Blog: Florence and Pompeii
Britt and I chose to go to Florence on our last weekend before leaving the clinic because it was so close and we knew we could always get there in plenty of time. We'd been to Florence many times over the past 2 months, but never really made it past the train station, so it was nice to actually see the city. We slept in on Saturday and took the bus and train into Firenze. We got there around 2 pm. At this point, we were getting pretty burnt out and really homesick, so poor Florence wasn't really getting the full attention she deserved, but we still made a point to explore. We checked in to our B and B, the Katti House (I know, right!) and met the sweet proprietor who was very kind and helpful. After we put our bags down and made a game plan, we headed off first to see the famous Duomo. We were actually pretty close and got there in about 5-7 minutes walking. The whole town of Florence is nice because it is very easy to walk everywhere and it doesn't take long. We rounded a corner and , BAM!, there it was! Big and colorful, just like everyone says. It really was a sight to behold. We walked all around it and got views from all sides. Then we headed to the nearby Galleria dell'accademia, where Michelangelo's famous "David" sculpture is. The gallery itself is pretty small compared to the many other museums we've seen, but this one was our favorite. At the end of the second hall was David, standing quite tall! Everyone has seen pictures of this sculpture, but it is so much more magnificent in person. The detail is incredible, you can see the veins in his arms. When you view the statue from the front, he looks kind of nervous and uneasy; but when you look at him from the left side, the way his head is turned, you can actually see a change in his expression, one of determination and confidence. Some scholars say that the statue was created to show David right before he defeated Goliath. You can see the stone in his right hand and his sling in his left. Going to this museum just to see David would have been worth the €6 on its own, but there was still more to see and it was all incredible. There was one room dedicated to the "final exam" of Michelangeo's students that had all kinds of sculptures, children playing, busts of classmates, dogs wrestling. These pieces were probably the least famous of all the ones we saw, but in my opinion, they had the most character. In the hall leading up to "David", there were several pieces of unfinished sculptures. The figures appear to be trapped by the remaining block of marble. This really helps you see how the sculptors carve out their images from one huge piece of stone. Crazy. Another wing had a different kind of "art". More modern art, if you will. There were small TV screens on the walls, and each one had a short film showing one or two people in random acts of daily living. It was actually pretty cool. So, from here we shopped around for a little bit, Florence is known for their leather goods, and then we headed for food. Feeling a bit burnt out from typical Italian food, we decided to get something different. This came in the form of edamame, a California roll and teriyaki chicken from a small Japanese restaurant right across the street from our B and B. And so ended day one in Florence!
The next day, we checked out of our place, but they allowed us to keep our bags there until we were ready to leave. First, we did some more shopping. Then, after dropping off our new purchases at the B and B with our other stuff, we headed off towards the Ponte Vecchio on another Rick Steves walking tour. We started at the Duomo and headed down towards Piazza Della Signoria. We stopped at a market that was going on, sampled some cheese and olive oil and bought a few small bottles of black and white truffle oil! We continued our walk and made it to the piazza where David was originally located. A fake one is there now. It was a fun little square with lots of people and sculpture around. The famous Uffizi gallery is located in the corner here. It is said to house the greatest collection of Renaissance art in Europe, but we were done with museums at that point. We headed towards the Arno river and walked along it before hitting the Ponte Vecchio, or "old bridge". There are many shops along this bridge and apparently this is where you can get the best deal on gold jewelry. Next, we went to a museum that I was particularly interested in. Britt agreed to go to humor me, but I think she enjoyed it almost as I did :) This would be the Museo di Ferragamo! As in Salvador Ferragamo of the luxury shoe brand. Exhibits rotate every 2 years, a new installation in 2010 focused on footwear in the second half of the 20th century. When we went they were also having a special on Marilyn Monroe! There was a separate room that had a movie going with clips from her movies and all around were the actual costumes and shoes she wore in the movies. There was another section that had dresses and shoes she wore to movie premieres etc. that had a recording of her infamous "Happy Birthday" song to JFK at his birthday celebration at Madison Square Garden. There were so many shoes! Beautiful ones, classic ones. All designed by Ferragamo. I was in heaven. After I pulled myself away, we continued back to finish shopping and to find a place to eat. Recommended in my "Let's Go Italy" book was Trattoria Zaza. We ate on the outside patio and had the most delicious ravioli in truffle sauce. Mmm mmmm. Then we headed back to retrieve our bags and catch the train home. Easily the most stress-free and relaxing weekend yet. Can't say the same about our last weekend in Italy that we spend in Pompeii.....
So with Friday being our last day, we said our goodbyes and took lots of pictures and left thank you notes to those who had been so gracious and kind to us during our time at the clinic. We took Friday night to finalize packing and get everything under weight. We were holding our breath until we got to the check-in counter on Sunday. Saturday morning, bright and early, we are set to catch the 6:47 bus to Pistoia. It had been raining the day before and we were praying it wouldn't be when we had to trudge up the steep hill to the bus stop with 80lbs of luggage...well it wasn't pouring, but it was raining. So we covered the cloth bags with trash bags and headed up. A normal walk of about 10 minutes, took us closer to 30 minutes with us stopping for breaks and going half as fast as normally. When the bus comes, which is also the "school bus" for local kids, we haul our bags on and get ready for the ride. We tell the driver we are headed for Campo Tizzoro so he knows, since everyone else is going to school. Normally, we change buses here for one headed further down the mountain to Pistoia. We get to Campo Tizzoro, dreading having to lug our bags back off and then back on another bus, but at the normal stop, he turns on the lights and says, "Campo Tizzoro a Pistoia?" " Si!" we reply. To which he responds telling us this bus is going all the way to Pistoia. Yes! We dont have to haul our bags off! So we settle in for the nice ride down the mountain. When we finally get to the station, the rain has stopped. Hallelujah! Right as we get to the station, it beings to downpour...wow, talk about good timing! We find out that it is also supposed to be raining in Pomepii all day as well. Not so fun to explore ruins in the rain. So, we decided to start to see if we could change our train tickets and just head straight to Rome and skip Pompeii since it was raining anyway, and there would be less stress to get to the airport the next day since we would already be in Rome, which is where we were flying out of. But long story short, we couldn't change our tickets because we had bought discounted tickets that could not be changed or refunded. So we headed off to Pompeii as planned, determined to make the best of it.
