| Glenn's Florence Journals #2 4-12-02 Friday we had planned a day trip with Andres and Sylvia, in which we were scheduled to meet at 10:00 a.m. at a pre-determined location. We also expected to catch back up with Shayne who was due in to Florence today, but we were unaware of when or where. First things first though; we had to check on the possibility of new accomodations. I awoke at 7:00 a.m. realizing the hostel Archi Rossi, just next door, opened their doors at 6:30 a.m.. The desk clerk said to show up around 8:30 or 9:00 but I took no chances and arrived around 7:15 a.m.. Yes, rooms were available but only in the "family" rooms which were 3 to 5 person rooms with a bathroom attached. (This was instead of the "dorm" rooms with 6 or 9 beds.) I accepted the room, ran around the corner to the cash machine (they only accepted cash), and returned to pay for our first night. I then returned to the hotel to shower, pack, pay our bill, and relocate next door. We made it next door around 9:15 a.m., signed in, and placed our bags in the storage room the hostel offered. We could return after 2:30 p.m. to check in and receive our room and locker key for the night. We also noticed on the counter that the hostel offered breakfast for a reduced price. Two eggs, bacon, toast, orange juice, and a drink all for only 2 Euro and 10 cents. I was in heaven!!! I have not had eggs and toast, much less "real" orange juice since the beginning of the trip. Erin had the french toast as well. We paid for breakfast and took our receipt to the kitchen to receive our meal. By this time it was 9:30 and we had to meet Andres and Sylvia at 10:00. No worries!!! Wrong. It took 20 minutes to receive our breakfast which left us with little time to eat and run. To say the least we were 20 minutes late catching up with Sylvia and Andres. We apologized for our tardiness. While we were waiting for breakfast Shayne walked in. She had gotten up around 5:45 a.m. to catch the train from Cinque Terre to Florence. She had tried next door at the Albergo Mia Cara and when the nice lady mentioned that we had left she immediately came next door in hopes to find us. Sure enough here we were. She was too late for breakfast but we offered for her to join us for the day on our day trip to Vinci. She accepted. We were running late to catch up with Sylvia and Andres but managed to find them in the train station just about to purchase tickets to Empoli. (We bought train tickets to Empoli and then bus tickets to Vinci.) Our primary destination was Vinci, which, as it sounds, is where Leonardo da Vinci was born. Vinci is a quaint little town with very few tourists (at least compared to Florence) and a country town feel. The bus dropped us off at the Piazza della Liberta with instructions to head up the hill to find the museums and information office. The first thing that caught our eyes was the beautiful park (Piazza della Liberta) with the equestrian statue in the center. We took a few pictures and then proceeded on up the hill. Once up the hill we found views of the beautiful countryside. We enjoyed the rolling hills and the fresh air that the countryside provides. We stopped in to the Museo Leonardiano, which holds one of the largest and most original collections of machines and models of Leonardo da Vinci. Air, water, and land are all covered by Leonardo's many sketches and annotations presented, while many reproductions are on display. We then stopped for some lunch and decided to go back into Empoli to see the sights there. Once in Empoli we headed to the information booth to gather a map of the city and the list of things to do. In the center of town is the Piazza Farinata degli Uberti or Piazza dei Leoni. In the center of the square is a large fountain representing three water nymphs and four squatting lions. The square includes the Collegiate Church of St. Andrew, the Museum of t he Collegiate Church, the Ghibelline Palace, and the Magisterial Palace. The museum of the Collegiate Church of St. Andrew housed authentic masterpieces of Tuscan art dating from the 14th to the 16th centuries. Our next stop was back to the train station and off to Montelupo for our last stop of the day before heading back into Florence. Montelupo is considered the town of ceramics, and I sensed that Sylvia was very interested. We bought tickets at the train station back to Florence and found a train that stopped in Montelupo. We would catch a later train the rest of the way into Florence. Only one problem!!! The train going directly into Florence left at 5:50 and the train stopping in Montelupo was departing at 5:59 p.m.. A train entered the station at 5:55 and in our haste (mine mostly), not verifying which train this was (a late 5:50 or an early 5:59) we jumped on as it was ready to depart. Well, you guessed it, it was the direct route into Florence. At that point we agreed that it was not worth turning around and going back so we stayed in Florence. Tonight the five of us went out to dinner at a nice little trattoria just down the road that offered a first course, second course, vegetable, bread, wine, and water for only 11 Euro per person. Sounded great as all of us on are on "traveler's" budgets. The dinner was enjoyable and the company even more so. We sat and chatted for approximately 2 hours, which we are finding is what most meals take to enjoy "Italian" style. After dinner Andres and Sylvia had to head home to pack as they were taking off in the morning to their next destination. Shayne, on the other hand, was headed to a club in town to check out the night life. She asked if we were interested in joining her and we accepted her offer. Off we went to the XO club in town for a drink and some dancing. It had free cover charge and provided you with a "drink card" upon entering. The drink card was used to mark how many drinks you had during the night so you could pay all at once at the end of the night. (Novel idea!!!) Of course, if you lose the card then you automatically pay a 25 Euro fee. We went in, grabbed a couple of drinks and headed to the back of the establishment where the dancing was taking place. We took off our jackets, enjoyed our drinks, and proceeded to dance to music that sounded all so familiar to when I used to frequent bars (back a few years). We stayed for about an hour or so and headed home. After all this was after midnight, the place was very smokey, and we had curfew at 1:00 a.m.. It was an experience that I am sure Erin will tell you more about. |
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| The view from Vinci's Museo dell' Leonardino |
| Leonardo invented many things, among them the bicycle, as this model shows |