duomo

Tuesday 24th – Friday 27th September 2019

For a quickie one hour train ride, the journey between Pisa and Florence is pretty spectacular!! Rolling Tuscan hills, green fields and those stunning sandstone houses and orange roofs, just imagine that scene from Gladiator when he’s returning home, the countryside looks just like that! Unfortunately trains travel pretty damn fast over here so pictures are more of a blur than anything overly scenic!! It is all about the memories right??

Having pre-prepared for my afternoons adventure, I was off the train as it pulled into the station and legging it to my Air BNB. About 5 minutes out of the station I realised no one checked my ticket, at all! Could have gotten a freebie, will remember that for next time… In the mean time, why hello Florence, you’re so pretty!!!

At the next Air BNB, the host Piero was the opposite to the Scottish grump, he was friendly, talked loudly and waved his hands around like a true Italian! And most importantly, he gave me all the best recommendations for pizza, gelato, coffee and dinner, as well as directions to the supermarket. I think he may have noticed I liked food just by the look of me, must get back to the gym… I loved how passionate he was about Florence but before delving into all the pizza and gelato there was rooftop yoga to be had. Using Air BNB Experience for the first time I had booked in for yoga on a rooftop terrace and a home cooked dinner. Half expected it to be a bit dodgy but when I got to the place, after going up the smallest lift imaginable I stepped out onto the terrace and knew I’d hit the jackpot. Possibly the best 360 view of Florence… winning!!!

And the yoga wasn’t bad either! The sun shining down, a gentle breeze, the smell of Florence in the air and stretching my over travelled and slightly podgy body. When Angus & Julia Stone’s Big Jet Plane came on the yogi’s playlist, I knew this place was heaven sent. Maybe this is what my heaven would look, feel and sound like… I know for sure it would taste like it!! Little did we know the hot Italian stallion taking part in the class was also the chef and cooked a mean pasta. For my first meal and outing in Florence, it was unbelievably brilliant and set the scene for one hell of a Florentine adventure! Having already clocked up 25,000 steps that day, I was well and truly spent so called it early and went back to my room for a yoga and pasta induced sleep of a lifetime!

After 2 weeks in Scotland on Dan the pickup Man’s early morning timetable and scheduling myself an early start in Pisa, I had the sleep in every parent with small children wishes they had!! No noise, no one around to wake me and the only reason to get up, gelato!! What a life, living the dream! Even inspired a kick arse outfit choice and red lips, you know I’m in a good mood when there’s red lips! Unfortunately during the hello’s to all my loves at home, there was some bad news about the passing of my Uncle Geoff in Canada, my grandad’s brother. While I hadn’t seen Geoff in over 20 years, seeing my mum upset on the other side of the world was one of the hardest things I’ve experienced while being away, and as with any death, knowing there is nothing you can do to help the people hurting pained my heart. Knowing what an amazing man he was, just like my grandad, it made me sad I didn’t get a chance to reconnect with him during our planned chrissie trip but knowing what his family would be going through is the hardest of all. Grief is one of those feelings where there isn’t anything anyone can do or say to help. It just sucks. Sorry for the tangent, this blog after all is about life not just travels. My saving grace after the news was that I was in one of the most beautiful cities in the world and that is definitely one hell of a distraction from the sombre feelings. Talking to my little Miss Annabelle and Mr Marcus also put a smile back on my dial and helped me be ready to take in the sites and tastes of Florence.

One of the millions of zillions of things I love about Florence is that while it’s a fairly big city, it is still best seen on foot. It’s one tourist attraction after another while wondering around, and to someone like me who loves beautiful old buildings, every street and back alley is a tourist attraction. The streets of Florence are like Edinburgh, every where you look there’s beauty and character, so much history in every stone cobbled street. Wandering from my Air BNB it was a short stroll across the Ponte Vecchio bridge, the most famous bridge in Florence, through the Uffizi Gallery and to the most beautiful, famous and brilliantly Italian… panini!!

Yup, after no brekkie of course my first stop was food!!! I’d been recommended All’ Antico Vinaio by my Air BNB host Piero, as well as my friend Nicole in Adelaide who saw I was in Florence and directed me to awesome food, think the girl knows me good! Unfortunately, every other person in Florence had also been directed there so I joined the line… there’s not much in life I’m willing to line up for, food is pretty much the only exception! While in the line, it wasn’t long before I realised this place had four different shops on the road, each with an equally as long line, usually I’d just walk away from something so touristy but this time it heightened my FOMO! Choosing which panini to order had to be one of the hardest decisions of the last few months… Prosciutto, provolone cheese and truffle hit the spot, didn’t even care that I was smearing the red lipstick all over my face, future Holly’s problem…

After being stuffed full of the yummiest and biggest panini known to man, I was off to get my tourist on. Piazza della Signoria here I come, a big beautiful square full of old buildings and naked men. They were of the stone variety but damn, everywhere I looked there was tackle, did make me laugh which was much needed!

