks more like a fortress than a house on the outside, but the interior is amazing. We did a bit of prep work and decided to focus on two areas: the Palatine Gallery and the Boboli Gardens.

The Gallery contains more than 500 Renaissance paintings by Raphael, Titian, Lippi, and Rubens (to name a few) in 28 rooms. Each room in the gallery has a ceiling with a gorgeous fresco — these images provide the names of the rooms. I wish I could share the pictures I would have taken . . . the tables with precious stone inlays were astounding.

Among the paintings that stood out for us were Madonna and Child by F. Lippi, portraits by Botticelli, Madonna Passerti by del Sarto, everything by Raphael and Rubens, and Gentileschi’s Judith and Her Maidservant.

(As a side note, we first saw one of Gentileschi’s paintings at the Met in New York, and then again at the Uffizi — she’s an artist well worth looking up.)

We then went outside for a walk in the Gardens, which turned out to be less interesting than we’d expected. Actually, the works we saw were grotesque (in the negative sense) and really weird. So while we walked a lot, we didn’t really see much of anything.

But here are some pictures to give you a sense of what we saw:

Emerging into the city once again, we went looking for a textile place that I’d found especially recommended. Apparently it was closed, or moved, but they hadn’t updated their website (ARGH!) so we wasted almost an hour on that little project. With that we crossed the Ponte Vecchio, joining 100s of tourists in gawking at jewelry and the like, all over-priced, but much of it lovely. I saw a gorgeous pearl necklace with a silver clasp that was pretty much perfect. J. actually went in and asked the price (lovely man!) . . . and apparently my taste in jewelry is very expensive. (It was $18k. The clasp alone was $1800. Whew.) By this time I’d been on my feet too much, and had eaten nothing after that light breakfast, so we went looking for food.

We had a meal in a place that was pretty much the worst food we’d had in all of Italy. (Not the worst meal ever, but pretty darn close.) It did, however, refuel us enough to get on with the afternoon.

I went home, J. got the car taken care of and then did a little shopping on his own. (Apparently there is a surprise coming for me at some point. Lovely man!) And I . . . had a nap!

From there it was a quiet evening of reading, followed by dinner at Osteria Giovanni again. A lovely way to end our time in Florence.

(April 12, 2014)

We were up at a good time and able to catch a 9:35 hydrofoil to Naples. A quick taxi to the train station, where we dropped our bags, and then another one to the Archeological Museum.

THIS is where all the good stuff ended up!

Statues and frescoes galore, even mosaics. The wealthy families of Naples looted the area with abandon and its all just sitting here. We spent a good 2+ hours just wandering around, and we were pretty focused. (Oh, and if you’re not prudish, check out the Secret Cabinet.)

Another taxi took us back to the train station where we collected out bags (6 euro/bag, if you care) and caught the high speed train to Firenze. We paid for business class, with silence (no cell phones allowed, at least not to talk on) and it was pretty steep. We could have saved more if we’d bought our tickets in advance, but our schedule has been so loose I couldn’t count on that being an option. (In fact, we did have a firm commitment for an arrival time in Venice so we booked that ticket later. To give you an idea of the savings, 1st class (one way) was 183 eu, but by booking in advance we got a 2-for-1 deal at 92 eu.)

The train ride was nice, and we caught up on reading and a bit of writing. Florence SM is a well laid out station, and we easily found our way to our next lodging: Casa Corsi. This is a lovely jewel of a place set well back (sort of behind another building actually) from a very active street. There is a garden, full kitchen, and good-sized common space. HIGHLY recommended if you’re a typical tourist who’s up and out around 9am and in bed by 9pm. Most rooms share a bathroom, two have their own. (We have one of those.) The bed is comfortable, in the typical twins stuck together, which is saved by then being in a frame so the beds don’t drift apart. Roberta, the owner, met us with cookies and juice and we chatted while checking in. Turns out that this used to be her family’s home and they converted all of the rooms into bedrooms. I can easily see a family growing up here.

The neighborhood is very much a place in transition, but there are tons of local markets and eating places, and you’re literally a 15 minute walk to the Uffizi and environs. Or the Gallerie, or the Pitti (across the river). It’s a SUPER location, and about half the cost of a hotel of the same stars (approx. 60 eu/ night).

We got in a bit late for doing much of anything, so we rested, unpacked, did a bit of laundry and then went out for dinner. Trattoria Osteria Giovanni was our destination, a recommendation from our landlady. (One thing I’ve learned, when a local makes a recommendation, take them up on it.)

This is a popular place — with locals as well as travelers. Lots of languages spoken here, and  the waiters were comfortable with using different words to describe the menu items. This is another restaurant that we feel deserves its reputation for excellence. As we were seated, they brought us Prosecco and small pieces of fried bread. For our starter, we shared the house ravioli — perfect pillows of pasta in a light tomato sauce. My main was braised rabbit in lentils and spinach, J had the steak. They offered biscotti at the end of the meal.

Another lovely walk home and to bed.