I finally got through all of the photos from Florence.  Here’s a little recap:

On Saturday (9/5), we rode the train from Rome to Florence and bought first class seats.  It’s really inexpensive and totally worth it!  The seats are comfy and adjustable, there’s a beverage cart that rolls by, and there are power outlets at every seat.  The ride was about an hour and a half and just enough time to rest, grab a half-bottle of wine, and watch the scenery zoom by.

Once in Florence, we checked in to Hotel Casci, which is a cute little mom and pop-owned place that serves breakfast every morning, has free WiFi, and the rooms have A/C.  In the evening, we wandered the narrow streets and found a really good restaurant called Magnifico Messere.  After such disappointing meals in Rome, this was exactly what we needed.  We had the most amazing “coccoli” (fried dough dumplings) with stracchino cheese and prosciutto.  We also learned that if the server doesn’t speak much English, the food will be good.

The next day, Sunday (9/6), it was Jes’ birthday.  We headed out early to Uffizi Gallery since we didn’t purchase a reserved ticket.  Apparently this museum is notorious for 2-hour-lomg lines without a reservation.  We arrived about 20 mins before it opened and got in within 20 minutes after it opened.  We saw a few famous paintings like “The Spring” and “Birth of Venus”.  They were really strict with photo taking so my sneaky photos are not very good.

Before lunch, we went to Ponte Vecchio, which is a famous bridge that has a bunch of jewelry stores built on it.  There are also a bunch of Africans selling fake bags.  They’re laid out nicely onto large white sheets that help them wrap up all their merchandise when there’s word of a policeman rolling by.  It’s pretty fun to watch them come and go so quickly.

For lunch, we went to obika mozzerella bar.  We ordered a platter of 5 cheeses served with olives and tomatoes over a bed of baby spinach.  It came with bread, oil, and vinegar and it was so yummy.  I guess the only thing missing was a side of prosciutto but we had just eaten a huge platter of it the night before.

We also went to the Accademia to see Michaelangelo’s David…the real one.  I say that because there’s a replica outside of Uffizi too.  We had read that this place required a reservation too but when we arrived around 5 pm, there was no line and we walked right in.  They were extra strict about no photographs but I snuck a couple anyway.  Hee hee.

We spent the afternoon near the Duomo where we saw a bunch of gypsies dressed in all white with their faces painted white as well.  They carry around a cup of flowers and change and aggressively sneak up on you with a creepy kissing sound.  They continue to follow you with the kissy sound until you turn around to look at them.  They shake the change cup in your face and when you say “no”, they make a hissing sound behind you.  Most people will just ignore them but I was so weirded out by them.  I tried so hard not to make any eye contact with them and walked out of my way to avoid them.  For such small women, they’re pretty scary.  Jes just laughed at me and continued to make the kissy sound throughout the rest of the trip.  Unfortunately I didn’t get a photo of any of them.  Maybe it was a good thing.  If you still want to see, I found this photo on flickr.  I get shivers just looking at them.

On Monday (9/7), we got up early for a 5-hour Cooking School.  They picked us up by the river and we were joined by a van-full of people all from the U.S. and Canada.  Chef Simone was awesome…quiet, meticulous, and explained everything really well.

Jes also asked if we could taste the grappa that went into the sorbet and it was some pretty strong stuff.  The chef also didn’t hold back on pouring us 3 different wines throughout the day: prosecco, white wine, and red wine.  Each time he went to the outside pantry, he returned with another bottle.

We made a total of 5 courses including pasta, gnocchi, and sorbet.  They gave each of us an apron and recipe book and we got our hands dirty.  The food turned out really well and we had a lot of fun preparing, watching, and chatting with the chef.

In the afternoon, we did some laundry at the local laundromat and then had our last meal at Osteria de’Benci, which was also very good.  It’s so nice to know that there really is good food in Italy.

Here are the rest of the photos.  There are only 158 this time.  🙂