Oak Street Ranch

Day Five – On Holiday – Italy:

Lots to do today – We’re leaving Rome, and heading to Florence.

After breakfast and a last minute walk to the Spanish Steps, our driver picks us up to take us to Florence, with a few stops in-between.

The drive takes us out of the central corridor of Rome – “old Rome” and we see the rest. Pretty much what you’d expect in any older, heavily developed city – Auto repair, hotels, gas stations, restaurants, etc. Not the romance of ancient Rome, but definitely the part of the city we didn’t see, and a grounding influence on our perspective.

Normally, I might say – hey, just take the train to Florence – Faster, cheaper, etc. But, in this case, we have two stops:

Stop One – Orviette – A small, medieval town about 1.5 hrs north of Rome. Exactly what you’d imagine – small streets, high stone walls, little shops and places to eat. Spectacular views. Had lunch in a small place on the plaza. Jen had some tagleatella with a bolognese sauce. I had a pasta with pesto. The lunch was good, but the dessert was astounding. A panne cotta with sauce, and profiteroles with chocolate. Really good.

Stop Two – A medieval castle that is now a winery, for a personalized wine tasting. A 500 yr old castle, at the top of a hill. Original wine cellars for aging, original water cisterns capturing rain water, etc. Exceptional wine. Served by the winery staff, with accompanying cheese, bread and honey. Shipping some home!

The drive to Florence (Firenze) was marked by a traffic accident ahead of us. Nothing like some bumper to bumper traffic to make us feel like we’re home!

Florence is stunning. A real, medieval city. Living in Los Angeles, one gets used to things that are made to look like they’re something else. Its really strange to be in a place that really IS. When you walk down the street and see medieval stonework, you can’t really believe that its medieval stonework.
Oh – and the area we’re in – the central part (just past the Ponte Vecchio, etc), is also a really nice area. As Jen says – “There’s so much shopping, I don’t know what to do. There’s too much.”

So – the hotel – JK Place. Wow. This place is good. We got the room that’s featured on the website (four-poster bed, bathroom in marble, up some stairs, etc). Really friendly staff. Beautiful surroundings. Outstanding location.

Dinner was at a small trattoria recommended by the hotel. Jen started with a feta and melon salad, and then off to some gnocchi. I had a salad, and had the chicken with crispy artichokes. No dessert tonight. Off for a little walk.

We did a little exploring – Ponte Vecchia – really nice. Should be really busy during the day when everything is open. On our walk back, we stumbled upon where the Uffizi Gallery is. Looks AMAZING. Statuary outside alone is enough to fill a museum visit. Hopefully the concierge here can get us in. Surreal to sit and listen to some folks singing Hotel California and some Simon and Garfunkel songs, in the plaza, in front of Roman and Medieval statutes.
Down the road – passed right by the Duomo. Again – not my book – but DAMN. This church takes your breath away – even at night, when you can’t see half of it. It should be stunning during the day.

So – off to bed. Its late here. Lots to do tomorrow. Will update with pictures then.

Cheers.

posted by Mitch @ 2:46 PM