We arrive in Napoli, we're we are to change trains to Pompeii. I noticed on one our directions to the hostel in Pompeii that it tells us to take the local train from Napoli Centrale to our destination and that the hostel is only a 5 minute walk from there. Our other option, with the TrenItalia connection to Pompeii station would take us to a station where we weren't exactly sure where it was, but could take us 30 minutes to walk to our hostel. We decide to forgo our previously planned tickets, and buy the ones for the local train. We have to go below the station to the underground to find the terminal for this train. But we get to our hostel's station, and it ends up being right across the street front he Pompeii ruins! Talk about good location. AND it wasn't raining. We head to our hostel and meet a very nice man who gives us a book of Pompeii to use as we explore the ruins. We have about 2 hours before they close so we rush out to get started and to beat the rain if it comes back. The ruins were so cool. This ancient city was very much a metropolis of its day. And a crazy party one at that! It's getting darker and we have just seen the coliseum and are headed to find one last site when the clouds open and the rain starts pouring. At this point, we are at the opposite side of the ruins from our entrance and it is dark. The rain is coming down in sheets as we are racing back across. By the time we get to the entrance, the rain has stopped, but the damage has been done...we are soaked, through and through! Ah well, makes for a good story :) We go back to our hostel, where they have prepared dinner out back under a tent. It turned out to be a nice, balmy evening. We had dinner with 3 other families/couples. Started with a typical Italian antipasti and ended with spaghetti Bolognese! Delish! As we head to bed, we tell the manager that we are leaving at 6am to catch our train. Fortunately, he informs us that it is Daylight Savings that night! We gained an hour! We get up the next morning and find the manger's father who was to open the gate for us, and he made us coffee before we left! Such a sweet man. We'd been saying our prayers all night and morning that the rain would hold off while we walked down to the station, and it did! We arrived early, and waited for the train. It finally came, 5 minutes late, just enough to almost give me a heart attack that it wasn't coming, and we go to catch it. The train pulls past us so we have to walk a little bit to get to the doors. Right as I get to the door, the bell rings, signaling the closing of the doors. I run and jump on and turn to tell Britt to hurry. She gets halfway on and the doors begin to close! I yell, "Wait!" but she is stuck in the door, with one of our bags still out on the platform. Four men in the train car rush over and they all help to pull the doors open and drag Britt and the suitcase inside. Oh my goodness I had never been so scared in my life! We collapse in the seats and will our hearts to stop racing. Little did we know that this was only the beginning.
We had a train to catch that was earlier than one we had originally scheduled, which would get us to the Rome airport sooner and allow more time for check-in. Well, long story short, our first train arrives to Napoli Centrale forty minutes late!! We missed the first train, and now were dangerously close to missing the second! If we missed this second train, we would get to Rome too late and miss our flight to Athens. Our train arrives and we tear out of there with 10 minutes to spare. The problem is that we still had to buy our tickets! All the self-service ticket booths weren't working and we rush to a woman to help and of course she is just taking her sweet time. I rush to the train to start getting bags on and make sure it doesn't leave, while Britt gets the tickets. finally she rushes over and we hop on with literally minutes to spare. Ridiculous. We are dripping with sweat and full of adrenaline. I start looking at the sign that says where this train is going and the stops along the way and my stomach drops. We had purchased a ticket weeks in advance to get us from Pompeii to Rome, these tickets went Pompeii to Salerno, and Salerno to Rome. Well, with this itinerary we would get to Rome with 30 minutes to check-in so we tried to get an earlier one and take the local train to Napoli Centrale to catch a train to Rome. This was the ticket we bought in a rush and ended up costing €68 when the first one was only € 38. Upon further examination, I realized that this is the same train that we originally had tickets for. The Salerno to Rome train stopped in Napoli, and this is where we were picking it up. So we just paid an extra €68 for a ticket WE ALREADY HAD! When the guy came around to punch our tickets, I pulled them both out and explained our situation. "Why did you buy two tickets for the same train?" he wants to know....well we'd like to know the same thing! We ask if we can get reimbursed for the second ticket, and he replies that it's not possible because of the type of ticket....Oh My Gosh!! My nerves are gone at this point and all the stress that has been built up in me lets loose. I had a good sobfest and then our train arrives in Rome and its time for the next crunch time to take place. We have 30 minutes to get from the train station to the terminal to check-in before it closes. We race through the airport and make it to the desk with 20 minutes to spare. Now, we are holding our breath that both our checked bags are under weight and that our carry-on suitcase will fit in the overhead compartment. Check and check! This part was the easiest of them all, but was the one we were the most worried about from the beginning. Praise Jesus! We board the plane and find our seats and breath a huge sigh of relief. We are going to Greece!! It felt so good to have all of that behind us and to have a solid week ahead of us of vacation. Instead of our 2 day weekend trips, we now had a whole week! And we were finished with our clinical. One step closer to graduation!
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