Montepulciano and Florence (a cultural powerhouse but Jim’s nightmare)

On Tuesday, Jim went for a long ride to explore some of the steep winding roads we had driven the day before while I went for a run and then headed to the pool to catch a few rays. Unfortunately, the sun spent more time behind the clouds so after a little while, I got cold and had to head in.

Walking back to our apartment I discovered a cherry tree which was covered in cherries. I picked a bunch to have with my breakfast. Normally, I don’t like cherries because they are too much work. (I’m a lazy fruit eater), but these were delicious.

In the afternoon, Jim and I went to Montepulciano. We decided to navigate ourselves since the GPS didn’t seem to like highways and main transportation routes but preferred to send us on curvy back roads. We managed to arrive in Montepulciano without any fighting; a navigational first for Jim and me.

We needed to get lunch in a hurry as it was almost 2:30. A lot of restaurants in Italy close between 2:00 or 230 and 6:00.

We decided to stop for a pizza at a small pizzeria with a plastic covered terrace. The pizzas had a nice thin crust (which I like) and the wine was cheap (which Jim likes) so we were both happy.

After lunch, we continued up the main drag looking for the Piazza Grande. Jim had a call for work so we found a café for him to settle into and I wandered around the surrounding streets near the piazza.

In the Piazza Grande was the Cathedral which Jim commented looked just like the Alamo. Unfortunately for this church, the city ran out of money after building the interior so the front marble façade was left unfinished and remains a basic building with rough stonework.

Our next stop was the San Bagio church which I spotted while Jim was on the phone. We walked down the very steep road to the church to get a closer look at the domed renaissance architecture.

The hike back up to the town was a challenging one. Now I know how Italians stay so slim while eating tons of pasta and gelato.

Before leaving Montepulciano we had try some of their famous wine so stopped at a wine store/ bar so Jim could sample the Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. After drinking some really cheap wine at lunch, Jim was shocked at what they charged for a tasting (translation – 2 little sips) of these wines.

According to Jim, they were both really good wines but he was happier with the cheap stuff so didn’t buy any bottles.

Being pregnant and travelling in Italy really has its disadvantages. Italians don’t really understand non alcoholic or decaffeinated. I spent most of the trip drinking sparkling water at all meals. It really made me appreciate the fact that every bar or restaurant in Germany has a non alcoholic beer option.

Just before getting to the car we stopped for our requisite gelato of the day. They had a panna cotta flavor which reigned as my favorite for the rest of the trip.

We decided to save our marriage by taking the train to Florence rather than attempting to drive and try to navigate a large city in Italy. It was only an hour and 15 minute train ride from Bucine and was a stress free way to get to Florence. We were even able to buy our tickets all in Italian.

Since the next train didn’t leave until 11:44, we had some time to kill. We stopped at a little café just next to the clothing market to do some quality watching.
Bucine is a small Italian town with no tourists so the market sold cheap clothing, shoes, towels, kitchen utensils and some toiletries. I am assuming these vendors buy the stuff at close out prices and then are able to sell things cheaper than a retail store.

The coffee shop was a great spot. We got 2 coffees for only 1.70 and the pastries were only 80 cents. It also seemed to be a meeting spot for the townspeople so was a great spot to witness small town Italian life.

We had reservations to see the Uffizi Gallery at 2:00 so we headed that direction upon arrival. Along the way, we were searching for a spot to grab a quick bite. I was hoping for a good thin slice o’ pizza pie but all we saw were dry looking thick crust pizza. Jim finally cracked and needed to eat pronto so bought a soggy tomato and mozzarella Panini and 30 minutes later I ended up with an equally unappealing slice of pizza. So far our day in Florence wasn’t off to a good start.

At the Uffizi Gallery, we had to stand in one line to get our reserved tickets and then in another line to actually get in. Rather than enduring Jim’s complaints about the inefficiencies of this system, I stood in line and sent him to go sit on a bench and read the Herald Tribune.

The Uffizi Gallery houses some of the most Italian works of art. It is amazing to see the works of artists you’ve heard so much about like Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. I wish I would have gotten the audio guide in retrospect. However, Jim was having trouble breathing in the museum due to the fact that he had forgotten to bring his asthma medication on our trip so I figured that we’d be going through it pretty quickly and wouldn’t have time to listen to a guide.

Once we were out of the gallery, we decided to head toward Ponte Vecchio which we had seen from a window in the museum. Along the way we stopped for some great gelato at Gelateria Carrozze (Via del Pesce 3). They had a peanut butter flavor I had not yet seen which when paired with the rich dark chocolate gelato was heavenly.

Ponte Vecchio was lined with gold jewelry stores. The stores on the bridge actually jutted out a few feet beyond the base of the bridge over the river. Apparently all of Florence was like that before they outlawed it. I guess everyone was trying to get some more real estate without actually paying for it.

We were going to check out a neighborhood across the river but I realized that the Duomo closed at 5:00 and it was already past 4:00. We rushed over to the Duomo which was a beautiful building with striped renaissance exterior. I was expecting the interior of the cathedral to be as stunning as the exterior but was sadly disappointed upon entering. Besides the sheer size of the interior of the church, it was unremarkable which was good because just as we entered the battery on my camera died.

After the Duomo we decided to wander some side streets to get a better feel for the real Florence as so far we had only been on the main tourist drags. We didn’t get very far before Jim’s blisters hurt (rookie travel move to wear new, never been worn shoes) so I dropped him off at a coffee shop for a few hours while I wandered the main market, San Lorenzo, and the surrounding streets.

While wandering I happened across a recommended restaurant in our guide book, Trattoria Za Za’s so Jim and I went back there for a quick bite before we caught the train home. It had a really nice outdoor patio with an unenthused wait staff. The simple pasta dish we ordered was quite good but didn’t top the gelato we had eaten earlier.

I wished we had more time in Florence to see more of the other sights but Jim couldn’t wait to get back to visiting the small hill towns.