Back to Canada

The alarm went off at 0500 and we quickly showered and finished packing our bags. Next challenge, call the taxi. First attempt - none available in our area. Second attempt - can't get to your street because it is a pedestrian area. Third attempt - be at the square at the end of the street in four minutes!

We quickly gathered our backpacks and two 20 kg duffle bags and humped them down the six flights of stairs. I'm sure everyone in the building was awake now. A fifteen minute ride to the airport.

Florence airport is small. It only took a minute to get through passport control and security leaving us 2 1/2 hours to kill on unpadded airport seats. It seems about the only things available for breakfast are pastries accompanied by an espresso. A large Timmy's would go really well about now.

Our flight to Munich left on time. We had a good view of the Alps while flying over Austria.

We had a 1 1/2 hour layover in Munich which has a nice modern airport. You can see the Europeans haven't kicked the cigarette habit yet .....

Here is an interesting airport service, rental bunks!

We got loaded on our Air Canada flight and were underway only a few minutes late at noon. It was 8 1/2 hours air time and we arrived on the ground in Toronto at 1430h local time. Customs, baggage and shuttle went smooth and we were on the road to NOTL by 1545h.

We arrived home at 1730h, total in transit time of 18 hours.

A terrific vacation and hard to pick out any specific highlights. Every day had so many!

Walking Tour of Florence

Today we wanted to cover a number of points of interest without spending a lot of time in lineups. That precluded most of the museums and galleries, some of which were closed on Sundays anyway. Our problem of inadequate research and pre-booking attractions.

I started off with a climb of Giotto's Tower. There was a minimal wait at 0930h so up I went, 414 steps in a narrow two way winding staircase. Surprising how few Europeans use deodorant!

The view at the top was great giving a good look at the Duomo's Dome.

Our apartment.....

After 414 steps down, it was time for a crepe breakfast before checking the line up at the Academia, home of Michelangelo's David. When we got there, the ticket line extended around the block so we continued with our street tour.

We had a quick peek at a service at the Basilica Della SS Annunziata.

From there we wandered back to the Duomo taking in the sights.

We went into the Duomo Museum where they have the original gold plated sculpted doors of the Baptistry on display after an extensive restoration project.

Also a Michelangelo sculpture.

From here we wandered more streets and crossed the river, again getting a view of Ponte Vecchio.

Our destination was Piazzale Michelangelo, another climb of several hundred steps. Great view of the city and a giant "David". 

From here we continued along the river admiring the street scapes.

We had a look at the Pitti Palace.

It was now mid afternoon and time to refuel on pizza, salad and a beer.

We wandered the streets leading back to the apartment and decided it was time to rest our feet.

We relaxed and watched some of the street action from our balcony.

We knew we had an early wake up coming tomorrow for our flight home so we went out for am "early" supper at 7:30 pm. We only went about 30 meters from our apartment foot to La Trattoria San Lorenzo Thayer had a good write up on Trip Advisor.

Food was good and the people watching was great from the street side patio. 

After eating, we took one last walk to see the Duomo at night before retiring at 2230h.

Tuscany to Florence

Today was our last morning enjoying the early morning view from our balcony. San Gimignano in the distance.

We packed up and managed to find our way to the Hertz Rental agent in Florence. A really good idea getting rid of the car outside of the city center. No problems with dropping the car and then a white knuckle ride to the city center.

We arrived a bit early and had to wait a few minutes for the landlord to arrive.  The apartment is cute, two bedrooms, living room, kitchen etc, just steps away from the Duomo.

It was on the "third" floor which in Italian means six 12 step flights of stairs. 

Luckily I was down the street when the landlord showed up and Chris was able to get a strong young child to haul our two 50 lb duffle bags up the stairs. I showed up in time to give him a good gratuity.

We freshened up and struck out to explore. First stop, the tourist bureau. Some of the attractions are closed Sunday and some sold out so we will have to rely on an exterior tour for some. 

The line up for the Dome was too long so we ventured into the Cattedrale da St. Maria del Flore.

After this, we wandered the streets and found a few interesting squares.

Some interesting street scenes....

Then we encountered the DNS (Do Not Shop) zone....

We made our way to the Arno River and crossed the Ponte Vecchio.

We had a look around the Galleria degli Uffizi and the outdoor statues.

The late afternoon thunderstorms started again and we made our way back to our apartment.

A few big raindrops and the bad weather was over.

Supper was at a really good and local restaurant that was recommended in the guest book in our room. 

Great supper and we returned from an early evening out. In Italian, that means we had finished eating by 2200h.

Chianti Wine Tour

We had decided to save our wine tour day until our last day in the villa. The Chianti region provides rich panoramas of miles of vineyards and olive groves, ancient walled villages and some of the most challenging roads you will ever drive.

Chianti wines are a minimum 80% Sangiovese and are sold under the Gallo Nero (Black Rooster) trademark. 

Our start of the tour was in the town of Grieve in Chianti. We parked in the town square and immediately noticed this fantastic butcher shop. 

It is owed by the Falorni family and dates back to 1729. Too bad we couldn't bring home some samples.

The same family also has opened a wine museum recently. 

We took the tour and it was interesting to see the tools and techniques from the older era when the outcome was left a bit more to chance than today.

From here we ventured to Le Cantine di Greve in Chianti. A wine tasting Center with more than 150 wines available for tasting.

Very modern operation with several dispensing stations where you could choose what you wanted to sample from automatic dispensing machines. You purchase a "wine card" and insert it in the station and voila, push a button and get your sample. Price varied from 0.60€ to 4.50€ per oz.

Given the roads we were driving, we limited our purchase to 10€. 

We said goodbye to the black rooster. 

Returning to the Panda, we were on to our next destination.

It was a short drive to Panzano in Chianti. After a brief walk through the old town, it was time for a late lunch at a beautiful restaurant adjacent to the church.

Replenished with food, we headed to the Castle of Volpia, an ancient walled town. The road was about 25 km of one lane, gravel and rock, 10 - 15% grade up and down with switchbacks. Luckily we only saw two other vehicles and never got higher than 2nd gear.

Cool town and great streetscapes.

The road to Radda in Chianti was much better and we parked and started walking the medieval streets.

We stumbled into a photography exhibit in the basement of the town hall. Curious, we wandered in and met the Austrian photographer who seemed more interested in us sampling some wine with her than selling her vineyard photos. Had a couple of samples then we had to beg off and get on the road as the weather was deteriorating to late day thunderstorms. 

We were back at the villa just as the lightening started. After an hour or so the storm passed and we were able to venture out for supper. We visited the Trattoria dell'Ignorante for another round of authentic Tuscan food. We are going to have to ask for the seat belt extenders when we board the plane to go home on Monday.