A lot of your perception about a place depend of the order of places you visit, and timing. I did not enjoy Venice too much - due to jet lag, or bridges=less child friendly travel. Tuscany however, was the best part of the trip.
We took the #2 transit water bus to Piazzale Roma stop, and walked to our Hertz rental. Of course a reservation at noon wasn't ideal, considering that it was Italy, and siesta time is not a myth. So we waited in the chilling breeze for 40 minutes before the personnel showed up and gave us our (expensive) one way economy car - class D (from Venice to Rome). We did get the GPS (thanks heavens) even though we had to pay 50 euros extra to return at a different location.
Our first experience of "What am I doing here" kind of driving was in Padua. I wanted to see Galileo Galilei's house in Padua but the GPS led us through extremely narrow roads, and we had to avoid the "Zona Traffico Limitato" signs in case they were pedestrian roads. Needless to say we did not make it to the house, and it removed all chances of stopping by Vicenza where I wanted to see Andrea Palladio's work. Well, next time!
We reached the farmhouse Borgo al Cerro in Casole d'Elsa at dusk. After settling our bags, we drove up to the beginning of the town and stopped at a friendly family owned pizzeria, where I brushed up my Italian. Well, actually, hubby understood what they were saying based on their hand movements, he claims. Like "Leave the beer in the fridge so it stays cool till you leave". The farmhouse was nice. Ours was Monterriggiano - 2 beds and one functioning bathroom. Not bad for the price we paid. No breakfast included.
Day 5: Went to Florence. We had taken a tour with Presto tours and Sandra was very good. We were a bit late having circled the train station parking area a few times, after missing the small sign with a downward arrow pointing to the parking. Though expensive it was a good place to park and walk since Florence is notorious for its tickets if you cross the "Zona Traffico Limitato" sign. These were good resources for parking in Florence:
http://www.reidsguides.com/italy/destinations/tuscany/florence/transport/to_by_car.html
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Travel-g187893-c145503/Tuscany:Italy:Parking.In.Florence.html
http://tuscany.travel/en/transports-in-tuscany/getting-to-and-around-tuscany/parking-in-florence/
Since we were late we only got an overview of the city but I loved it. I loved the Renaissance buildings, art everywhere. It was hard to finally believe that this was where some of the most creative minds in the world had worked. Being on a short timeline, I would recommend taking a tour. Sandra gave us some insight into Italian life. What I remember the most was - Gelataria Artignale means handmade ice-cream. Thats the one to take. And, Italians never get one flavor if gelato, so don't hesitate to mix flavors. She also told us that Palazzo Pitti was a must see, even more than the hyped up Uffizi gallery that was always packed. I enjoyed the stroll through the famous bridge Ponte Vecchio. If I were staying in Florence, I would do a tour of the hidden passages on that bridge where the Medici family would secretly oversee the city.
The "Gates of Paradise" of the baptistery to the Duomo were marvelous - they took Lorenzo Ghiberti 21 years to make and the panels are exquisite - scenes captured in 3D. The Dome of the cathedral is wonderful, being the "Mother Dome" of all, but the cathedral is quite sparse since the marble on the walls used up all the budget.
Michelangelo's David was breathtaking. The scale is so amazing, and his facial expression is so well captured. When you read that Michelangelo carved it out of a discarded marble piece, it seems even more dramatic.
It was exciting to see life like sculptures of the "gurus" outside the Uffizi - Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci etc, to see how they must have looked like in real life. Experiencing the sculptures in public places in Florence was way better than Rome where its mostly been pilfered, and can be found in museums. I felt that Florence still retained its old charm - I could still see it the way it was years ago, unlike Rome.
We had good inexpensive lunch on arrabiata and pesto pasta and coffee at Caffe Martelli Snack bar near Accademia Gallery that houses Michelangelo's David.
To Be Continued..
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