Goodbye Tuscany, HELLO Firenze (Florence)

This morning we rose before the sun and dragged our bags down the stairs to the Ford Focus wagon, our faithful rental car the last 7 days. Sally and Nicole were heading ton the Florence airport :-(  while Tami and I were heading to our last 2 days of vacation in Florence. It was somewhat sad saying goodbye to the beautiful Tuscan countryside, although I'm ready for city life again. I will miss gazing out over the gorgeous countryside, because in addition to its beauty, I really relaxed for the first time in a LONG time. I hope to keep the lessons of Tuscany long after I'm gone...  enjoy the gifts of each day like the sun and the good company of friends, chose fresh foods over processed ones, push it up the steep hills in life so you can enjoy coasting down the hill, say yes to Gelato and good wine, and laugh even though your GPS is "recalculating."

Although we never could have made it without my GPS  Clarisse, we had a few times that she did not get the memo that the road was closed or that it was 1 way in the opposite direction, and this morning was no exception.  In retrospect, it was really quite funny this past week when we kept finding ourselves in the same spot over and over...kind of like European vacation except that it was pitch black and there were huge mountains to traverse. Hats off to Tami and Sally who drove the crazy roads- Nicole and I were navigators who were trying to interpret the GPS and the crazy signage.  A typical intersection (most of them circles or in the shape of the letter S or Y) might have 4-6 signs all  going in different directions. Rarely does one see stop signs or traffic signals, just vague arrows and street names that go something like this: Strada Maria Cavella Santa Callouzia Domingo Principal! Ok I made that one up but with long  names like that the letters are really small! With all the confusion, it always seemed that it would take about 10 minutes to travel a mile...we felt like we were in this time warp in the hills (twilight zone music begins...)

So, Tami and I arrived at our Florence hotel at 6:15am, a few hours (wink) before check in and of course the door to the lobby was closed. Thankfully, the laundry delivery man showed up and we sort of sneaked in, if only to sit rather than stand with our bags. The hotel clerk arrived at 6:30, eyes wide when he saw us sitting there! We explained our situation and he was fabulous. He let us store our bags and use the Internet room to hang out till nearby restaurants opened up! Grazia Hotel Axial! You have renewed my faith in customer service!  In the 2 weeks here, we had more hospitality in this little hotel in our first hour than in all the others combined!

 Still flying somewhat by the seat of our pants, we decided to book a walking tour for Sunday and a "David tour" for today. After a cappuccino and croissant (YUMMY)  we headed out on our own to check out Florence. Our hotel is one block from the Duomo, probably the most beautiful church  I've seen. We took a tour that gave us the rich history of the church and it's famous dome! Michelangelo was involved in some of the artwork and as was almost every famous painter &  sculptor from that period. We found a small cafe for lunch and another for dinner...a big perk because we were able to enjoy people watching.

The DAVID tour was outstanding. Since neither of us know much about art history, we decided to have a tour guide. As we walked to the Acadamia, he gave us the history of Michelangelo and how he became a sculptor. His Dad was a lawyer and would consider artists, especially sculptors, as lowering oneself in society. At 13, he negotiated with a famous artist to pay him to be his apprentice when usually one paid to be an apprentice. His David was sculpted over 3 years with a block of marble that other artists said was too imperfect to use.  And David, it is amazing! Danny, I know why you said you were fascinated by it...hard to describe unless you've seen it! although it was designed to go on top of the church, when he was finished they put it in the piazza. This is why some parts of the sculpture are slightly out of proportion, because he sculpted it with the assumption that it would be viewed from below and only 2 angles. The detail is incredible, ie, the veins in his arms and the anatomical accuracy of the muscles. Anyway, for those of you contemplating a trip to Florence, this is a must see!

I LOVE Florence! The people here are more friendly, helpful, and interactive with tourists than even Sorento ( which was touted by Rick Steves as friendliest city)! When we could not find Artvia, the walking tour company, several people stopped to help us. This was a first for me, because in the many times I asked for directions elsewhere, I usually received the brush off (it's a gesture where people literally look like they are brushing something off, ie, move on or get out of here). Stop laughing Nicole! Also, there is an upbeat spirit here that I didn't find in Rome. As we went to sleep last night, the sounds of people laughing on the street floated up to our room and lingered in the air, as if to say "enjoy life, celebrate!" as we get ready to do the walking tour of the city, I am more eager than ever!