How many Davids in Florence?

We arrived in Florence/Firenze on Friday and didn't get off to a great start. We knew we needed to catch bus "D" to get to our Airbnb. According to Google Maps it would be an 11 minute ride passing 7 stops on the way.

First problem though.....tickets for the bus and second problem.....where to catch the bus.

OK so we are at the main railway station, having just arrived on the train from Venice. We saw a window selling tickets and in big letters it said "NOT TRAIN" so we guessed that it must be bus tickets. We were correct, 1.70 Euro each to get from the station to very close to our accommodation. Our contact was going to meet us at the apartment so all was looking good.

Where do we catch the "D" bus? We had 3 different answers from 3 different people. After some milling around and some animated discussion we finally found the bus stop. Right outside the door of the railway station! This is after walking several blocks, guided by "helpful" people.

OK so now we're on the bus and counting our 7 bus stops. At the 8th stop we get off thinking that we'd missed our stop....and after some more choice words and discussion we check a map to see that we are only about half way to our destination - THANK YOU GOOGLE MAPS!

It was a humid day. Shirts sticking to backs we made the extra half hour walk dragging our cases and eventually found the apartment. Which turned out to be lovely. There are 3 bedrooms here plus 2 bathrooms, a well equipped kitchen, dining area and a small balcony. And we are the only ones here and that's fantastic.

What wasn't fantastic is that we then asked our host for directions to somewhere to buy in our food supply. She gave us directions and off she went. So off we go in search of a minimarket to get a few essential items. Now....MY interpretation of the directions given by our host was different to Lizzie's interpretation. So what do we do? Who's interpretation of directions do we take?

To save an argument I let Lizzie make the choice .....and so we have a half hour walk in the wrong direction.....oh did I mention that it started to rain? Heavily! So now we are tired, wet through and highly frustrated with one another....and I'm getting blisters on my feet. After asking other people (passersby) about where the supermarket was and going in ever decreasing circles I finally asked Lizzie if....just to satisfy my curiosity.....we could walk right around one block away from our apartment just to see what we could find. So we do......cafe's, a butcher, 3 minimarkets, a beer shop. Too tired and wet to gloat we get what we need and head back "home" for a hot shower followed by scrambled eggs on toast and an early night.

Subsequently we found a real supermarket....a good one and have stocked up.

We are told by our hosts that others MAY book in later in the week but for now its just us. The fridge is chocka-block with our provisions after 2 trips to the supermarket so we hope no one else comes for a few days so we can try to half empty the fridge.

Our host has rented us a couple of bikes, which we prefer to public transport.

Saturday we headed off into the old part of town on our bikes. The idea being to find a spot to lock up the bikes on the edge of the historical part of town and make our way on foot around the sights and then collect our bikes on the way back and call in to the supermarket for some more beer and wine on the way home.

We park our bikes near the church of Santa Croce and walk along the River Arno toward the Ponte Vecchio Bridge where all the gold merchants are, cut in via the Uffizi Gallery and head up to the Duomo and the Piazza de San Giovanni.

Everywhere you look there's historical buildings and statues. There are so many copies of the statue of David around Florence.....they must run to the hundreds. Big ones, small ones. Concrete, bronze, plaster, marble you name it there's probably a David statue made of it.

We call into a restaurant for lunch. Lizzie orders the Pasta with eggplant and I order a pizza with ham, tomato, mozzerella and basil. And of course a bottle of Rose wine to wash it all down.

My pizza arrives looking the business.....but Lizzie's pasta dish has clams all over it.....and she doesn't do seafood!

Lizzie goes bright red and says "I can't eat that - it's not what I ordered". The waiter gets the menu and points at the pasta with clams - Lizzie points to the pasta with eggplant on the line above. Long story cut short - her plate is replaced and she's a happy camper.

We were the first people to enter the restaurant but within minutes its buzzing with people as a tour group arrive. So glad we ordered straight away!

