Our stay in Florence
Our stay in Florence was a very nice one. Throughout our stay we did many things.
Halloween
The night after arriving at our house in Florence it was the night of Halloween, October 31st. This is a big deal back home in Yarrow, but not such a big deal here in Italy! So we spent the whole day getting ready first then we went to the Coop and bought all our food supplies. Since one of our Halloween traditions was eating spaghetti every Halloween Fiona was going to make her famous bolognaise. So we bought all the supplies and tons of candy. After we did all that we went to the Ponte Vecchio for a while and then looked around Florence. When we got home it was later in the night so my sister started to make the bolognaise sauce. Since we didn’t have any costumes or anything I had to go through my clothes and I found my costume. I had decided that I was going to be a lumberjack! So Fiona said that she would make me a black eye with her makeup and while she did that she also gave me a hairy chest, a beard, and side burns and some other details.
Once I was in my costume we sat down and ate our delicious dinner. After dinner was done we ate our huge bowl of candies. For the rest of the night we enjoyed our nice living room and the couches.
Ponte Vecchio
My mom thought that today would be a nice day to go to Italy's famous Ponte Vecchio. So we then got in our car and drove down the windy road. When we first got into Florence we decided to get what we needed the most, food! Since it was Sunday all the stores were closed even the grocery stores. Alberto the owner of our house told us that there was one grocery store that might be still open, so when we did get into Florence the first place we went to was The Coop store. I realized why it wasn't one of the stores that closed down on Sunday; it was because it was huge! We parked our car in the underground parking lot and headed up to the main level of the store. We all looked kind of stunned at first because the store was a bit overwhelming, but we all got through the store and got all the food we needed. We had not had lunch yet so we were all really hungry. So we went near the entrance of the grocery store and bought four slices of pizza and something else. When we got back in the car again we quickly opened up the pizza bags and ate like crazy! It was then time to head to the Ponte Vecchio. Once we finally found a parking spot we walked along the river towards the Ponte Vecchio. The Ponte Vecchio is a really old and beautiful bridge that had little stores on it. It is really cool.
It’s been around since the middle ages and used to be used for butcher shops and places like that; now, it is really famous for its gold. Every single shop on that bridge sells jewellery that is mainly gold. We looked at the shops as we crossed the bridge and then once we were across my sister really wanted to go shopping. So we started meandering around and went into a few shops. Then my mom and my sister decided to spend an hour in H+M. That wasn't that fun. After that we entered a beautiful square, Piazza Vecchio, where there were tons of statues including one of the many remakes of the statue of David. We then looked through the main section of the statue museum, but didn't actually go in because we didn't feel like paying at the moment. So we then kept walking around and then headed back to where our car was parked. When we got home we enjoyed a nice meal and then after that we phoned a few people at home. After all that was finished we did the dishes and went to bed. We were all very tired from our day and all fell asleep very quickly.
Visit with Marilyn and Eckhard
Just after we got settled into our place in Florence, our cousins Marilyn and Eckhard came to stay with us for a few days. We had a lot of fun with them and lots of great meals. We explored Florence with them and went down into the Chianti area as well. They were also here for the morning of Fiona’s 18th birthday. It was great because we had cake for breakfast. Then we went off to Cinque Terre by the sea and Fiona got to order wine in a restaurant as the sun was setting over the ocean.
Siena
On Nov. 7 we went to one of Italy’s best persevered medieval cities called Siena. It is so preserved that the old part of the city still has active neighbourhoods. When we got there we parked outside of the stone walls and ate lunch in a park. Once lunch was over we headed into the city. It was a beautiful city, everything looked so ancient, but in such good shape. The first thing we headed to was the Piazza Del Campo.
This piazza was really impressive, it was huge and the whole piazza was circular. Twice a year the piazza is covered with sand and is used for a big horse race while all the people stand in the middle to watch. These horse races have been held since 1310. We sat down there for a while and then got up and continued looking around the spectacular city. We then went to the Duomo just to look at it from the outside, not the inside because it was way too pricey. I got a glimpse of the inside and it looked fantastic; it was all made out of white and dark green and black marble. We then went back to our car and drove home.
