Italy day 18 - A farewell to Florence and a better guide to Uffizi tickets

Today's our last full day in Florence. It's a bit of a bittersweet day. While we're determined to make the most of the day, we know our time here is almost up. Today's the day we're visiting the Uffizi and then our last fancy-pants dinner of the trip.

We headed over to Santa Croce to start the day. We took a rather meandering path to see of the neighborhoods we hadn't yet explored. We snuck up on the back of the church and actually headed into the Scuola del Cuoio. This is a leather working school that was started after World War I to help give war orphans a trade and a way to support themselves. The quality and craftsmanship of the goods here is fantastic, especially after days of seeing the knock-off stalls around the central market. Several of the purses actually caught my eye, but I wasn't sure if I was ready to make an investment.

We head to the front of the church and head inside. In addition to the frescos and other artworks, this church is home to both tombs and monuments of many famous people. Michelangelo's tomb is beautiful, but I was surprised to see a monument to Enrico Fermi sitting next to the monument to Marconi. It seemed that all too soon, even though we were only 3/4s way through the church, we needed to go to get to the Uffizi for our time slot.

Like many of the places we visited on this trip, reservations or pre-purchased tickets are a must, unless of course you enjoy standing on-line for hours. Beware, my fellow American travelers, that you use the correct Uffizi Gallery website to buy your tickets! You want to go to www.uffizi.it instead of the .com or .org that Google wants to send you to from the States. The official site will then send you, somewhat confusingly, to b-ticket.com. You can use this same site to purchase tickets to the Boboli Gardens, the Accademia Gallery, and other sites around town. For the Uffizi, you are purchasing tickets for a particular time slot. I found the directions that came with the tickets to be somewhat lacking. So that you may learn from my confusion:

After placing your order for a timeslot on b-ticket.com , you'll receive an email with a confirmation code. Note that much like the pass for the Duomo, you do not need to print out this email. On the day of your reservation, you'll want to get to the Uffizi 15-20 minutes prior to your time slot. Once there, you'll want to look for Door 3 as pictured here. This door will be on the west side of the 'U' formed by the wings of the Gallery.

The sign for the door where you'll pick up your tickets

There will likely be a short line at this door. Once you get in, you'll need to show your confirmation email and potentially a photo ID (I didn't have to show mine, but it does tell you that you'll need it in the confirmation email.) to get your tickets. With tickets firmly in hand, you'll had back, directly across the 'U' to door one. This is where reserved entrants get access.

Try to fend off the tour salespeople trying to convince you to join a guided tour for 'just' another 15 Euro while you wait for your chance to enter. Once they let you through the ropes, you'll have to go through security. You will not be able to take large backpacks or other luggage. You may want to use this time to download Rick Steves' Uffizi Gallery talk if you haven't already.

Rick's tour of the Gallery's was great, even though we had to skip around a little bit because they had rearranged some of the rooms since the tour was recorded. It was really interesting to see the progression of art from the Middle Ages into the Renascence. I particularly liked seeing Davinci's unfinished painting because of the insights it provided to his process. The only negative was that we had 12:45 reservations and the crowds were nearly intolerable. If at all possible, get the earliest reservation you can because it will mean fewer people crowding in to see the painting you're trying to look at.

After spending several hours at the Uffizi, we worked our way back to the leather school. I decided that my souvenir from this trip (in addition to the wine) would be a new purse, suitable for work events. If you happen to be in Florence, I highly recommend this school for your shopping needs.

We worked our way back to the hotel to get cleaned up for dinner. We then walked back toward the Uffizi to La Bottega del Buon Cafe. I won't subject you to a slew of food photography (That was Kris' job on this trip! ;)) but suffice to say that dinner was lovely. All in all an excellent way to end a fabulous trip!

Italy day 17 - Conquering fears at the Duomo

We booked this trip sometime in November or December, I think, and Florence was always on the list.. And on the list of things to do in Florence, climb to the top of the Duomo was, well, at the top of the list. And today is the to we cross that one off of the list.

But this day isn't without some worry and some fear. You see, we were in Paris a couple of years ago for a different anniversary and we decided to do the bell tower at Notre Dame. This was where Kris learned he doesn't really like tight, narrow stairs with people rushing him and I learned I get motion sick or dizzy (I"m really not sure which it is) when I descend spiral stairs too quickly. And while I was excited about the views of the city, I find that I'm more height averse than I used to be. Oh, and it's somewhere between 411 and 463 steps to the top of the Dome, depending on who's counting.