After a sneaky vino to wash down the panini, I did one of my most favourite things. I got lost. Well, I kind of headed in a certain direction but mostly lost. If there’s one place to get lost in, its Florence, you’ll just stumble across a beautiful church or three, like the Church of Santa Croce (as Google pics tells me) and onto the Jewish Synagogue, are they not some of the most stunning buildings ever? Helped that the weather was putting on one hell of a show, blue skies and puffy white clouds, thanks for making my photos look good!

There may have been another sneaky vino or two, because when in Rome right?? Oh wait, I’m in Florence, same same… more getting lost in beautiful gardens, across canals and through back streets before deciding to make my way to Piazzale Michaelangelo for sunset views. Had I not had a few vino’s I would have realised that to get a panoramic sunset view of Firenze, you’d probs have to climb a few steps! Few may have been a minor understatement but once again, hard work has its rewards and when I plopped down on the steps of the Piazzale to take in the view, all the steps in the world were worth it… I’m not sure there is anything more beautiful in the world, except maybe Little Miss Annabelle’s smile…

After a cheers or three to the beauty of Florence, I finally had dinner plans, like with friends, people I knew! Just when you thought I was a loner… I may have been slightly crashing the party but Mel, Adam and Tanya welcomed me as one of the crew. Mel on her own is a comedy act, one of the funniest people I know but with her accomplices, its just belly laughs all around. Between the laughs, there was wild boar tagliatelle, some other yummers and then the most amazing thing I’ve ever laid my eyes on, Florentine steak… being an ex-vegetarian, I never thought looking at a steak could bring me so much joy, eating it was my second heaven, going to heaven twice in two days, lucky me!

After free champagne on account of Tanya’s not birthday and drinking Florence dry of Chianti, we went for a wander. You’d think finding a vending machine full of pot would be the best part of the night, but have you ever played knockers?? No?? Here’s the general gist, Florence is full of gorgeous doors, every door has a “knocker”, hence the name. One must approach the door and yell “real or fake”, everyone else has 0.5 seconds to take their guess before the knocker is, well, knocked!! If its fake, it doesn’t move, if it’s real then the door gets knocked… Now I’m writing it down I realise what horrible people we were… but in our defence, in Florence there’s the front door then like five other doors and stairs until you actually get into someone’s house… except the door Tanya knocked on and got yelled at… Ok, maybe not the best game in the world, maybe you had to be there… or maybe if you were there you’d wouldn’t be an AH and knock on random people’s doors like the rest of us… Our saving grace in this instance is that Mel had a new business idea, The Knockers Tour of Florence, I wander what kind of clientele we’d get on that tour… hehe…. We thought we were funny…. Nah, we were just AH’s… After an escort back to my Air BNB, the crew spent the next half hour using my toilet, apparently they don’t flush the same across the canal… felt sorry for the cleaner, should have left a tip….

The next day I had another sleep in all parents envy. The knockers and another day of over 20,000 steps had worn me out, not to mention the Chianti…. The best cure for a sore body?? PIZZA!! Yeah, no kale and cucumber juices here! I ventured to Piero’s recommendation of the best pizza in town only to be bitterly disappointed to not have cash on me, as if cash only places still exist? Calm down Hangry Holly. Could have just gotten cash out but when I’m hangry there’s no rhyme or reason so instead I looked up, found the next place with pizza and within an Italian jiffy I had in front of me the most magnificent masterpiece…If you think there’s no way I could eat it all then you’d be wrong…

Although my heart was well and truly in Florence my mind was venturing to next week’s adventure in Morocco. Having been booked since our time in Ireland, I knew it was happening but for some reason, had not thought for a second that maybe, just maybe, I’d need to do some kind of preparation. Hopeless Holly just thought she’d pack and go like every other trip but over that epic, gorgeous, delicious, mouth watering steak, Adam, who was also Morocco bound, mentioned that women MUST cover up in Morocco, despite the 35+ degree heat. Bananas. While sure I’d bought some winter clothes with me, most of my gear would not be considered conservative. Let’s be honest, I have tits and arse, they are hard to cover up at the best of times. So the next few hours were spent hitting up H&M and alike discount stores, not how I’d choose to spend time in Florence. Wow, I just whinged about shopping… what a spoilt spoilt life I lead! Truth be told, I don’t like shopping. Shoes yes, gifts yes, clothes NO. Anyhoo, I got bored pretty damn quick and decided that the Duomo was way more important than an imminent trip to Morocco. If you were to see the Duomo, the Florence Cathedral to us Aussies, then you’d agree. One of THE most intricate and stunning buildings I’ve ever seen in my life. I’d been so used to seeing white or grey old buildings, which I love, no complaints here but the Duomo has green and a burnt orange colours integrated into the arhictecture as well as artworks above the doors, I dare you to name a more beautiful building in the world, go on, where???

