Monday, April 11, 2011

Bus To Nowhere!

Yesterday I enjoyed a genuine Tuscan dinner; cheese, meat and bread to start, a vegetable ragou of sorts in a delicious broth, collard greens and fresh sausage, and a small glass of chianti wine. I sat down to this meal with an Italian family because yesterday I got hopelessly lost in Tuscany.

After arriving at the Tavarnelle hostel the other day, looking around, meeting some people... I then decided to stay here. The price is super cheap, and the village is beautiful. My feelings of wanting to leave this place were mostly because I was frustrated with myself for getting partially lost on my initial way up here. Literally, the Gabbiano wine estate is 10 minutes down the road... Cool!

So yesterday I went into Florence to explore the town, the churches, see some art, see a few Davids.


(Donatello's David, after conquering Goliath... Wasn't allowed to take pics so unfortunately part of the statue isn't in the shot!)

I went and visited the Palazzo Vecchio, which was the residence of the Medici family. It was incredible! Every room was dedicated to a Medici family member, and on the upper floor the room were dedicated to corresponding roman gods and heroes who matched the people represented below. Extremely opulent, and completely out of this world. The Palazzo Vecchio also houses the Damian Hirsch 'For The Love Of God' diamond encrusted skull... I didn't pay the extra euros to see it... Bah! Whatever!


(Outside at the entrance)



(inside one of the gathering rooms...)



(moi, outside the Palazzo... My aunt requested more pictures with me in them... Will do my best!)

Just around the corner and down the street from the Palazzo is the Ponte Vecchio! This is a landmark that I have been looking forward to since my grandmaman showed me her Florence pictures... She was right, it is so overwhelming to walk along the jewelry stores on the bridge. They all had beautiful names, with displays filled with so much gold, red coral (never buy this! This kind of coral is disappearing fast in the wild because of jewelry demands), sapphires, pearls, diamonds... And so many people! My mistake walking the bridge on a Saturday! Truly, the crowd just added to my excitement.


(looking out at the Ponte Vecchio from a parallel bridge)

After leaving the Ponte, I had pretty much had enough of walking around. My next mission was to locate a cost effective gellateria on the way back to the SITA bus station. I also made a point to walk back along the most scenic route possible. Passing through plazas, small historic buildings...


(horse rest area, near the Palazzo Vecchio, and immediately in front of the Florence Chanel location!)


(smaller church I passed on the way back to the bus station. The square in front was packed with sun bathers)

Got back to the bus station, bought my ticket to Tavarnelle, asked the ticket guy what bus to get on... And off I went to Tavarnelle... Or so I thought! The bus I took brought me to a small place called Greve, which is 23km by car from my intended destination. By the time I realized I was lost, it was too late. The woman at the tobacco shop in Greve informed me of my options: head back to Florence (over an hour away), and either stay overnight there, or pay for a taxi to Tavarnelle. This is when the tears started... As I moped to the bus stop to wait for a ride to Florence. *sigh*

Shortly after I began my woe-is-me moment, an Italian woman approached me and invited me to her home to wait for her husband; when he came home from work, he would drive me back to my hostel! Sweet salvation!!!! She brought me to her house, yogurt snack, introduced me to her mother, her daughters, and her cute black lab Pegghy. They speak no english by the way, we mostly communicated with charades... I stayed at their home until 9:30p.m. And was driven to the hostel after dinner. Such amazing people in this world :-) Grazi!

when I got back to the hostel, I had ten minutes to change my shoes, brush my teeth... And then off to a battle of the bands in Barberino. Thank the higher powers for beer...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod

Location:Via Benedetto Naldini,Tavarnelle Val di Pesa,Italy

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