Medieval Orvieto wasn't lacking for knowing what time it was. The main bell tower tolls on the hour and every half hour; one tone counts the hours and the another counts 15 minute intervals. This happened, I believe, all night.
We got up and had breakfast (such as it was) and were out of Orvieto by 9am; right on schedule. This was after we discovered that Maria's credit card machine didn't work. We're burning through cash like it's water on this trip. I guess Italy hasn't hopped on the credit card bandwagon.
Today, I wanted to take the scenic route to Florence since we were only 180km away, and since some of the most scenic countryside was between us and our destination. I intended to go through the Val d'Orcia and up the Chianti Road (SS222) into Florence so that we could take some of our own versions of the classic Tuscan landscape pictures, with the rows of cypress trees, flowing wheat fields, old stone houses, etc. What we were treated to instead was grey overcast and rain that didn't clear out until we were almost in Florence. I did manage to get what I think will be some nice shots, ominous clouds notwithstanding.
We flew up the Chianti Road, through Greve, and into Florence since we had to get to our B&B before 2:30. After some nerve wracking twists and turns through the "Centro Storico" of Florence, we made it. Our place is perfectly located; it's a shame that we're not spending more time here since it's literally a stone's throw from the Baptistry and not more than a 5-iron to the Duomo. Our room has a small "Pope's Balcony" overlooking Via Roma, and I can listen to the late-night hustle and bustle as I write this. Hopefully our closed doors will shut out the street noise so we can get some sleep.
Alessandro was so nice and friendly when we checked in. At first, it was a little confusing where in this building he actually is, but once past all that, we got checked in just fine. We had 4:45 appointments to the Accademia to see Michelangelo's David, so we spent some time browsing through the San Lorenzo market, which is a huge clearing house of leather and silk. I got 2 new "jeans" belts, one brown and the other black, and a euro-style change purse, which I have been looking for forever. Not wanting to be left out, Angela picked up a little red purse.
We walked up to the Accademia and said "sucker" to all of the schmoes standing in line to get in without a reservation. We basically walked right in, got our tickets, and went about our business. The David is something to behold, but I was also really looking forward to seeing the 4 "Slaves," unfinished works that look like the characters are crawling out of the marble. Besides "David," there's not too much else to see. Some byzantine-era wood panels and some other larger paintings, but "David" is the main attraction.
We spent the rest of the afternoon just wandering around the old town; the Ponte Vecchio; Palazzo Vecchio and the loggia outside the Uffitzi (in which there is an amazing sculpture collection), and finally over to Piazza Santa Croce where we had dinner at a place called Boccadama. We enjoyed bruschetta, Spaghetti Carbonara, and "Bistecca alla Fiorentina."
With no joy at the Furla store ("Whew!" I said to myself), Angela wound up finding a very nice caramel colored one at one of the small leather stores on Via dei Calzaiuoli.
A word about the gelato here in Florence: there are so many gelaterias here it's almost comical. The quality, however, blows away anything we've had to date. I had the most amazing combination of pineapple and coconut ever. Little chunks of pineapple and toasted coconut in every bite.
Tomorrow, we're planning on a quick walk over to Santa Croce so I can see Galileo's tomb and a walk through the main Cathedral before getting out of town by noon. We have to be in Manarola before 4 so that we can get into the city center to drop off our luggage.
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