Honeymoon Update by Steven Fowler
Wednesday, August 22nd, 2012
After a reasonable few hour train ride, Florence Centrale was our last stop. A quick taxi ride through throngs of tourists with sweaty backs and blushed faces, put us at Hotel Bernini. Checking in required three adults rummaging through stacks of unknown papers.
A final “allore’” and “essspecial upgrade” brought us to a Tuscan styled room. Think dark cave covered in purple velvet with ornate gold grommets. I gotta say, hesitancy quickly turned to appreciation as the grotto turned into a perfect base to battle the city’s heat.
Dinner was pure luck. After strolling around the streets west of the Palazzo Vecchio, we came up on Il Latini. Close to a hundred people gathered outside waiting for the doors to open. With amusement, we witnessed the rush of the opening and decided to throw ourselves into the mix. A hundred people gathered in a little back alley has to something good, right? Not sure if I had to pay the doordman, matre’d, to enter, but before we knew it, we were seated and gastronomically assaulted.
Food decisions were left up to the restaurant. Our only input was what shape pasta and what type of meat. Imagine decadent amounts of proschutto and cantelope, faro, three different pastas for the two of us because I have no idea why, and half a rabbit and a pound of steak. Add some strawberries and panacotta and an almond tart with fortified wine, and you have a slight brow sweat with short rapid breathing.
Thursday, 23rd
We attacked the Uffizi. Aprreciated the transition from Gotihic to Rennaisance. Felt like cattle getting cultured.
After a cool down break, convinced Taryn to go to the Galileo Science Museum. Hands down coolest museum I’ve seen in a long time. Physics 101 displayed as it was discovered, astronomy tackled with original instuments looking like some Lara Croft movie prop, and AC(air conditioning). Why does Italy skip on the AC for all the museums?
Friday, 24th
Climbed the Duomo in the morning. We originally thought the 8 Euro was a steep price, but the experience was well worth it. It had all the usual claustrophobic tower climb moments, but a standout was the walk around the inside of the dome. Hell, with devils and monsters attacking innocent peasants was displayed across the lower part. The detail was creepy, and I doubt any person a few hundred feet below walking the inside, could see as much.
Enjoyed an overpriced glass of wine on the Hotel Continental terrace bar right above the Ponte Vecchio. I gotta say, the low-set cream colored canvas couches, teak table and floors, mystery lounge music, and smartly dressed weirdos staring at other smartly dressed weirdos is getting a little old. But hey, it was fun.
Our last dinner in Florence was the hottest dinner we have ever had. Thought it would be cooler down in the wine cellar, but this is just where they put their customers to die. Can’t knock the reasonably priced Tuscan country fare, but give me a break! Had to move and breathe slowly to prevent breaking a sweat. We appreciate life so much more now since our near death experience.
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