Italy 1 / Italy 2
Trip notes from my phone:
Saturday: worked out with Courtney , fender bender on 70, delayed out of STL, had to sprint across Chicago O'Hare after receiving text that the plane had left. Luke, cool and collected the entire time, I was frantic
4/30 Landed, harrowing taxi to hotel, dinner at T'amero, walked around Oltrarno
5/1 woke up at 1030, paninis at corner store, crossed river, found bus station, took bus to pizzale michelangelo, back to our neighborhood, needed coats and bought glasses for luke on way to hotel. With coats, ventured back out, had pizza. Walked around, had dinner at Gusta (gorgonzola gnocchi and wild boar tagliatelle) , more walking, dessert at Il Santa Benivore (Banana cake with coffee pudding drops. Luke had chocolate cake with apples)
5/2 add hotel breakfast, walked to David museum, figured out the line situation, saw the David and musical instruments, resumed bus tour, went home for ibuprofen, went to uffuzi gallery. After gallery, walked home and rested for a bit, then went to pick up glasses. Had drinks including first gin fizz at a restaurant in the Square and tried to get pizza but it was full. Walked to il santi benivore and sat outside. Met couple from Arizona. Had charcuterie with fig mostarda, fillet with bone marrow, pasta with spicy sausage (nduja)
5/3 breakfast, boboli gardens, la Specola, gusta pizza, Susanne arrives!, dinner in santo spirito
5/4 Santa Croce, coffee and prosciutto / mozz in square. Luke bought leather coat. Tried to see costume exhibit at palazzo putti; closed. Palazzo jams. Walked to piazza Cesare beccharia. Food tour with Omar. Walked home to SS in rain. Drinks and dinner in SS at gusta - steak with cheese and arugula.
5/5 bike tour! Breakfast at hotel, walked 4 min to we like tuscany. Guide: Freddy Doorley, prince of Tuscany. Russian Kristina and colorado couple Joe and Casey. Luke almost puked after first hill. Wine and bruschetta at villa. Home via ponte vecchio - terrifying. Took long way home, bought liquor and flatbread from nearby shops. Crossed bridge for Perseo, saw Kristina. Walked home, getting chocolate and home fragrance. Downtime in room. Found little osteria again, l'arrosticini, had spaghetti with tomato and creamy pesto sauce. Back for terrace drinks then second dinner at Tamero (plus margarita for cinco de mayo) and luke played the piano there. Old bose speaker. Improvised mic stand with music stand. Said aufweiderzhen to Susanne. We shared melted Brie with roasted vegetables and Susanne had pico cacio e Pepe, so good we went back for it on Sunday.
5/6 Bologna food tour. Took high-speed train. Giacomo lead the tour. Also showed us the original university of Bologna. Took train home. Took a nap at the hotel. Got a flatbread. Raining so we picked up umbrellas at the hotel and walked around downtown until dinner time at club culinaria. Purchased snow globes for the girls and a leather make up bag. Met a salesperson named Melissa from California who told us how cheap it is to live in Florence. Had a hard time finding the restaurant. Had smoked buffalo mozzarella with eggplant, rye tagliatelle with mushrooms, beef carpaccio, rabbit casserole, and potato ravioli with wild boar sauce. Pumpkin cake (without pumpkin pie spice) and cannoli with candied orange. Walked home and fell asleep. Did deep dive into etymology of barbecue. It's not what Luke thought.
5/7 took bus to Siena. Walked around siena had lunch at a traditional Tuscan place. Ordered special without being sure what it was. On the bus met Sandy and Lin, from Phoenix. Newlyweds at age 76 and 71. Lynn is very into mathematics and atheism and Sandy sells antique jewelry. They met at the senior center playing pool, and this is Lin's first marriage. She made him wait for months before they held hands but they were married. Walked around siena including a long walk to train station. Walked home from train station and had first to dinner at tamero - because we were repeat customers and Luke had played there, they gave us glasses of Prosecco and a surprise slice of cheesecake with mixed berries. For dinner we had pici cacio e pepe and sauceless pizza topped with mozzarella, mushrooms, and ham. Had second dinner at osteria santo Spirito with a small scoop of semi Fredo alla fragola in between. Second dinner: risotto with zucchini and heart of Parmesan / spicy spaghetti that wasn't spicy at all. Not in the mood to walk, eat, or drink anymore. Went back to our hotel room and watched Maria Bamford special Old Baby. Luke started watching ascension. Made plans to watch Medici* when back to US Netflix.
*The Medici show is terrible.
The fender bender on the highway on the way to the airport. Traffic was moving slowly because of rain. All of a sudden Luke said
I think he's going to hit us! and indeed, this elderly man clipped our bumper at less than 20 mph. No one was hurt. His car was untouched and our bumper was crushed but the car was drivable. All was well (of course the car didn't start after a week in the garage but that's for later...)
First meal.
Dark chocolate and black sesame gelato. Delicious! But the best gelato by far was on our food tour in Bologna.
Record store by the Duomo.
Luke brought a tiny keyboard.
Hotel breakfast: scrambled eggs, cheese, meat, filled croissant, and coffee that somehow tasted better than any other coffee ever.
Boboli Gardens.
Strawberry semifreddo was maybe my favorite dessert of the trip.
At the zoological-anatomical museum La Specola
This is a wax model
from the 18th century!!!!
Terrace jams.
Bike ride around the Tuscan countryside, stopping for wine and snacks at a vineyard. The last 10 minutes were through the throng of traffic and crowds in downtown Florence and it was the most terrifying 10 minutes of my life.
Luke noticed this piano at a restaurant next to our hotel - improvised a mike stand out of a music stand - played for the crowd. Fact: all humans love
Don't Stop Believin'.
Train to Bologna.
Food and history tour with Giacomo, erudite, jocund, and utterly charming. He wrote his master's thesis on
Porgy & Bess.
Happened upon this exhibition in Bologna. Wish some pieces had been for sale!
Seriously.