(Photos below - one minute we're the only diners....next minute....)

Now fully satisfied by our meal and drinks we hit the street again. Within moments we're in the middle of yet another downpour. This time we have our umbrellas.....but we're still getting wet so we buy a couple of plastic ponchos from street seller. We have them on for only a few minutes and the sun bursts through again.....the ponchos are like wearing a sauna suit and soon we are wetter inside than outside as the sweat pours off us. Ponchos off, umbrellas away and we are back at our bikes. A trip to the supermarket and home for drinks on the balcony.

Sunday morning dawns to......guess what?......rain. But it clears by breakfast time and we take the bikes to the supermarket.....again....to finish stocking up for the week.

Home again, provisions stored and the weather is looking much brighter so we leave the bikes, grab the cameras and head off to climb the hill to Piazzale MichelAngiolo. And here is a huge bronze statue of "David" overlooking the city of Florence.

It's a great view from here. The entire city is laid out before us. We take a few photos (what a surprise that is!) and then walk down the hill in front of the view point down toward the river.

About half way to the river, there's a man with a couple of fishing rods with loops of string between them. He dips the string into a bucket of soap and produces hundreds of bubbles for about a half dozen children to chase.

We continue to the river and follow it for a while before cutting inland 2 streets where we find a cafe selling delightful cakes and pastries.

We buy four small treats and take them home to the apartment.

We sit on the balcony and eat lunch and then the rain starts. Thunder storms had been predicted for 2pm but don't materialise.

We'll just chill out for the rest of the day. Afternoon tea....or coffee and our treats again on the balcony.

We have a visit from our host who tells us we will have company tonight....from 7pm - flatmates - BOO!

Never mind - I just hope that they are quite guests.

Later......our flat mates have arrived. A young Aussie couple straight out of high school. Nice kids.

We seem to get along OK so no worries there.

The next few days we are out and about either on the bikes or on foot but we avoid the main part of town. It appears that we need a bit of peace and quiet so we head off up the hill behind our accommodation to an old monastery/church - Abbazia di San Miniato al Monte. Here we take a look inside the church - free, for once no charge except for one room at the back which is a euro to go inside. You can see what's in the room from the door, but hey its only a euro so I drop a coin into the box and go inside. Lots of wooden paneling and a nice picture ceiling, a few statues and paintings on the wall.

The main part of the church when I look up reminds me a bit of a Maori meeting house due to the way that the wooden beams down the centre of the church are painted. The main structure is of stone with wooden beams - to the outer edges of the church the beams are unpainted - plain wood.

Here's what Wikipdia says - San Miniato al Monte is a basilica in Florence, central Italy, standing atop one of the highest points in the city. It has been described as one of the finest Romanesque structures in Tuscany and one of the most scenic churches in Italy.

No wonder. The view from up here in front of the church is outstanding and beats even the view we had from Piazzale MichelAngiolo. The cemetery here is amazing to wander through. Lots of old tombstones and statues but also many, many large family tombs. It's like a small city of the dead. I take quite a few photos (much to Lizzies displeasure as she is ready to move on). I take a mix of black and white and a few colour photos in the cemetery. I think the black and white help to convey a more sombre note. BUT some of the tombs are highly decorative so colour is a must for them.

Another day we go for a long bike ride along our side of the river and away to the right - the main part of town is over the river and left - so things are much quieter here. We bike along the river bank hoping that it would be scenic but it's not that flash to be honest with you. There is a park of sorts, but there's enough graffiti and general untidiness to put me off taking photos - for once. And hallelujah for that - says Liz.

It's a pleasant enough time though biking down along the river, crossing a bridge and heading back toward "home" again on the other bank. We pause long enough to eat a packed lunch and when the sand-flies start attacking we continue on our way.

Florence is a pretty city in parts but a lot could be done to tidy up the riverside. It could be made really beautiful here with a little effort and a cash injection from the council.

