Hello lovelies,
it's tradition that my partner and I take vacation and go to another place/country for our birthdays. And November is Hias birthday. And for this half-round birthday he really wanted to be in the Uffizi gallery and stand in front of his favourite paintings. And how can I say no to such a request? Last time we visited the gallery was in February of 2020, a lifetime ago especially with the pandemic.
Day 1
On Saturday we flew to Rome around midday (first we missed the train to the airport in Vienna by a second, that was not a great start but the rest worked out better) and then took the Leonardo train to Rome. I did not remember the Leonardo being this expensive the last time I was in Rome in 2022 or 2020.
As we landed in Rome we were both famished as both of us forgot to eat breakfast or grab a snack at the airport. Of course, airlines stopped handing out snacks and drinks. Air travel has really gone down the hill fast.
We checked into our hotel which was located near the train station and then went to hunt for dinner.
There were so many shops of the "Gelaterist" on the street that we were definitely not interested in going there as it screamed chain gelateria and tourist trap. We randomly chose a restaurant which turned out to be expensive and not that great, the food and service were lacking but at least it was a hot meal.
This plate of calamari cost me more than I care to admit and it had no side-dish, the potatoes were extra. Ouch.
After the food we grabbed an ice-cream even though it was already a very chilly night. We roamed around the dark but bustling city for a while and tried to avoid tourists but there were so many. To our surprise we also still saw a crowd at Trevi fountain around 9pm on a random November weekday.
And then back to the hotel: A nice comfortable hotel bed awaited our tired feet.
Day 2
After a hotel's breakfast we headed to the train station because we hadn't reached our goal yet, which was Florence. I also remembered paying far less for the fare to Florence in 2020. Everything is so expensive nowadays.
We set off to tour the city and wait for our timeslot at the duomo at the Don Nino cafe where I ate a delicious strawberry tiramisu.
But...I made it. It almost sunset and the whole city looked terrific. We took a few pictures and then climbed down, which was much faster but also more dangerous. I gripped the railing hard and try to remind myself to just take one step after the other.
When we had finally made it downstairs it was already getting dark and we noticed that Florence had started to add their Christmas decoration which was blinking merrily in the dark.
Florence by night is different than during the day. It was merrier? The shops are open longer and the restaurants and bars were filled to the brim with locals and tourists.
We had a late dinner with delicious pizza.
I found a tea shop which smelled divine and I just had to pop in. Of course it was expensive but I didn't care, the tea smelled good and I had money to burn, it was my holiday after all. So I bought the firenze collection and the christmas edition tea. Guess what this box with 6 assorted tea cost me? If you said 66,50€, then you were correct.
Day 3
My outfit of the day:
We had an appointment at Fondazione Arte Della Seta Lisio at 10pm. As it was on the outskirts of Florence we had to take two buses to reach it. But we couldn't fit a ticket booth so we had to download an app to buy tickets for the bus there.
It was raining and cold as we waited for the first bus which was delayed and then wait for the second bus which also didn't come and was delayed by about 15mins which made us 10mins late. Uff. I sent an email to the company and they were very polite and empathetic. They wrote that it is understandable as they know Florence buses and it was no problem. Phew, at this point I missed the Viennese buses and the public transportation.
We trodded through the rain and came to the gates of Fondazione. It was not missable as they gates had some wonderful iron work of a woman and a man working..
Inside we almost got lost as the place was huge and there were also different houses or companies? Not sure about the latter.
The tour was rather expensive for 100€ per Person and an hour but for us it was totally worth it seeing all the heavy looms and the people working. Our tour guide gave us great insight into the history, working with the loom and modern designers they worked with.
These are all the threads that go into the loom. That was so fascinating. I never thought about were all the threads are coming from. Now I know.
Mini Loom! It was a bit smaller than I am.
I was tempted to buy something but didn't as they said that they supply a shop in Rome and it would be easier for us to buy it there.
After the tour we took the bus to Florence again and ate something as we were both famished. Hias food mainly consisted of Pizza Marinara because he couldn't eat anything else as a vegan.
I had cabonara and the meat was the best from all cabonara I ate in Italy.
Satiated and full with carbs we once again strolled through Florence and as we had bought a 72h Florence card, we decided to finally start using it for the Sagrestia Nuova (Medici Chapel).
This Donatello statue from Mary-Magdalene was so fascinating. She looks haggard, old, and malnourished, not like the typical depictions of her.
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Thank you so much!
All the best,
Auris Lothol