So, with all of this in mind, I did what I could to stack the deck in our favor. I got tickets for the very first time slot in the morning, figuring the crowds would be thinner and it would still be fairly cool, even inside the dome. I made sure we didn't drink too much last night and that we got an early bedtime. Kris left his backpack in the hotel, but I took mine, about half full of water, so we could share. And we worked out a game plan of who would go first, what would happen if one of us wanted to bail, etc. For good measure, Kris played a YouTube video of a fairly young and fit looking couple who made the whole thing sound like torture, although they did exclaim that the view made it totally worth it.

So, we head out the door at around 8:15 for our 8:30 time slot and already there's a fairly good line. Kris joined it while I when to straighten out the tickets (more on that below...) By the time I got back, the line had just started moving. They seemed to be letting people in 4 to 6 at a time. There also seemed to be a LOT of drama surrounding the tickets. Soon enough, we're at the head of the line...And we're off!

The first portion of stairs run in a rectangular fashion like most modern stair cases, but shorter runs. In other words there would be 8 steps, then a landing with a right turn, then 3 steps, landing with a right turn, etc. Soon enough you're at a room at the top of the one drum that houses several of the original statues of popes. This room is a great place to take a quick breather (although the climb thus far hasn't been bad at all) or let faster climbers pass you. From here you enter two long runs of tightly spiraling staircases. The spiral is tight enough that you can't really see anyone in front or behind you, which can make pacing easier. Also, at the top of these stair, you end up on the lower interior ring of the Duomo where you can see the frescos. Here you are walking along a narrow ledge, but there's a high marble rail, so you never feel exposed.

You continue along this catwalk for half of the dome and then head back to the 'behind the scenes area. At this point you start your ascent between the two domes, since the outer skin is curving inward, you may have to lean to your right a bit as you go, especially if you are tall like Kris. This part gets a little tricky because the stairs are quit narrow and for a portion at least, people are headed in both directions; ascending and descending on the same stairs. However, this stretch feels somewhat shorter than the other two and soon enough you are on top of the dome, circling the lantern.

The views up here are stellar! Even though it was very hazy today, it was still fantastic. Much better than the Boboli Garden views from yesterday.You can take as long as you like up here, but I'm guessing as the day wears on it gets more and more crowded. I did okay with the heights, but as more people came up and I started getting jostled, I was kind of done.

Fortunately down is a lot easier than up. However the two tight spiral staircases? Fortunately you're headed down the drum on the other side of the church and there's a mirror image to the pope room except this one contains the tools they used to build the Duomo. I had to hang out there until my urge to hork settled down.

All in all, I thought this was a fairly easy climb. Notra Dame was way worse because a fair amount of what you were climbing on was wood and seemed to sway with footsteps and the breeze. I'm not sure why the YouTubers were saying it was so hard. If Kris and I can manage, so can you!

From there we grabbed a quick breakfast and headed into the Church itself. They definitely shot their was with the dome and the exterior facade here. The interior of the Church is pretty barren, especially in comparison with a number of the other churches we've seen on this trip. We took at like in the Crypt where they showed excavations of the various churches that had been on this site previously. This was a pretty decent exhibit, but it took me awhile to get the 'so what' of the stones in front of us with the line drawings of the site. We then toured the Baptristry (pro tip, if you're pressed for time, skip the church interior and just see the Baptistry.) The mix of styles and materials here is mind blowing. I also highly recommend the Museo that contains the original bronze doors and may of the original statues from the church. All in all, it makes for a pretty full Duomo day.

Now, about those tickets. I did a less than great job of finishing my research for this trip. I knew from being here before that lines are long and reservations are a must. As mentioned yesterday, I didn't figure out the Firena card, so I've been doing one-off reservations or tickets at various sites. The process is a bit unclear and I couldn't find a straightforward answer to many of my questions.

First, make sure you're using the official Duomo museum site (link here). Apparently there are several middleman brokers that look alike, but charge very high reservation fees. Don't be alarmed when the tickets come from different site name. This seems to be normal. Also, make sure to complete the free time slot reservation for the Duomo climb and/or museum entrance. This time slot is the earliest you can arrive, however, we showed up to the museum two hours after our block and had no issues.

Now that you have your vouchers, I found it really unclear what needed to happen next. There was plenty of 'Not valid for entry' or 'Not valid without a ticket' and not much 'How you get your ticket.' Also, there was a ton of 'thall shall print your tickets' but if you're doing this from a hotel at the (relative) last minute, that's not going to work so well. So this morning, while Kris was on line for the climb, I ran to the ticket office to exchange my vouchers for tickets, much to the consternation of the folks in the ticket office.