My one regret, I didn’t go into the Duomo. The line was epic and I was tired. Lame excuse I know. Also have the spoilt brat excuse that I knew it wouldn’t be the last time I’d be in Florence. I’m not one to go back to places I’ve already been, there’s so much of the world to see, but when it comes to Florence and Edinburgh, I’ll keep going back as long as I live. Heading back to my Air BNB, I couldn’t help but keep wandering across the most beautiful places, Piazza della Republica with a gorgeous carousel, a stunning old church, across the canal for more gorgeous views and ooops, found myself at the best gelato place according to Piero, how’d that happen??

A baci and coconut gelato later, I did the most Italian thing I could, besides eat my weight in gelato and pizza… I had a siesta, how many people are hating me now???? Not even joking that I really am living my best life!!! But the tourist in me called, told me I was wasting time so I was back up and at it for my second Air BNB experience, a “Walk through the dark side” tour of Florence. Of course, after a nap I was tired and needed sustenance so found some random Florentine yummy and indulged… One of life’s first world pleasures is biting into something and finding the surprise of a gooey chocolatey filling… Of course people in third world countries just appreciate a glass of clean drinking water as a pleasure but I’m a spoilt Aussie brat so taking pleasure in this yumminess… and the Italian beer that accompanied it…

So the dark side tour. Hmmm, let’s just say straight up it was probs like a 3 star, maybe a 4 because the tour guide chick started chatting to me while I was drinking my beer without even realising I was on her tour and she was awesome, a person I’d be friends with if I was one of those people that just up and moved to Florence to live her best life…. Surrounded by American tourists, we embarked on the dark side of Florence, surprisingly these American tourists were the fun, cool ones that thought having a blonde Aussie on their tour was tops, yay me!!! While I can’t exactly remember the route (BTW, it’s r-owe-t, not root like the Pommies keeping telling me), we wandered around Florence and got some stories about the misfortunes of various people, usually associated with a building or landmark. Of course I’m morbid AF so the story about the dudes that betrayed the Medici family and ended up being flayed with their bodies being hung from hooks on the tower in Piazza Della Signoria (where all the naked men were). Being flayed, their bodies hung with their outer skin next to them, in case you’re not a Game of Thrones fan and don’t know what flayed means. It was an epic tale of betrayal to take down the Medici’s with one of the brothers Lorenzo, the favourite being killed in a church so kinda get it… no life sentence with parole back in those day’s. Back in those times the worst crime was treachery and the betrayal of your family, republic or church, these days it’s murder and rape but whateves…

Second favorite story was that of the Bartolini family who were somewhat inadequate so the only way they could outbid the competing families in the silk trade was to invite them to an epic dinner the night before the auction and drug them with opium so they slept through the silk auction in Venice, allowing them to take over trade and become one of the wealthiest families in Florence. They literally invented the phrase “You snooze, you lose”, with the Italian version of the phrase being inscribed on their building along with poppy flowers, guess they were proud of their ability to outwit their opponents. Each to their own.

There was also a long winded story about some dude called Belmonte who thought he was too cool for school, didn’t marry the chick he was betrothed too, dissed the chicks family’s and thus started the downfall of Florence, to the point where people built bridges between houses to get around because walking the streets was certain death. Geez they were hard arse back then. Also apparently the invention of the phrase to “burn your bridges”, if you fell out with a neighbour in which there was a bridge for you to travel across, they would burn it down so you knew you were no longer welcome. Interesting, Florence seems to be couldron of hate back in those days. Oh and for a “general” punishment, for like not paying your taxes or something not so massive, they tie yours arms and legs together, hang you naked so your butt was facing the ground then drop you over and over so your bare naked arse would smack against the marble ground… yeah, my face was WTF too!!! This is the exact spot they would do that, to think what had gone on here back in the day!?!?!!?

