Siena - and the last days in Italia.

 

I ended up managing to go to Siena, for the last full day in Florence.

It was an hour bus ride - on a comfortable, air conditioned coach.

 

Upon arrival, I had a quick browse of their weekly market. 

It was difficult finding a map. fortunately, some generous tourists donated theirs, as they had more than one.

 

 

 I then walked to the Piazza De Campo - a central point in the town. Its a huge circular section of space, all sloping down towards the big town hall and tower.

Each year, they hold big horse races around the circle. people pile in the middle and on the outskirts. Siena basically prepares for the first 6 months for the two races (july 2 and August 16 I believe), and its a big community event that has been going on for generations.

 

 

 

Lucy, a lovely Canadian woman, was so welcoming and suggested going on a walking tour. We did that, and it was great to see the city and hear about it too.

 

Siena was a beautiful place with rich history. Its crazy imagining people living there in medieval times. I loved it.

 

 

 

 So, a couple decided to fly to Siena and get married. They also had a full camera crew for both stills and filming. (um...wow, that's a lot of money).

 

 

 

 A wonderful lane with a beautiful restaurant!

 

 

We went inside a huge church, (the duomo?), which was amazing to see. So detailed.

 

We had our own lunch, thanks to generous Lucy, of bread, meat, cheese, tomatoes and a dessert of fruit and true Italian patisserie almond cookies. Biting into them was like a biscuit coating and a cake inside. They were delicious.

 

 

 

I have since left Italy.

Dinner was a simple supermarket dinner (too tired to go out anywhere special, plus living on a budget). This consisted of fresh watermelon, yoghurt, and yoghurt with choc wafer things (for dessert).

 

Commuting from Florence to Paris went smoothly.

Train to Rome, Train to the airport, and flight to Paris Orly airport. Then an easy shuttlebus directly to the door of the hotel.

 

The entire group of uni students for the Footsteps of the Impressionist art tour are together now. We had a night of French cheese and wine.

Im not a wine person, but wow the cheese was amazing! (dinner sorted haha).

 

Today will be the first day of the tour! yay.

 

 

Made in Italy 

To update on the last note on the last post,

I did find some Italian leather shoes. 

And they are amazing. 

And I am pleased. 

Today is the third full day in Florence, and for the past 2.5 I've looked about the city, and quite honestly am a little sick of doing that.
The easiest place to get to for a small day trip seemed to be a little place slightly north of Florence on a hill of green, called Fiesole.

It was a short, and cheap, bus ride up there and back again.
The town was cute, and a close hill to the bus stop guided the way to a beautiful view of Florence.

 

 

 Kelvin, as always.

 

 Bit of an awkward smile, just embrace it.

 

 

 Streets and houses of Fiesole

 

 

Guard dogs. There are a lot of massive huge expensive mansions.

Little portraits of the buildings are commonly placed on the fences outside the houses. It was really cute.

 

I also sat and relaxed reading for a bit of time out, under beautiful shaded trees.

Its good to sit back in the shade without the noise of the city or hostel.

 

 

Today it is at least 35degrees C.

This made the trip to Fiesole quick, leaving at around 12.30pm and being home after 1pm.

The heat is exhausting, with little shade and NO cool breeze to help.

Its nice to have warmth, but its also nice to sit back in some air conditioning.

 

I plan on heading out a bit later in order to try and find some beautiful hand made leather sandals from Florence.

Florence - 17th of June

(second full day)

 

 

Today was great - looked over all of Florence. So many exhausting stairs, but well worth it.
Was planning on going to go to this little vintage shop, but it was closed!

I then looked around trying to find presents for people - struggletown!

 

Overall, I'm just always exhausted from the heat and so much walking, and reading maps, and wandering through shops.

The last thing was lunch: fettuccini with home made pesto at a restaurant recommended by my travel agent. I got a dessert too, as she recommended a particular one (a custard thing with caramel, it was delicious!).

 

Photos from the tower:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
And a cool street:

Plus hostel, Florence

The all-girls room I'm staying in gives out cute little bathroom packs! 

Florence (Firenze), Day 2

From about 9.30 this morning, I virtually walked non-stop for 5 hours about the city.

First visit was to the Galleria dell' Accademia. This is full of renaissance art, and features the famous Statue of David - which was huge, and impressive.

I think my favourite of the gallery were Michelangelo's unfinished sculptures - as its not something I've seen before. I've always been fascinated by how artists get a block of marble or stone and just turn it into an unbelievable lifelike sculpture.

These particular statues, there were four, were partially carved - making out features like arms and legs, and faces moulding into half-chiselled marble. extraordinary.

Originally, the dome and chapel were on the agenda, but in the end the day was spent walking and exploring Florence, which is so beautiful (and also somewhat confusing with so many little streets and alleyways). Here are some photos of the chapel from the outside though:

 

 

 

The Ponte Vecchio is a popular bridge, which has a few buildings and stuff on it. Its kinda cute I guess.

 

The Spirito market was also due for a visit.

 

It was a cute little market, although a bit small. It was nice, regardless.

At the time, they had a performance (in Italian of course), on a nearby stage - you don't see anything like that in Aus.

 

Here are some snapshots of general exploration of the streets:

 

Florence street.

 

 

 Huge Cathedral on the left.

 

 

 

I didn't take too many photos today.

I also bought a whole pizza, so I'm doing what I did the other day - lunch and dinner in one payment!

(I should probably try different pizzas... and not just margarita)

 

Florence!

 

I'm in Florence now, and its beautiful. The best way to get to Florence, as recommended by my travel agent, is by train. It was a 300km/h train, that ont took an hour and a half. 

Even after only one half day, Florence has proved itself.

Walking the streets you can see the beautiful architecture and there is a romantic feel about the little city.

 

One of the good things about staying in hostels is meeting new people. Greeted by four lovely girls from Scottland, we went out at dusk through the city and to a large hill: Piazzale Michelangelo.

The hill overlooked the entire city, as well as having the Italian MTV awards on that night (coincidently), creating a beautiful atmosphere.

 Me, walking up the hill.

 MTV awards.

 Girl trying to get a better view.

 me, wearing the clothes I bought in Rome.

The restaurant we had dinner at, overlooking the city.

Today is sightseeing day! :)

Arrived and checked in, in Florence, Italy. 

I already like it a lot more. 

The city is smaller, quieter, more beautiful. 

I am in an all-girls hostel room and have already met some really lovely and welcoming girls from Scottland :)

First Italian pizza. 

Amazing. 

Huge. 

Therefore, I've got the leftovers for dinner tonight. 

Day 3 and Day 4 - Roma, last days.

Rome has beautiful gardens, called the Villa Borghese, which have lots of little galleries inside.
None of them seemed to be open, and all the signage was confusing. So the gardens were more a salvage point from busy Rome, where you could hear the birds, and feel the wind, and listen to people playing music.
It was really nice. I'd say it was my personal favourite place in Rome.
I'm not a huge city-goer. I prefer natural beauty, natural places, and peacefulness.

here are some images from the gardens.

 

 

 

Rome architecture

After the gardens was shopping time. I didn't buy anything on day 3, but returned today (day 4) and bought a few things from Zara (it was amazing).

I bought a skirt, a pretty white top, and a pretty patterned top.
Here's a photo of the skirt, I can't find any of the tops.