Today was packed full of sightseeing and our cooking class so the posting will be in two parts to accommodate all the photographs. We started our morning with a tour of Mercarto Centrale, the central food market of Florence just two blocks from the residence. We marveled at all the fresh meats, fish, cheese and produce offered there. After that orientation we boarded the HO-HO (hop-on/ho-off) bus again for another tour around Florence and up to beautiful Fiesole in the hills above the city. Fiesole goes way back to the B.C. times and was an Etruscan village. Conquered by the Romans (who wasn't?) who had just established their colony of Florintino on the Arno River (59b.c.), and destoyed several times, it became the place of choice for Florentines to have "country homes" and was especially popular with the British and other Europeans in the 1800's. Enjoy your tour with us and stay tuned for today's part 2! More later . . .Ciao!
I HAVE SET UP A NEW PHOTOBLOG SITE FOR THE 2014 TOURS. YOU CAN STILL SEE PHOTOS FROM 2008 TO 2013 HERE. TO VIEW THE LATEST TOURS GO TO: WWW.INTUSCANYWITHPATRIZIA.BLOGSPOT.COM
"La Vista de Firenza" The View of Florence - Oct. 2
Our morning orientation walk retraced our path to the Duomo and then we moved ahead to the Arno River. At Piazza Vecchio we saw a large group of band members and dignitaries at a ceremony - don't know what the celebration was about - it was all "Italian" to us! We went onto the old bridge and then made our way back toward our home street - Faenza. Had a bite to eat at Leonardo's cafeteria and a brief resting time before we hopped onto the HO-HO bus. Some of us enjoyed the views from the top deck and some stayed below. We stayed on board for the entire narrated 1-hour tour and then everyone was on their own for the rest of the evening to enjoy more riding, Tuscan dining and resting up for tomorrow's adventures. See you then! More later . . .Ciao!