We went to Firenze (Florence) in Italy, for 10 days. The links are to pictures we took.
En Route: passing through Monaco (5 pix). We drove from Seignosse to Toulouse Sunday night (about three hours) in order to be rested for the ten hour drive from Toulouse to Florence. Monday, we started off at about 10 a.m. and drove all day to our campground in the hills outside of Florence.
The pictures here are from a rest area above Monaco. It was pretty spectacular!
Day 1: Our first day in Florence (34 pix) The first day, we were exhausted and we just walked around Florence. To tell the truth, we weren't very impressed. In spite of the massive cathedrals and architecture, it was hot, dirty, and populated exclusively by English and French tourists.
Admittedly, it was August when Italians are on holiday, but it felt like Florence has no identity of its own, outside of its museums and architecture. Drinks are almost twice as expensive in the piazzas, so there's no place to just hang out and people watch.
Day 2:The nearby town of Lucca (42 pix) So, we decided to investigate the smaller towns outside of Florence. Lucca was great, with a 6-meter high wall (as wide as a highway) surrounding the city. We walked around the wall for a ways, then set off to explore the interior.
It was totally charming, and this time we encountered mostly Italians. Everyone was friendly, and we began to notice a trend that was consistent throughout our voyage: the less touristy the place, the more friendly the people.
Day 3: the Villa di Medici and the town of Pistoia (8 pix) The third day was a bit of a waste. It was extremely hot, and we went first to a Villa belonging to the Medici family. It was beautiful from the outside, but we misunderstood a message at the gate and didn't realize that we could have gone inside (instead waiting for an hour for a nonexistant guide to show up).
After, we went to the town of Pistoia. Still very hot, and not much to do. You can see from the picture of the empty town square that there was nobody there.
Day 4, we went to the Palatino Gallery and the Uffizi Gallery. The Uffizi is simply amazing and was the cultural highlight of our trip. No pictures allowed.
Day 5: the town of Volterra and nearby (21 pix) This was one of our best days. Volterra was really cool -- a little medieval town perched on a mountain, with Roman ruins just on the side. Despite the beauty, there was no good place from which to take pictures. Definitely worth a visit.
Day 5: the town of San Giminiano and nearby (51 pix) The coolest place we visited was San Giminiano. Again, it's a small medieval/renaissance town perched on top of a hill, but in this case the architecture is simply stunning.
Apparently the various nobles had a sort of arms race to see who could build the highest tower, and the result is about eight tall square towers reminiscent of the World Trade Center.
There was no place to get a good shot of all of the towers at once, but the result was an ancient city with a modern skyline, skyscrapers and all.
In addition to the towers, the rest of the architecture was quite interesting, with lots of hills, stairs, tunnels, chapels, etc. etc. There was a lively international atmosphere, and we especially appreciated an (American, I think) artist who had constructed rube-goldberg machines that walked, blew up balloons and more.
Note about landscapes: the landscapes southwest of Florence are stunning, amazing, no words will do, etc. The pictures don't begin to capture the effect of the rolling hills, the far-off towns, the rows of olive trees, etc. These hills were the background of many paintings we saw, and I realized in driving through that they weren't just invented. Really breathtaking.
Day 6: the Bargello museum (8 pix) The Bargello Museum was the only one where we could take pictures, and only from the courtyard. It was a nice collection, worth a trip.
We repeatedly found that the museums had rather diluted collections with relatively few masterworks on display. We were unable to see more than a few Michelangelos or Leonardos, for example.
This is not to say that the museums weren't worth visiting -- just that out of an enormous quantity of pieces, most museums had a relatively small percentage of really worthwhile art.
Day 6: walking around Florence (16 pix) After visiting the Bargello, and before our reservations at the Accademia, we walked around Florence for a while. We had a great lunch in the street, at a small restaurant (it is just outside of the left border of the fourth photo).
Day 7: the island of Elba (41 pix) At first, we weren't sure if we should go to Elba. It meant a two-hour drive from the campground, then an hour-long boat ride. We looked online for prices and were happily surprised that it was 8 € per person.
On arriving at the reservation desk, after the two-hour drive, we discovered that it was 8 € per person EACH WAY, and that there was a 12 € per person carburant tax, making the total 28 € per person. Chalk it up to inexperience.
The first picture is of the port on the mainland from which we departed.
The island was spectacular, and there was no way to do it justice in an afternoon.
Day 8: driving through the Chianti region (22 pix) The last day, we decided to drive through the Chianti region and visit Sienna, about 120km south of Florence. We had lunch at an amazing restaurant, found totally by luck, with a view of the entire region.
Day 8: visiting Sienna, south of Florence (41 pix) After being a little disappointed by Florence, we had decided not to bother going to Sienna. However, a converstation with a fellow camper convinced us to drive down.
We took the windy (rhymes with eye) route 222 down from Florence, through the Chianti. Sienne is, like San Giminiano, packed with interesting architecture. At every corner you see a bigger piazza, a more complicated cathedral, or something rather mundane but very creative -- a little arch or a slanted alleyway.
Couple of last notes... drivers in Italy are quite calm and courteous, compared to every other place I've been (France, England, Spain and the US).
There are no pictures of naked people in public spaces (in France it is quite common in perfume, lingerie and pharmaceutical advertising, not to mention sex shops).
It was quiet in Italy. They obviously regulate the noise of scooters and motorcycles, and it makes a huge difference. If anyone in the French government is reading this, please please follow their example.
The city of Florence, and other cities, prohibits out-of-town vehicles during the day. The result was that it was quiet and easy to walk around -- there were no traffic problems at all, and no congestion. What a good idea.
Enough for now...