Tuscany...

Sunday night we enjoyed an absolutely fabulous meal for about the same price we had been spending on our food. We had made a reservation at Acqua al Duo, an amazing little restaurant. Emily and I decided to split some of their more famous meals. First we started with a pasta sampler. You never know what pastas you will be receiving, it is totally up to the cook. Each pasta is brought out one at a time so that you may savor each one and enjoy the taste. First we had gnocchi with gorgonzola cheese, which was fantastic, followed by a risotto in some sort of green/vegetable sauce that was also quite enjoyable. The third one was not our favorite, pasta in some sort of spinach sauce; just too much spinach I think! The fourth one was one of our favorites, just a bolognese (meat) sauce, but it was perfect! Our final sample was some long curly pasta in a spicy red sauce. I ate all of them, so even the ones that were not my favorite, I still enjoyed! For our main course, as if the pasta wasn't enough, we had steak in a blueberry sauce. We basically licked all of the sauce off the plate; it was that good and we just didn't want any of it to go to waste! Since we were having a fancy meal, why not finish it off with a dessert sampler? Ahhh... perfection!


After dinner we wandered around, still enjoying the taste of the meal, and found a pub that was playing the Euro Cup Final Game. Spain dominated Germany most of the game, but they only won one to zero. The game ended and all the Spanish players and fans were just in complete euphoria. We stayed and watched the players as they received their awards, danced around and just celebrated their beautiful victory. It was so much fun to be watch such complete bliss!


Yesterday we took a train to Seina, a town in Tuscany that once rivaled Florence, although it is much smaller in size. The train we took was nice, we didn't need a reservation and our EuroRail passes worked - who knows how all this works exactly! :)


The train ride itself was worth it! Just to see the rolling hills, fields of poppeys and vineyards stretched across the landscape was fantastic! Tuscany is just as beautiful, or perhaps even more than what you see on the movies and what you expect. It is breathtaking.


Seina itself is a fascinating town with a neat story, which we were able to be a small part of. The town is divided into seventeen small sections. Each section is represented by a flag and an animal and the families in each section take great pride in their section. Twice a year, sand is brought in to the Il Campo, the main square in the center of town, and one horse and jockey from each section race around with thousands of people crowded around watching. The horse race is a huge deal, for bragging rights and it can also get quite violent with so many tight spaces and so many people. Sort of like the running of the bulls in Spain, but not to that extent of course. The horse race happens twice a year and one of those times is Wednesday, so we were there just two days before the exciting event occurs. The sand had already been brought in for the horses to race around and the bleachers were being set up for spectators. Flags hung for all the buildings, it was always easy to tell which section you were in based on the flags that surrounded you. My favorite flag is a green and red one with a goose proudly strutting wearing a crown. Just reminds me of what actual geese probably think of themselves! :)

The train took a little over an hour and after finally finding a way to get up into the town center, we first set out to climb the tall tower right in the center of town. This tower, on the edge of Il Campo, gave us a fantastic view of the city, where the race would take place and the beautiful Tuscan countryside that surrounds the small hill-top city. I believe the view was perfectly worth the 375 steps to the top, despite the tight spaces along the way!


We found a little pizzeria for lunch and enjoyed some amazing pizza while Angela Lansbury solved murders on the TV in the dining room. There was no sound, but since it probably would have been in Italian anyway, we had fun trying to guess who committed the murder based off of Angela's expressions!


After lunch we went to the great church there. We went inside the Crypt, I don't think it was really worth seeing, then into the beautiful cathedral and the baptistry behind the church. The church is decorated with marble from top to bottom and while perfectly ornate, was not nearly as gaudy as some of the churches we had seen in Austria and Czech.


We walked around a little longer, enjoying gelato and some shopping. We found Saint Catherine, the patron saint of Siena's church and were pleased at the small size and small amount of people. We caught the train back, once again enjoying some great views of the surrounding countryside.


Emily and I enjoyed a quick pasta dinner, then went to the movies! There is an old movie theater here that plays English movies sometimes. The theater reminds me of the Alabama Theater, although not quite as large. There is an incredible stained glass dome in the center and two floors worth of seats. No matter what, it is a neat venue to watch a film. The Other Boelyn girl was playing. I must admit that I didn't know much about the story before watching the film - but wow! Besides the first two or three minutes, the film, the story, was truly heartbreaking and almost frustrating. Full of betrayl, of all sorts. It was a beautifully made film, very intriquing, but not a happy story, whatsoever!


This morning, as it is our last day in Florence, I decided to get up early and go out on a little hike. I hiked up to Piazza Michelangelo, a little ways up the hill, but with rewards of a great view on the city. It is worth the hike! The view is great of the whole city of Florence!