Of course there were plenty of other interesting tales but anyone that knows me of course understands I’ll only remember the morbid or weird arse ones.. haha, arse ones… I crack myself up… Haha, crack, it goes on and on… In conclusion, the tour was pretty good, didn’t see much of Florence I hadn’t already stumbled upon but the stories were worth it, not even google would tell me those truths!! After the tour, of course I was hungry, the smells of Florence put me in a permanent state of hunger. Not being able to hook up with people who I claim to be my friends, I took myself out for dinner. Pasta, wine, music, view of the Duomo, what more could a girl want…

So during dinner I once again engaged in one of my favourite activities, people watching. Looked like it was a thing in Florence for young ones to just congregate in the street, no where in particular, and just chat. No bar or significant place in sight, just stand and chat. I mean I know every Italian loves a chat but it’s so different to the Aussie culture of having a beer in the hand and being at a pub or some place that can refill said beer in hand, the same group stood on the street for my whole meal just chatting… yeah I was a weirdo and took a pic…

Having had my fill (for today) of pasta and wine, I wandered back to my Air BNB but got distracted by markets, yep, a whole food hall open til midnight. Of course, it wouldn’t be date night without dessert, a cannoli in Italy, how could I not??

As I meandered home, I headed in the general direction of a bridge, ended up on the right side of town and at my Air BNB, no idea how, worst sense of direction, maybe it really is Google that keeps getting me lost??? Or the fact that I could just wander around Florence forever, every street is gorgeous, every door has character, and it’s filled with yummy food, what’s not to love??

After having one of the best date nights, the next day, my last in the gorgeous Firenze, I was determined to do something other than stuff my face. Getting out of the Air BNB nice and early, the streets of Florence at 9am were like a ghost town, does no one get up at this time?? If this is the life of Florentines, I really do belong here… Having relied on Google to tell me what to do today, I made my way to the Boboli Gardens, I thought a leisurely walk around a lush green retreat would be lovely… did not expect the heck of a hike up the hill, but once again the view was amazing. It really was like a secret garden, lots of little hidden retreats, fountains just randomly around a corner and some interesting art choices! The view over the Tuscan hills was my fave!

I decided to refer to Google to see what else he could come up with, he did good. Wait, is Google a male or female??? Bad sense of direction but knows everything, must be female… In this case she knew I love me a Fort so headed to the one and only Fort in Florence. As my stomach rumbled, on cue Adam was ready to experience the best pizza in all of Florence, the one I missed out on cos I didn’t have cash. The Fort would have to wait. Wandering down the streets to meet Ads, I really was once again spoilt with old gorgeous streets, beautiful buildings and a picture perfect day. Could anyone ever come here and not fall in love with it??

Meeting Adam at Gusta Pizza, pretty sure I said hi before getting down to the ordering and eating. Sometimes I forget to be polite when I’m hungry. And my god, so glad I made it back! Pizza so good there are no pics and no leftovers. Beer and pizza, there really is nothing better. Am i turning into a dude?? After wandering away from Gusta, Ads and I were keen for another beer but finding a pub, bar or any restaurant that would serve us a beer without a feed was as hard as finding ice in a desert. The whole trip I’ve felt like every second place was a bar, why we couldn’t find one is beyond me, and Ads. How do two aussies suck so bad at finding a bar?? It’s in our DNA!!! Anyhoo, one nice lass at a restaurant saw the desperation in our faces and allowed us to sit and have a few cold ones without forking out for food. Definitely was not going to fit anything else in, the beer really was just trickling in between the gaps. A few beers and good conversation and it was the time I hadn’t been looking forward to, time to say goodbye to Florence. Hate saying goodbye, at least this one was sweet, like Edinburgh, I knew I’d be back one day. Legging it back to my Air BNB to grab my bag then on to the Santa Maria Novella train station, walking right past where we’d just been sitting drinking beer, could have just bought my bag with me earlier, vacation brain. It’s real… A few last tourist snaps of my beloved Florence and I was back on the train to Pisa. This time they did check my ticket, no freebies out of Florence.

Once in Pisa, I opted not to lug my backpack around amongst the annoying tourists and instead walked to the airport and enjoyed a final panini before testing my luck with RyanAir yet again. Lucky for me, I landed in the right airport in London and on time, WTF??? Somethings not right… Once back at Kylina’s the excitement of the next day’s adventure to Morocco set in so the music was cranked and a sneaky gin poured while I packed and waited to hear from Kylie about the nights festivities for Kam’s birthday. I got about half way through packing when the gorgeous Sean arrived home and the party started… yes there was dancing in the lounge room, lots of ABBA and no more packing… of which would come back to haunt me all through Morocco!!!! Stay tuned…