Florence in the rain

July 29, 2010

As much as we loved every moment in Assisi staying at Alla Madonna del Piatto www.incampagna.com we were only a little sad to leave because each day over here holds new adventures and surprises. We headed for Firenze (Florence) and decided to stop in Cortona on the way. Having read and watched the movie Under the Tuscan Sun which is set in Cortona, we just had to stop and see if we recognized any of the scenery (we did) or if we could actually find the house, Bramisole (we did not). Apparently the author, Frances Mayes still lives here for part of each year in the villa she renovated with her husband and they are respected members of the community. Cortona is a town to which we would return.

Come to think of it, Letizia and her husband, Ruurd, our hosts at the B&B in Assisi, had a similar experience to the couple in the Tuscan Sun story. Letizia is Italian, Ruurd is Dutch. Letizia lived in the States for ten years where she obtained her PhD in entymology; Ruurd is also an entymologist. They found their old farmhouse, parts of which date from the 1500's, high in the hills above the town of Assisi, and knew they had to have it. After what must have been a tremendous amount of hard work, they renovated it into a six room bed and breakfast. During the construction, she discovered a plate with a picture of the Madonna, hence the name she chose for the house, Alla Madonna del Piatto. The view and the sense of peace from their home is indescribable. You will just have to come here.

Anyway, I digress. From Cortona, we took the autostrada to Firenze and arrived right at the beginning of a thunderstorm. I couldn't recall much about why I had reserved the hotel I had, so, once again I was a little concerned. Scored again! The Hotel David is in a perfect location, just a 15 minute walk from the main Piazza della Signoria close to all the must-sees. It has free everything: free parking, free wi-fi, free (fabulous) breakfast, free mini-bar (yes, eat and drink the whole frig full), free 10 minute phone call to pretty much anywhere in the world, and free happy hour in their beautiful old lounge complete with a table full of appetizers. Stay here. It's a good one. We haven't had a bad place yet.

So far on this trip, Florence is the only city that we visited when we came to Europe the first time. We loved it then, and we actually made a second visit to it on that trip. We have to admit we were disappointed today. It was crawling with tourists and tour groups and there were lines to see all the major sites which we knew required tickets to be purchased online in advance. We were thankful that we had the opportunity years ago to see the statue of David, the Duomo, the bell tower, etc., because they are definitely sights not to be missed.

It was sort of fun to get caught in a second thunderstorm later in the afternoon, although I don't think Den would agree. We huddled under awnings on the Ponte de Vecchio with hundreds of others, waiting for the rain to stop pelting. Back at the hotel, happy hour and some good conversation with other hotel guests cheered us up and made us temporarily forget about the bus ride home that took three times as long as if we had chosen to walk.