We continue on our Italian journey, hubby and I.
Days 5: 1 January 2013 - Orvieto
We parted ways with our travel companions on the Roman leg
and hired a car for our drive into Umbria and Tuscany. What I thought was going
to be an idyllic little road trip turned into an anxiety filled nightmare,
thanks to these little babies:
This sign denotes a limited traffic zone. Every time a
tourist crosses one of these it results in a fine of at least 100 Euros. They
were everywhere! It didn’t help that there are numerous variations of these
signs. Some with time restrictions, some with weight restrictions, some with
pictures of bicycles/motorcycles/cars/vans/taxis/trucks, some with additional
warnings in Italian, so each time we saw one of these we had a mini coronary
and had to look at the sign carefully to try and decipher exactly what it
meant, which was sometimes impossible when trying to navigate at the same time.
Despite these hateful little signs, we eventually got to our
hotel in Orvieto (we drove past one of these signs on the way to the hotel, but
luckily the hotel can sign you off as “offloading luggage” to escape a fine).
To get to the town you have to drive up quite a steep hill, and it seemed to be
surrounded by a walled extension of the cliff face. It is quite a drive up, and
the low clouds and mist added to the sombre feel of the city’s approach.
We arrived late in the afternoon and it was very cold and
misty. The hotel was… meh. You could tell it was nice in its heyday, but it was
in desperate need of an update.
Once checked in we took a quick walk around town (it’s tiny
so it really was quick), past the Orvieto Duomo (which was closed) to what felt
like the end of the town, with this not unpleasant view.
We took a few snaps of the Duomo as well:
From the outside, this was by far the most striking
cathedral I’d seen thus far, mostly because of the black and white stripes all
the way down the sides of the building (La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona still
takes the prize for the most beautiful and unusual interior though). The
frontage is also impressive – beautifully decorated archways alongside carved reliefs
of Biblical depictions. The gables feature additional illustrations, inlaid in
gold.
One thing I noticed from walking around the streets of
Orvieto was the abundance of boar heads in store windows. Another curiosity was
the presence of Pinocchio on a bench outside one of the shops, dressed as
Santa. I’m still not sure why. Perhaps Gepetto was born in Orvieto or
something.
As night fell and our tummies rumbled, we went in search of
somewhere to go for dinner. Our expectations weren’t high given the size of the
town and the fact that it was New Year’s Day. We consulted our guide book and
discovered that there was a restaurant in this tiny little town with a Michelin
star! Even so, we were not very hopeful that it would be open, or that it would
have space for us without a booking. We wandered down to the restaurant anyway
and were pleasantly surprised – not only did we get in, it was practically
empty! The food was amazing, and the service was great. The best food we had in
Italy! The name of the restaurant?
Day 6: 2 January 2013 – Orvieto to Siena
Originally I had planned to go to Assisi from Orvieto, but
the stress of driving (and the inconvenience of waking up early) meant that
this plan was axed quite early into our road trip, making our next stop Siena.
Siena is a quaint little city, with effigies of the she-wolf
nursing Romulus and Remus popping up all over the place. (Legend has it that
the sons of Remus founded the city when they fled from Rome, carrying the
statue of said wolf.)
A visit to the Piazza del Campo is a must, as is a climb up
the Torre del Mangia, where you can get a good view of the fan-shaped plaza
below.
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| The Palazzo Pubblico at Piazza del Campo |
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| View of the Piazza from the Torre del Mangia |
Siena Cathedral is the other must-see. A striking vision in
black and white stripes, both inside and out. The front façade is ornately
decorated, as are the marble floors inside the cathedral, where once again the
wolf of Siena features. Along with the art inlaid into the floors, there are
also paintings and sculptures dotted around this cathedral, giving it an
ostentatious look and feel.
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| Siena Cathedral |
One of the best discoveries in Siena, though, was vending
machine salami!
Day 7: 3 January 2013 – Siena to Florence
A beautiful day greeted us as we started our journey to
Florence.
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| View from our hotel room in Siena |
We arrived in Florence around lunch time and took a stroll around
the city. It’s not hard to find the highlights and we immediately came upon Florence
Cathedral, or the Duomo di Firenze. It is another distinctive building, this
time in white, pink and green with a large dome and campanile and is still one
of the largest churches in Italy.
