Rome to Florence - Day 5

It was time to say goodbye to Rome for now and head to our next destination - Florence. Previously I have only spent not even a full day in Florence, so I am really looking forward to our time there and getting to see and do so much more. Florence is the home of the Renaissance and has some of the most amazing art in the world. So planning to definitely learn and see a lot! Also incredible food, wine and shopping!  

We got to the train station and managed to purchase tickets on the train called Italo. What a great ride and since it was an express train only took an hour and a half. 

We rented an Airbnb on the Oltrarno side of Florence which is across the river from the main tourist attractions, so quieter and much less congested. Florence is very walkable. You can walk anywhere in 30 or less minutes. We hopped on a bus from the train station and found our apartment and settled in before heading out to explore the neighborhood and get our first look at Florence. 

Huge church is the Duomo and the covered bridge is the Ponte Vecchio.  

We like to jump right in so walked up to the most famous viewpoint at Piazzale Michelangelo to get that picture - so beautiful! There is a beautiful church even higher than the Piazzale called San Miniato that has a nightly prayer service complete with a dozen priests participating in Gregorian chanting - so since our motto is “If not now when” of course we went to it. Really almost like a meditation. 

Not sure they allow pictures inside the crypt of the priests chanting so hopefully we won’t burn in hell for taking it!

Our first aperitivo in Florence! Picture set up with the sunset credit to Julie😊  On the Piazza before heading down for dinner.

We were starving because we hadn’t eaten all day! There were lots of cute little restaurants so we just randomly walked into one called Zeb. It looked like a wine bar with food but turns out it is actually this  destination restaurant that real foodie people flock to that is pretty much reservation only. Only seats about 20 people and you are all just facing each other at a bar. We saw 2 open seats and just sat down. It is run by a mother and her son Alberto. Alberto asked us if we had a reservation and we said no. He looked at us funny and then just asked us what kind of water we wanted - still or sparkling. You always pay for water in a restaurant in Italy and actually most of Europe, and you can buy either. So at that point we figured he was going to serve us, but we had no idea what we were getting into! It actually worked out fine and he kind of warmed up to us, at least as much as his personality allowed. He cut some delicious bread for us and Julie asked for olive oil to dip it in and he said no. No never with bread. We just laughed because there was no way we were getting olive oil. He brings over a chalkboard that has what they are making for the day on it and quickly runs through it. I had no idea what he was saying so I just pointed at something. We couldn’t wait to get home and look it up online and see what it was all about. It was the quietest restaurant I have ever been in. People were really into the food. 

Pesto pasta for me and Julie had a bolognese. For dessert an apple cream tart with raisins and pine nuts. All really delicious and great wine.

So that was our welcome to Florence day! I’m excited for our time here and happy to share it with all of you. Ciao!