We are now in Florence. Today was busy… we woke up in Perugia, went to Siena, then San Gimignano, then Florence.
We’re in our hotel for the night and have free wireless… I don’t know if the hotel is providing it or if it’s nearby, but it’s free. Not fast, but free.
A quick review so far… Jodi will be doing a much better version.
I can’t say that I loved Rome. It was… I don’t know… too generic city. Well, except for the ancient ruins all over. Not the best way to describe it, but it just wasn’t striking any chords. I had some great food though (this is a theme. Yes, I am eating my way through Italy. I’ll need a LOT of working out to make up for this!!!)
The Vatican was interesting… me, mr. agnostic/atheist depending on the day strolling around the home of Catholicism. Some amazing artwork there, but since we only had a couple of hours, we couldn’t see much. Yes, I broke the rules and took a couple of pics of the Sistine Chapel ceiling. I didn’t use a flash though 
Assisi on the other hand I did love. It was my first medieval walled Italian city, and for that it will always be special. The basilica was stunning… again with the art, looking at some of the first works to really take a stab at perspective was inspiring. To think that, once upon a time, artists just started to say “you know, this doesn’t look right… these guys should be smaller if they are further back”. Yeah.
Perugia was very pretty, but there wasn’t a lot going on other than shopping, given how short a time we were there. It was more a layover than a destination. The hot chocolate was worth the trip though! Perugina chocolates used to be made there, but it’s the same stuff we can get right on Moody St., so no point in stocking up.
The hotel in Perugia was GREAT! I’d love to just pick it up and bring it with me on the rest of the trip. It was the first to have US outlets in addition to Italian, complete with 110/220 switches. All of our stuff runs on 110 or 220, so it doesn’t matter much, but the idea was good.
Siena was more fun than I had anticipated. Crowds were minimal, the place was very pretty, and our local guide was awesome. She talked mostly about the annual horse race that goes on in the square (Il Campo). This was really neat since I watched Quantum of Solace on the flight from Boston to London, and it opens in Siena during the race. She was around for the filming so she was able to point out shooting locations, talk about the filming, etc…
San Gimignano was too crowded for my taste, but once we broke out to some of the more distant spots it was gorgeous. Tip for the hill town travelers… as with all battles, seek the high ground. A good 1/2 of the tourists won’t want to climb the hills!
We haven’t been into the city proper yet in Florence, but the place we went for dinner was great. La Capponcina in Settignano. I had polpettone, something like a cross between meatballs and meatloaf. Yum!
Our hotel here is right on the Anno river, and a 10 minute walk to the downtown Florence area. The plan for tomorrow is to drive out to the Accademia in the morning, have a brief walking tour of the city, then spend the next 4-5 hours walking around. Dinner is at a monastery, which should be fun 
The next major stop is Venice. While super cheesy, we are of course going to go on an over priced gondola ride. Best mis-spoken phrase of the week: Someone on the bus said “I can’t wait to get to Venice and ride a gladiator”. Yeah. That’s what she said.
After Venice comes Como. We finish up in Milan, but we arrive late and just spend the night before flying out, so I doubt we’ll get to see much.
I’ve posted up some additional pics to flickr. Same link, just a few more:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tk7602/sets/72157617519674576/
Tags: Add new tag, italy, photos, travel
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