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| Florence Cathedral with façade made of coloured marble. |
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| Inside the dome |
We then took a wander around the Piazza della Signoria, with
several statues dotted around the square, one of which is a copy of the David
statue, the original being housed not too far away in the Galleria
Dell’Accademia.
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| A horse and buggy in the piazza |
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| The reproduction of Michelangelo’s David, outside the Palazzo Vecchio |
A little way from the piazza, the river Arno runs through
the city, where the famous Ponte Vecchio connects one embankment to the other.
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| The river Arno |
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| Ponte Santa Trinita bridge, which neighbours Ponte Vecchio |
Day 8: 4 January 2013 – A day trip to Pisa
The drive to Pisa was a little less traumatic than some
other were. Probably because we managed to stay out of town centres for the
most part. It was a chilly day, but the sun was out, so it was nice if you
managed to stay out of the shade.
Like the Colosseum, I felt in awe seeing such an iconic
landmark. These are things that you learn about in school: for those of us who
were government schooled in an African country, it seemed almost inconceivable
that one day we would be able to see these things in person what we only saw in
text books as children. It is wonderfully well kept, with the marble structure pristine
and white, and, well, it’s just…pretty. We did do the climb up the tower, but
it is a bit expensive for what it’s worth and involves queueing up for quite a
while, so if I were to do it again I would rather save my money and have a picnic
on the grounds instead.
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| The Leaning Tower from the ground |
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| The steps up to the top. Notice how each step has been worn away in the centre from centuries of use. |
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| Look at that lean! |
Day 9: 5 January 2013 – A museum day in Florence
Despite all the information I read about long queues at the
Galleria dell’ Accademia, I managed to slip right on in easily at around 10am
on a Saturday. Now, I’m no early bird, but even to me, 10am is not that much of
an early start to the day. The star of the show here was obviously
Michelangelo’s David. He is jealously guarded by a number of museum workers
whose job it is to shout “No pictures!” every time they see a phone or camera being
pointed at him. (Don’t worry, you can take a photo of the copy at the Piazza
della Signora without anyone shouting at you.) Aside from David there are
plenty of other sculptures to look at and there is also a small section on
musical history (or rather antique musical instruments), but once you’ve seen
Dave, there’s little else that matches his beauty.
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| Yeah, that’s Dave down the hall. |
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| There is just so much wrong with this picture I don’t know where to begin. |
At this point my husband decided that he was already bored
of museums and decides to go back to the hotel to chill. Brilliant. I spend the
next three hours wandering around the Uffizi Gallery absolutely mesmerised. The
audio guide takes you through the development of art from the 1300’s right
through to the 19
th century and this gallery houses several
recognisable works from Renaissance greats like da Vinci and Michelangelo. Unfortunately
there is also a no photo policy here, hence no photos of the Uffizi.
Having been rejoined by my husband, we took another walk
along the Arno and get in another photo of the river, this time capturing the
Ponte Vecchio.
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| Finally a good(ish) photo of Ponte Vecchio |
Day 10: 6 January 2013 – The last day
We had a kind of strange last day in Florence. Our plan was
to walk up to Piazzale Michelangelo, which offers a panoramic view of Florence.
On our way there, there seemed to be an abundance of penned farm animals that were
not there the day before.
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| Florentine donkey and companion cow |
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| Omg the cutest little horses! |
There also seemed to be a little street parade of various
peoples carrying various flags of nations around the world. We decided to
ignore this for the most part and continue with our plan. The view from
Piazzale Michelangelo is indeed worth the hike uphill, with the landmarks of
Florence clearly visible from the viewpoint.
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| View from Piazzale Michelangelo, with the Ponte Vecchio, Palazzo Vecchio and the Cathedral clearly visible. |
On our way down we happen upon a little Japanese garden, the
Rose Garden. It was pretty and quiet and a nice place to sit down, relax and
take in the views of the city. It was nice to have a little peace and quiet
because as we got back down into the city, the parade was happening in full
force!
People dressed in medieval attire, some as soldiers, some as
farmers wheeling around produce (and chickens), drummers, persons of religion, camels
(CAMELS!!!) joined the earlier parade we saw. I’m still not sure what this was
for, but it was quite an unforgettable experience.
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| Some of the participants |
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| She looks excited to take part… |
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| Whaaaat?? |
To this day, Florence remains one of my favourite European cities. The
Renaissance movement started here. It is the birthplace of modern civilisation
and is full of history, art and beauty. Viva Firenze! <3
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