For our meals - Florence is not a cheap place to dine out so we tend to buy from the supermarket and cook our own. Lizzie has done a great job with the food. However we decided that it was time for a meal out so called in at Trattoria Gigi, just down the road from where we are staying. It's a small, family run restaurant. We were there for dinner on the Tuesday evening and it was very quiet. Just a few diners. The staff were great. They made us feel welcome, at home. Through one of the waiters interpreting for us we got chatting to Pedro - an Italian - at the next table. A friendly Filipino who was working in the kitchen came out and joined in the conversation and next thing the phones come out and we're having group photos taken by the waiter.

We both opted for the Cod with tomato and potato as our main. The food was simple home cooking - "justa like mamma used to make" - delicious.

The deserts were exceptional - in particular the Tiramisu which was the best we've ever tasted (and we've had a lot of tiramisu over the years). And to round off a perfect evening we were brought a couple of complimentary limoncellos.

We enjoyed it so much we booked again for Wednesday evening......and who do we see as we walk toward the restaurant on Wednesday evening, but Pedro our new friend from the evening before. We greet one another like old friends and he explains, in sign language as we have no common tongue, that he too will be dining at Trattoria Gigi a little later.

We leave him and enter the restaurant where we are greeted by Francesco (the waiter from the day before) and his Father (the patron of the restaurant) and Fransesco's brother who is head chef - all shake our hands and thank us for giving them a good report on Trip Advisor. We are shown to our table and.....it's a little busier and noisier than the night before. There is a family of Italians on the next table celebrating the Grandad's 76th birthday and the youngsters ranging from aged 3 to 7 are boistrous. But it's ok.

The food is good - I have the grilled chicken with salad and balsamic dressing (with a side of roast potatoes - crisp on the outside and mouth wateringly soft on the inside). Lizzie has the traditional Spag Bol. Both meals cooked just right.

We both have the tiramisu for desert.....no contest!

AND Francisco brings us a complementary glass of sweet desert wine each to finish off. Except it's not quite the finish as Pedro appears and insists on buying us drinks as we try to converse again with the help of Francesco and the friendly Filipino.

So we got home a little later than we intended. All in all a good evening.

It's funny how people come into and out of our lives in fleeting moments. It's all for a purpose though I believe....lessons to be learned every day.

Just a couple of things to note. Firstly there is a strong military presence here in Florence. Armed soldiers outside the Uffizi Gallery.

Second thing is that Italian drivers are crazy and park ...well... anywhere they damn well please. Including on pedestrian crossings and across the corners of intersections.

And so we arrive at Thursday. Our last full day in Florence so we revisit the main part of the old town.

We bike in and park our bikes in the Piazza Santa Croce and thought we'd have a look in the old church there but it's 8 euros each to go in and no photography allowed - so we give it a miss and continue our walk. The squares and streets are buzzing with people....mainly tourists.

Looking at the old buildings it's easy to see why Florence is so popular. Once again we have omitted a number of "must sees" including the Uffizi Gallery - at almost 30 euro each its cost is ridiculous. There was also yet another church which we failed to go into because firstly there was a cost to go in and secondly no photography allowed. My thoughts are.....if you're going to charge tourists to go into a church then at least allow them to take a few photos. Specify "no flash" if you must - but allow them to take a few photos.

These places are very eager to take the tourist dollar but place too many restrictions on the tourists. That's why I prefer the smaller towns or those off the usual tourist path.....such as Bayreuth in Germany. There we could wander into ANY church, take as many photos as we wanted - for free. The best part was that the churches in Bayreuth were absolutely beautiful inside - very ornate and well cared for and in my opinion out did some of these in Florence that ask for payment to enter. Never mind. Rant over!

We end our day with drinks on the balcony of the apartment in the late afternoon - early evening sunshine, nibbling on crackers with cheese, tomatoes and olives. Tomorrow morning we leave for La Spezia and the glorious villages of the Cinque Terre.

Cheers for now....

As usual - more photos will be posted on my facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/malcfrost