The Ufizzi
Today we were going to go to one the most famous museums in Florence. So we got ready and headed out for the day. When we got there we bought our tickets and got in. It wasn’t as busy as it usually was. Even so we were still moving around tons of people. The museum was really impressive. There were so many different statues and paintings. We didn’t really know what any of the paintings meant though or what they were trying to say in the picture. So for the whole time we sneakily followed this guide around getting lots of information. We saw such great paintings. My favourite one we saw was the Birth of Venus by Boccelli. I also really liked his painting of Spring. After we had seen a thousand and one paintings it seemed like we got out of the museum and went back home.
San Gimignano
Today we headed to the medieval gothic city of San Gimignano. When we got there I realized that this city was a lot like Siena in a way, there were stone towers everywhere it was really cool. We wandered around for a little bit then went into one of the churches to see all the frescos in it. They were all really cool. After that we walked down all the backstreets and then stopped into a café to have a hot chocolate and coffee. We then started to head home, and on the way home we stopped at a winery. At the winery the man sat us all down at a table where he served us bread and olive oil which was really good. He then came out with the wine and then left.
I got served as much wine as I wanted, (which wasn’t much…but still awesome!) After we were done drinking we got back in the car and went back home. My mom wants me to say that we didn’t drink THAT much!
Our Journey to Venice
Today we decided that we would go see the beautiful city called Venice. We did not want to drive at all because one, my dad was very tired of driving, and two it is a very long drive from our house in Florence to Venice. So instead we looked into trains a few days earlier and booked our train tickets. So finally today came and we had decided that we would take a bus into Florence and then catch the train there. Since we had to leave on the train to Venice by 10 we had to wake up earlier than usual. When we woke up it was a bit of a groggy start, but we managed. We all ate our breakfasts and headed out the door to the town that was about 5 minutes away from our house. When we got to the town we realized that the bus to Florence was going to leave a 7:30 and we didn't even have the tickets yet. So since it was now 7:25 my dad had to quickly run into one of the grocery stores and by our tickets. When he got back the bus was just arriving, just in time! We hopped on and found our seats. It was obvious that the local students used this bus to get to their school because the bus was full of students. When we arrived we had a little confusion with which trains we were taking and where they were, but we eventually found the right one. We were going to have to take three different trains to get to Venice which was going to take up a good chunk of the day. The first train was only 20 minutes so we just read our books and watched TV shows on my Ipod. We arrived shortly after and had to find our next train. Again having some confusion we got onto our train. This time we had lunch on this one. When we finished our lunch we arrived at our second stop in Bologna. We had to get ready to run for our train and try to find our other one because we only had four minutes until it left. It was on platform 7 but it turns out that it was the wrong one and we had to catch a different one instead which was good because this gave us the time to find the right platform and use the washrooms. Once we were all sorted out we caught our train and sat down in our room. After a short while a nice man came to us and sold us some food.
The views out our compartment window showed mostly a flat countryside. My Mom says that the region around Bologna is known for its food, Parmesan cheese and lasagna!!! We should try to come back this way again for dinner! The train kept on pushing and we were getting closer and closer to Venice. After a while of riding on the train it finally came onto a long stretch of land that led out to Venice. From what I could see in the distance I could tell that Venice was going to be a spectacular city. The train stopped at the station and we all grabbed our bags and jumped off the train into the Venice train station. We walked out and soaked in the city. It was beautiful as we walked out the doors of the train station, all we could see was a huge dome, an old white building, tons of other nice buildings, and canals filled with boats everywhere. The previous night my mom had decided that we would stay at a nice cheap hotel. So she went on the internet and found one that looked pretty cheap. So when we got onto the streets we looked on the map for that hotel. We walked along a street that was full of tourists. After a few minutes we came to our hotel. It was called Hotel Marte. We all walked through the tiny doors and climbed up a lot of stairs. We then entered a small room with an old lady at the desk. We had reserved our room the previous night on the computer so we thought this was going to be easy, but it turns out that it wasn't. The lady didn't really know who we were so she had to get someone who spoke English to come up and help. After some translating the man said he would lead us to our room. So we followed him back down the stairs and onto the streets again. He then led us across a canal and told us that our room was in the second hotel that was across from the first hotel. So we walked with our entire luggage and went into the second hotel and found our room; room number 4. From the outside of our room we could see the number 4 printed onto a piece of paper which was taped to our door. Beneath that was the number 4 scratched in with a knife. We found our key and shuffled inside and the room, (it was cozy).
