Firenze

ok so i realized that i don't have any Florence notes written down... but that's because we were so busy and time just flew by!

Florence is when i met up with Hurc and his gf, we shall call her Sa. (i'm lazy and like to save letters when typical repetitive stuff, sorry).
Having travelled by myself, i was like an overly excited puppy when i saw them on sunday...




-------------- the worst meal ever in italy -----------------

we decided we were hungry and wanted to grab food - now i always have craved pasta so that was my request - somewhere we can get pasta. hurc was craving pizza, so we thought we should go somewhere that has both.

within 3 blocks from the hotel where we walked, we saw a place that was opened, there were people eating outside, so we decided to eat there.
they had almost nothing available (the pizza was only available at dinner) - Sa's risotto nero (black ink risotto) was so salty you can scarcely take a tiny itty bite before turning your head away in disgust... we sent it back and they brought around a more edible plate of raviolis in tomato sauce. the food was bland and watery.

i have decided at this point that the produce in Italy was sooooo fresh and good, that one really need to make an effort to ruin the food - and this restaurant made an effort certainly.

-------------- the market....... ----------------

after siesta, we had gelato, and
we headed out towards the Leather Market, which is a daily street market with vendors sellings everything, cashmere scarfs (i wanted to buy all of them!), leather purses and jackets, misc... not expecting to actually buy anything, the 3 of us all ended up buying a leather jacket each - the deal was great, the guy sold me on that the leather didn't scartch and can be folded up - with my rough and tumbly personality, this was the definite selling point. we were at the market quite late, and then went to eat at a recommended place for dinner, which was quite good. the waiters were cute too... speaking english with their little italian accents.



---------------- The Mall ---------------------

Monday was a blur to me, we took the 1 hour (each way) bus ride to "The Mall" which is an outlet (loosely called 'outlet') for all the brand name, including Gucci and Armani and the such. I didn't buy much but Sa had a great time there, the prices seemed really good...

we ate at the hotel restaurant that night because we were too tired to explore.. it was yummy

--------------- Museum day --------------

We spent tuesday going to museums... Muse D'academia was nice, Michelangelo's David was there and hella impressive... I never really understood why it was impressive, but like most other things i've seen on the trip, it is really to see it in real life do you get the grandeur of it... to see marble so smooth and capturing the muscles and tendons and grace of the figure...

then we hurried through 3 hour tour of Muse D'Uffici, where the greats are all there: Rambrant, Michelangelo, Boticelli, Raffaelo, Bellini... there was so much to see that even the 3 hours seems rushed, a full day would've been better but sooo much walking...


---------- cooking class ---------------

Wednesday was a 5 hour Florence style cooking class that was fun... we made fresh pasta, with a meaty vegetable ragu, pizza, pork roast over orange and fennels (i discovered that i love fennels), asparagus ricotta crepe, and wine poached pears. I loved everything, and definitely will make the pasta at home!!!!!

pics were taken by hurc, and i'm sure he'll post them later. good meal. and i had too much wine

--------- Siena ------------------

thursday was bus ride to Siena, which i think architecturally I prefer over Florence, though both are beautiful and similar in many ways. The piazza where the twice-yearly horse race for the Il Palio festival is amazing!
we walked to the top of the capella (dome) of the church right at the square (some 400 steps) and had a breathtaking view of the city...











sorry for the brief blog, but Florence was a haze... great time spent with friends, we laughed, we giggled, we travelled, ate well, had lots of fun.....

i forgot to write down my thoughts for the city, so i might discover them at a later time, but for now, poor Florence will have to suffice with my inadequate descriptions of the 4 day folly there...