When I left home each of my parents made one request. My mom had asked for some small pieces of glass from Venice. They were these fabulous little teardrop shaped pieces of murano galss, with wire at the top so that you could put labels by things, or probably for namecards at fancy dinners. I looked EVERYWHERE and even, with a very pathetic drawing of mine asked people, but sadly, I guess they no longer exist in Venice! So, I knew that I needed to try to grant my father's one request, even though it seemed more difficult, just so that I didn't seem like a failure! (I know they wouldn't think that though!)

When my parents and I were here last, we hiked up to Piazza Michelangelo and then hiked back down a different path. My parents both have green thumbs and their retired days are occupied with plants and crafts. My father especially loves trees; he's been learning about grafting Japanese maples lately. So, before I left dad said, "Well, my one request is... you remember when we got up early and hiked up the hill that morning? Well, on the way back down, we passed these sycamore trees that were trimmed funny at the top. Would you get a picture of them for me?"

I know, the better question here is "Why didn't you get one the first time?" My mother and I were never lacking in film, I don't know why there is not a photo from the first trip, but oh well. I thought it was a wild goose chase when I set out this morning, but I wanted to fulfill my father's one request. Guess what? I found them!

On the way down from Piazza Michelangelo, not only did I find these trees (and take plenty of pictures!), but I found the cat houses. No, not those kind. It was some sort of protected feline area with little houses, similar to duck houses that you see on ponds sometimes. If you know me at all, you know that I love cats. I have six at home, just one that lives in town with me and he is spoiled rotten. He is staying out at Camp Smith while I'm away, and I must admit that I am beginning to miss my little Romeo, especially after seeing all the cats today.

As I walked down the steep stairs, I met four or five cats, all at different levels on the stairs, so each one got several minutes of my time, devoted just for her. They all seemed well taken care of and very friendly. Two of them were black with a white star on their chests, just like one of my cats. They rubbed on my legs, purred and let me scratch their chins! It was like a little oasis for me!

At the bottom of the stairs, I was given a choice of few different paths to take and was glad I looked to the right of me to see the sign for the rose garden. The sign was in Italian, but what I understood of it said, "Florence Rose Garden, Open to the Public." Why not? So, I pranced up the stairs with my headphones on, listening to "Be the Change" and enjoyed the sweet smell of roses. The garden was nothing terribly impressive, I am of course used to the one at the Botanical Gardens though. It was lovely though and another nice little oasis for me. Right next to it was a small Japanese Garden. I love finding little hidden treasures!

I found my way back down the hill and across the Ponte Vecchio to the Central Market. I love the Central Market (food market)! I walked around and took pictures of the beautiful fruits and vegetables as one of the men selling fruit broke into some sort of operatic song. He was actually very talented and the sound carried nicely.

Then... I spent money... Who knew you could spend that much money on food? Well, that's not true, I did know that, but I had fun! I'm in Tuscany, why shouldn't I send olive oil and balsamic vinegar home to enjoy later? In fact, why not send cheese and honey to go along with it? That's right. I shipped it all home so that I didn't have to worry about carrying it, but I could enjoy it later when I get home.

Emily and I then set out on some more visits in the city. Our first stop was Santa Maria Novella, another main church here in the center of town. This church was huge, but in comparison to Santa Croce and the Duomo, well, it didn't compare. There were great frescos and large paintings on the wall, but the outside of the church is probably about as pretty as it gets. I say that though, and to compare this church to any at home, this one would win by a longshot, but after you have been here and seen so many incredible cathedrals, it is hard to remember what we are comparing here.

We went to the Baptistry next, a small building right in front of the Duomo. It is not very big around, but with a huge, open interior; just one giant room. Marble floor and gold-paintings on the ceiling depicting scenes from the Bible.

After a delicious pizza for lunch, we set out to see David! David is housed in the Accademia Museum. We had made reservations, which cost a few euros more, but saved us from standing in a very long line. The rest of the museum, besides David, is interesting, but for a person like me who doesn't have a huge appreciation of art, nothing compares to the incredible statue at the center. David is enormous, a huge statue, which as Emily pointed out is ironic since he was supposed to be so small. I said, "you should see Goliath!" You are not supposed to take photos of David, but everyone else was, so I turned off my flash and tried to snap a couple secretively, which didn't really work out, so I just pulled out my camera, pointed like everyone else and got a good shot! Shhh...

The afternoon was topped off with some wonderful gelato! We had planned to visit another museum, the science museum, which I have never been to, but it closes early on Tuesdays. So, I suppose we will spend the rest of our afternoon walking around, shopping and doing some packing as we are headed to Rome tomorrow.

We have a tour set up for the Vatican on Friday, July 4th which somehow, althought I'm not sure why, seems appropriate. If I don't get a chance to update this before then, Happy 4th of July everyone! Have a great time celebrating our country's freedom, as I eat gelato in Italy! Save a hamburger for me though, as I will be home in less than a week!

On a side note, I'm sorry I haven't put up many pictures lately. The place we are using in Florence to get on the computer just doesn't let us upload things. I promise that once I get home, I will put all of my pictures on shutterfly and I will share that information with you!