The experiences
My last few days in Tuscany were wonderful. I spent a little more time with Courtney (Canada) and Bruno (Brazil) who were at the guest house the same time as me. We finished up the wine, cleaned the enormous and wine stained table and the refrigerator. I'm very proud.
Monday Bruno and I set off for Pisa and did the obligatory "holding up the tower" photo shoot. We didn't plan to be there together so I had a reservation earlier than he did and we split up after a half hour. Bruno is a very cool guy who was studying beer in Munich before he returns home to start up a brewery. Sometimes traveling alone is really what you want to do though--just some alone time to process things, float about as you please and in my case it was a chance to spend an hour in H&M. Then that night I pretty much decided Courtney and I were separated at birth.
 |
| Bruno did an ok job. |
 |
| Pizza with Nutella, Marscapone, and Strawberries--I want to eat this forever. |
 |
| Terrace earring and gelato in view...I do miss home. |
I had yet to explore Certaldo's medieval area so I biked into town for the morning, took the
funicular up to the old city and visited the
Palazzo Pretorio and the
Casa del Boccaccio. I had to skip the Museum of Sacred Art as there was a school group taking over the place. But all through town you could hear them doing all kinds of cool battles and singing. Seemed like a cool thing to do. Luckily I found another cat to chill with outside. Really the animals here are just so sweet, we all were homesick for something furry and they were more than accommodating.
 |
| In all these little old towns in Europe there's always something to climb. Sometimes the view pays off. This was an attempt at a panorama. |
 |
| Italian cat win #30 |
By the time I made it back to the guest house, Bruno was ready to go to Florence too so we shared a cab--which was just a nice guy and his Mercedes. An hour later we were splitting up again to go to our separate lodging. Once I settled in I walked the block to reserve times to go to the
Accademia and
Uffizi galleries. I analyzed the map to determine the best path since I only had two days in Florence. Turns out I exhausted myself with a full day starting at 8am at the Uffizi with the various Madonnas and Venuses. The line was pretty tame, it doubled by the time I exited.
Then I did the Rick Steves walking tour of the Florence Renaissance ending back at the Uffizi. I stopped in at the Gucci Museum for a little fun on Canadian Courtney's recommendation. Then the Galileo Science Museum where I met some students from Louisiana. One of the guys in nursing school asked me "if I was the type of person to go clubbing." Perfect question because I can say without a doubt, no. Had he said anything else like "want to hang out with us later" I would definitely have said yes, but clubbing is just not my bag--good to know their plans. Had he said we're going to get a bunch of wine and food and puzzles, I would have been all over that but then I might have teared up for missing my friend American Courtney.
On the way to the next set of attractions I went in search a pizza place that came third hand. I was successful and found that I was in for a change in my Italian diet. This pizzeria didn't use Buffala Mozzarella but would for an extra $1.50. I guess the northern area of Italy isn't as awesome as the south when it comes to food. Either way that was the best $1.50 I've spent yet. :)
 |
| Il Pizzaiulolo |
Then I had a strange experience. A tourist sight is the Synagogue in Florence and it is something amazing to see and spend time in. But they don't let you in with anything but your ticket and the key to a locker where all of your things are. They use the same scanning technology airports back home do. So if you ever find yourself in Florence you should go--I can't share a photo--but it is that good.
By this point in the day I had my final museum appointment at 3pm and I was one tired lady. But seeing David at the Accademia is really something worthwhile. It's truly something to investigate and unlike the Mona Lisa, it's form is very impressive up close.
 |
| The less popular view. |
I used my last day in Florence to do something Rick Steves tours do...a cooking class at
In Tavola. These guys are super fun and love food. All of us were American. We started at the market doing a full tour and tasting different truffle products and balsamics of different ages (this is amazing). I was part of a team of a couple now living in San Francisco and another now living in Washington DC. We couldn't decide on a team name really though we seemed to be the only team concerned with this. We had a few options though: Wisconsin Sandwich, Underrated, Lightning Chef, Rick Steves. We proved here that the world is a very small place. The woman on the right is a physician at a hospital I visited several times and the couple a little further in on the left knew absolutely everyone we could think of in Utah. Together we made panna cotta, homemade pasta with sauce, bruscetta and meatloaf.
 |
| The full crew enjoying the fruits of our labor |
 |
| The team that has no name...but I think we were the most awesome. |
From there I caught a train to Milan which proved to be a large sprawling city and not as interesting as the Italy I'd visited so far. Between Florence and Milan I managed to visit Sephora a few times--I think mostly because I felt I'd neglected my appearance but also because Reanna who was another guest in Certaldo was not allowed to go (her boyfriend and travel companion wouldn't let her for fear of blowing the budget :)).
Since I got the idea that Milan wasn't the most interesting city, I decided to make it my jumping off point for visiting Verona which was much smaller and definitely interesting--there's also a much more diverse population in the area (read: not just Italians). I grabbed lunch at Rick's favorite place and was not disappointed, touched Juliet's breast and left her a note, and wandered aimlessly.
 |
| The number of people touching her is actually doing significant damage to the statue. |
The next day I went up to Lake Como which is just a wonderful relaxing place if you stay out of the city centers. I'm convinced there's some secret noise ban by the lake shore and the swans are the police. I think this is why
Clooney likes it--that and I am pretty convinced Italians are not concerned with fame despite the origin of the term paparazzi.
And lastly I got to visit Milan's famed
Duomo, which is really cool and another example of the Italians mixing Medieval with Modern art.
 |
| Also climbing on the inclined marble roof tiles would not be something allowed in the US |
The lessons
- Have limited time and don't want to stand in line? Reserve tickets/times in advance. In Florence the library store sold reservations so when I arrived they set me up with times for the next day. People without the luxury of a day or two lead time should book online if possible or sadly have to wait in the "no reservation" line. Some sights take a lot of advance notice. In Milan seeing the last supper requires months advance booking. I hear the same is true of setting up Vatican tours in Rome.
- Rick Steves does audio guides for the Uffizi and Accademia if you download his app and then add them to the playlist it can save you a few Euro. Some things move and not everything is accurate anymore but it's still pretty good and keeps you moving through the enormous spaces.
- All the people in my cooking class somehow booked through a third party instead of the cooking school--try to avoid doing this. The middle man probably adds some extra bucks and confusion as the communication goes through an additional layer (ie I was also the only one at the correct meeting location)
- I originally thought of skipping Tuscany but in the end it was my favorite week with the wine, food and relaxed attitude.
Interesting
- Amazing sight at the Accademia around David.
 |
| Italian Win #320 |
- The InTavola staff didn't know that Rick posted a video of himself at their school when he visited a couple weeks prior. I swear I'm not stalking him :).
- Italians believe in doing good work. Regardless of what you do, you should do it well. Italia told me this when I met her in Auckland and I really saw the evidence this week. They also don't force things. If tomatoes aren't the best right now, don't use them till they are the best, use the ones you canned when they were at peak last year. They aren't pompous about how awesome they are either. It was mentioned that you don't really see celebrity chefs from Italy.