From what we saw, there was one sink in the corner and 4 beds that took up the whole room, and the bathroom was down the hallway which you shared with everyone else in the hotel. We then put down our bags, used the bathroom down the hallway and went out to explore the amazing city.
My mom really wanted to take a water bus around the canal so we bought a ticket and jumped onto one of the water buses. The water bus ride was really fun and cool. We got to see so much of the city from the canal and we took tons of pictures, the bus then went onto the outskirts of the city in the ocean and looped around to a different area of the city. It was starting to get really cold and we wanted to get off now. So once the bus stopped at its last stop we all got off and realized that we were in the world’s most famous Piazza. It was the Piazza San Marco!
It was so beautiful. When we entered the Piazza it was dark out and all the amazing buildings were all lit up. There were some statues and a big tower with a row of buildings all around it. We looked around all the little glass and jewelry shops and then decided to start looking around the city some more. So we walked for a really long time while looking around. The whole time we were thinking that we were getting so lost but we didn't care, but ironically we ended up at our hotel again. It was cool also because that night was All Saints night and all the children of Venice were going around in groups banging on pots and pans. I guess to scare away the ghosts!
We walked back to our room again and put on another layer of clothes since it was now really cold out. We then wanted supper so we walked up along a street that was beside the Jewish ghetto, then crossed a bridge and ate supper at an awesome seafood place. After our really good dinner we walked for a really long time again and went back to our hotel room calling it a night. Once we got in our room we got ready for bed and fell asleep instantly.
The next morning when we woke up really early, we all got ready and went out to go look for breakfast. Before we were to eat my mom wanted to check out the morning seafood market. Once we got there it was really interesting. There were all these different types of sea creatures everywhere.
Most of them were still alive. Once we were done that we walked around through all the back streets, which was really interesting. Then we finally found a cafe where we had the best hot chocolate ever and some croissants. After that we wandered through one of the sections of Venice called San Pollo. We then went near the train station and while my sister and my mom wandered around looking at shops, my dad and I went to the train station and found out when we were going to catch our trains later that day. We all met at the bridge and decided to clear out of our hotel room. When we got back we put everything back into our bags and checked out of the hotel. We left our bags in the main lobby of the hotel and went out for a while before we had to go back and catch our train. We all wanted to go back to the Piazza San Marco.
When we got there we took a few more pictures and then started to look for a restaurant for lunch. We then found a nice restaurant and sat down to look at the menu. We soon realized that the restaurant was a big rip off. So we kept walking to the street and found a self-service restaurant. We went in there and got our lunchs that were all really good. After that we started to quickly head back to the hotel to get our bags because we needed to catch the train by 3. In the process of walking back to the hotel we got lost and had to rethink our route. Finally after getting back on the right track we got some snacks for the train ride home and went back to get our bags. Once we got our bags we went to the station, and then had more mix ups. After all that we finally found the right train and got on, we found our seats and sat down for the long ride.
Monterosso
On Nov. 15 we decided that we were going to go to Monterosso in Cinque Terre. So we got some train tickets on got on the train (again)! After a long train ride we arrived in Monterosso which was considered the place to go hiking. When we got out of the train station this lady would not leave us alone. She wanted us to stay at her house for the night. Even though we kept saying no she kept on insisting saying that she would drive us there in her tiny car. Finally we just shut her down and kept going. We headed towards the trail we wanted to hike. We (as you know my mom) came here to hike along the coast to the next town over from Monterosso. Then the next hike to the next town over and hike back and catch a train home. Those were our original plans. Turns out that the coastal route was closed so the information tourist place gave us a map on which trail we should take instead. That trail didn’t work out either as we found out later. So anyways we followed the route exactly what the map said and then we were on the trail. We hiked a long ways ups, and it was a really good hike. That was when we got a little lost! There were two turns. One went to an olive tree orchard. The other went somewhere we didn’t know. So we all decided that we would go right to where we didn’t know! That ended up going to some person’s house! So we then backtracked and went through the olive nets crawling pretty much on our knees and hands.