It turns out that the voucher IS your ticket. If you make reservations for the climb and the museum, you'll get three pdfs. One has your tickets and the other two are 'proof' of your time slot. You just need to download the PDFs to your phone, and then be prepared to do some flipping back and forth at turnstiles. For the areas with reservations like the climb, you generally have to show a guard that you're hear at the right time slot, then flip over to your ticket PDF and scan the bar code to get through the turnstile. The only really tricky thing was that I hadn't sent the file to Kris, so I would scroll to the first bar code and scan myself in, then I'd have to scroll to his and scan again.

Also, this allows you to skip the 'I need ticket lines in places (like the crypt) where you get entry and tickets close together. The process seems to be similar for the Uffizi, so hopefully I worked out at the kinks today and tomorrow will be smooth sailing!

Italy Day 16 - Redo from the past

The object of today's excursions is the Boboli Gardens. When I was last in Florence, a million years ago, this was on my to-do list, but somehow never made it to the to-done list. We stopped by painfully hip coffee bar for breakfast (it was on the way, I swear!) and then headed across the river.

Along the way we encountered runners doing a 10k. The thought of running on these cobblestone streets makes *my* ankles hurt. However, it was a beautiful day for a race and it's not like it made Florence's traffic any worse.

We arrived at the Pitti Palace and had to wait online for tickets for about 30 minutes. I had looked into the Firenze Card, which would have allowed us to skip the line, but with the reservations you need to make for the Uffizi and the Duomo, I couldn't figure out how to make the card pay out. Clearly I missed something in my last minute, scrambled research, however, so don't let that deter you!

It turns out that there are separate tickets for the Pitti Palace and for the Gardens. With the Uffizi coming up in two days, I wasn't sure that I wanted to do museum walking today, so we just did the Gardens ticket. You walk through the Palace courtyard to get the Gardens and Kris tried to walk through the gate without presenting a ticket. Fortunately the gate agent and I were able to get him back on track before the ever-present Army guys intervened.

The entrance to the Gardens is absolutely stunning. It's difficult to keep in mind that these were the private relaxation areas for the Medici family. It is easy to see, however, that this would be a welcome respite from the noise and grime of the city, as it still serves that purpose today. We made out way up the main hill to the most amazing rose and peony garden. The roses here in Italy have been wonderful and almost overwhelmingly rose scented. The rose garden area offers almost panoramic views of the city. Unfortunately it's a bit hazy in Florence right now, so we couldn't see as far as we should be able to, but it's an amazing scene none the less.

From the rose garden and porcelain museum we made our way WSW to the island fountain and the cypress walkway. Along the way, we spotted a flock of parakeets nesting in elm trees. I didn't realize it was warm enough here for this species. Or, I guess that parakeets aren't tropical birds. Anyway, it was totally unexpected and pretty neat to see them flying free.

We worked out way back to the Palace where we realized that we had missed one of the main views, so up the hill we trudged again. Have I mentioned that I love my Camelback? By now the sun was pretty high and it was HOT climbing that hill! We curled our way to the Kaffehouse (alas, no coffee though) and were treated to yet another stunning view of the city. We worked our way down the hill again to the Medici Grotto. It's an amazing piece of sculpture, but it keep inappropriately reminding me of the one Pirates of the Caribbean  movie with Davey Jones where the ship consumes it's mates. All of the people were made out of shell and coral and looked vaguely unsettling to me.

At this point we realized that we had missed another garden that's just outside of the Boboli. However it would have meant yet another trip up the hill, and since we're climbing the Duomo tomorrow, we decided to rest our calves and save it for another trip. It was now well past lunchtime, so rather than head to a restaurant, we decided to go back to the central market to the food stalls. After sandwiches and a couple of adult beverages, we decided to head to the train station and check out the west side of town. The Santa Maria Novella is amazing. Running down the nave of Santa Maria is a sun  dial of sorts that shows you, at a certain time of day (noon, I'm assuming) where you are in the astrological calendar. Additionally, they have frescos over frescos and apparently if you are there on the right days, the open certain 'windows' such that you can see a fresco underneath a newer painting.

One of things I find different about this trip is the amount of Americans we're running into. It seems like the stream of annoying Americans is never ending! I really miss Grosseto where we heard almost no English and when we did hear some, it certainly had an accent. My apologies to Italy that we still seem to be living up to our stereotypes.

Anyway, tomorrow we're getting above it all by climbing to the top of the Duomo first thing in the morning. We're both a little nervous about this one. Kris doesn't love small spaces and lots of steps and I find my fear of heights is getting worse as I get older. But the view is supposed to be amazing from the top and along the way you get up close and personal with the dome frescos. We'll see 463 steps later if it's worth it!

Italy day 15 - Getting our feet under us in Florence

Today was a day to get acquainted with the city. We started with a Rick Steves' audio tour. His tours are a bit quirky, but they're very informational and the Florence Renascence tour was a good intro to why Florence is so important to modern culture.

We basically fell out of our hotel onto the front steps of the Duomo and then worked our way to the Palazzo Vecchio and then onto the Ponte Vecchio. It was good to see that not much has changed since I was here in my 20s. If nothing else because it makes it easier to find my way. ;)

We ducked into a couple of minor churches along the way and ended up at the Central Market for lunch and some sweets. I always recommend visiting markets while travelling because it gives you a good idea of what's locally in season and what you should be eating. The strawberries and artichokes look amazing right now!

Tonight we decided to embrace the Florentine appertivo culture. Somehow I managed to find a hipster coffee bar/bar-bar, Ditta Artigianale, that wouldn't be out of place in Seattle or Oregon. Now, as much as I might poke fun, the drinks were fantastic!

From there we headed to Trattoria Cammillo for bisteak Florentine with white beans and artichokes. All I can say is they know how to do steak in this city! Well, that and we didn't order an antipasti or a primi because we rightly figured that the steak and contorni would be plenty filling. However I think our waiter thought we were going to wither away and starve before our meal arrived. He assured us no fewer than three times that the food was, in deed, on it's way. To be fair though, I'm sure they get a lot of American diners who are less than thrilled with the more laid back approached to dining in Europe.

On the way back from dinner, we stopped by the cinghiale or wild boar statue that, like many fountains, is supposed to bring you good luck if you drop a coin just right. In this case, you slide the coin into the boar's mouth to let it drop. If it falls through a certain slot, you get good luck. If not, I'm assuming you get gored by a boar on your next hike through Tuscany. Kris' coin dropped correctly on the second attempt, so he'll be hiking alone on our next trip!

Tomorrow we hit the Boboli Gardens, a place I'm sorry to report that I missed the first time I was here. Hopefully the weather holds as they are predicting thunderstorms. :/

Italy day 14 - Arrival in Florence

It turns out that the strong suit of the spa's restaurant is actually breakfast, not dinner. I'm not a big breakfast fan, but put a spread of cured meats and some decent bread, and I"m a happy camper. After a snack, Kris and I headed back into the thermals to complete the process of turning ourselves into overcooked pasta. Too soon though it's time for us to take one last view of the amazing countryside and head back to the room to cleanup and head into Florence.

We go to checkout and the porters once again have all of our stuff moved and neatly loaded into the car in an amazing amount of time. We soon piled into the car as well and started for Florence. We picked our way through the countryside for a bit and then got onto the Autostrada A1. All of this was smooth sailing until we got to the exit for the Florence Airport. Here, traffic was just unbelievably awful, but somehow with Kris' excellent last-minute navigation work to correct my error for taking us to the airport instead of the rental car return area, we made it in one piece.

Now the last time I was in Florence, a hundred years ago, I came and left by train. I didn't realize that the Florence airport is basically Dayton, but since Europe is fairly small and they have a handful of flights to other countries, they can call it an 'international airport.' The rental car return area was a dirt lot with tents for the various companies. We unloaded the car (Where are those porters when you need them!) and completed the return process. Aside from a momentary snafu where the agent was trying to figure out how I put 25,000km on a car in a week (she somehow added an extra number to the mileage,) everything went smoothly. We were hoping we could grab a taxi into the city from the rental lot, but after waiting around for 30 minutes, it became apparent that wasn't going to happen.

We hopped on the next shuttle bus headed for the airport along and once there immediately found a cab. Pro tip, the rental car pick-up area is not the same spot as the drop-offs. If you are facing the front of the airport, head to the left and walk around the end of the airport. Once in the cab, we had less than 10km to go from the airport to our hotel in the heart of the city. To give you an idea of what Florence traffic is like, it took us almost 40 minutes to make the trip.

What our hotel lacks in luxury, it certainly makes up for in view. While lying in bed, you can see the dome of the Duomo. Amazingly, it's fairly quiet though, even in this busy area. I'm struck by the fact that window screens in Italy are pretty rare. It's fairly warm in Florence today, so we've opened the windows in the room and already I've got a ton of mosquito bites. :( This is very much like my last trip to Florence. It remains to be seen if I'll have to head to the pharmacia to ask for bug bite cream like I did the last time...