Then we ended up in some guys little shack (I was thinking to myself “who lives up here?”) We asked him where the trail was that led to the next town over. He just shook his head while saying “Mamma Mia” and told us that we were lost. So he told us to go up a trail that would go to the highway, which was on top of the mountain! So we climbed up the trail while stealing some the oranges from his trees and ended up on the highway. By now it was pouring rain. Yet we kept walking and walking. We finally saw a town way down from where we were and we were all so happy. Then we realized that it was the same town we came up from! So we decided that it was getting too dark, and that we would just in a hotel there. So we just kept walking down the highway back to the town. When we were walking back down a few cars passed us. Then this one black car passed us then immediately stopped and honked its horn. We didn’t care though because it was going the opposite way then so we just kept walking. Then the car starting driving backwards towards us, rolling down its window. As it came towards us I realized that it was the same car that the lady was saying that she would drive us in. Sure enough it was her. She asked us if we had found a spot to stay and we said yes, lying, but she didn’t believe us and kept asking where. So we just finally said we didn’t want to stay at her place, and then she left. We walked back down to the town and found a nice hotel and went to eat at a restaurant. Our hotel room had a nice terrace looking out over the ocean and heated tile floors. Cozy and dry!! After the restaurant we went back to the hotel and fell asleep very quickly.
We got on a train the next day so that we could go hiking there, but when we arrived the hiking route there was also closed. So we just ended up wandering around in the pouring rain and ate lunch. After lunch we caught a train and went back home.
Pisa
On November the 18th, we all wanted to go to the leaning tower of Pisa. Since there was only three days from leaving Florence my mom and dad wanted to see as much as we could. So today they planned that we would make a trip to the famous city of Pisa. Since it was a bit of a drive from Florence we all had to start the day with an early start (again)! We all woke up and did the normal breakfast morning routine. After all that was sorted out we got our coats on and went out to our car. When we arrived at the city of Pisa we could see that the reason it was famous was because of the tower. We then decided that this would be a very short visit. We got to the tower and it was amazing.
Seeing it up close was really a whole different perspective. I never really knew it was leaning that much, because in the pictures you can’t really tell. Once we had our fix of seeing the tower we headed over to the city of Lucca. Lucca is a fortified city that is completely circular. By now we were pretty hungry so we ate lunch at a really nice place and then went out to explore the city. We wandered around for a long time and then wanted to go back to our car, but we were completely lost. This town had 99 churches within its circular walls, so you couldn’t use church steeples as your reference! So we kept walking and walking in the pouring rain until we found our car. We were all so happy to be out of the rain. We then drove home and had a good supper and then went to bed.
David
Since it was our last day in Florence we wanted to go see one last cultural thing in Florence. So my mom decided that we would go see the famous statue of David. So we woke up early and headed towards the museum where he was. Once we got there we bought the tickets and we moved around the museum so that he was last. Once again there were lots of paintings and lots of statues. One of the first things we saw was the musical history section. This section was really cool. There were a whole bunch of old instruments. There were also parts where you could listen to some of the old music. We looked at some more paintings and then walked down the main hallway towards David. In the hallway there was a whole bunch of unfinished statues. I found these statues really interesting because they gave you an idea of how much detail and work the artists put into the statues. Then we came to the end of the hallway where the statue of David was standing. Seeing the real statue of him made me realize that this one was so much better than all of the other ones throughout the city. The details in the statue were so incredible. Michelangelo even put the veins popping out on the neck and the arms. It was amazing! After that we looked around the statue room. Then went into one more section of the museum before leaving, and then decided to wander around the streets of Florence for the last time. We then stumbled across a small pizzeria. It didn’t look that great from the outside, but we were hungry so we went in. Once the guy led us into the back we noticed that there were a few people there. I realized that this restaurant was a lot better than it looked. Throughout our meal the place just got more and more crowded. When we were leaving we had to squeeze through the crowds who were lined up at the door. We then got back into our car and went home to sleep for the last time in our hilltop house.
