Thursday,13 May 2010

Had breakfast early (for us) and walked about 1.5 Ks to the Uffizi Gallery and arrived at the end of a small queue at about 8.00am. After going through airline type security, we were in by 8.30am with a big line behind us - note for the Uffizi - go early and go hard. The Uffizi is one of the world's great art galleries and we were suitably impressed. When we entered it was raining lightly, as it was for much of yesterday - when we left the sun was shining and the streets were full of people. We wandered around down to Sante Croce then back towards the Duomo, having coffee in a bar and a light lunch in what was essentially a sandwhich place. Tour groups everywhere in the streets with the guides speaking into little microphones and the group members listening on earpieces. July & August must be pandemonium here. Louise then went for some serious shopping without her hand-brake, while I walked down via Piazza della SS Annunziata which had a bunch of Africans protesting about something watched over by tough looking riot police. Coffee and a read of the paper in Bar Santa Reparata. We had a drink later in our hotel with our ever-obliging host Roberto, then dinner at Antica Trattoria Da Titto on Via S Gallo - bruschetta, good, osso bucco, OK, and pork stuffed with blue cheese and proscuitto, very good - also Rucola salad which we think is rocket. We finished with "lemon digestive" which they brought out in a bottle with no lable - tasted great but a kick later.

Some observations about Italy.
1. We have found the managers/owners of hotels to be extremely obliging, offering to help you with things far beyond what would normally be expected, eg changing the wheel on the car.
2. No one wants to be paid in advance - call and make a reservation at a hotel or b & b and you are not asked for a credit card guarantee - in small cafes or bars you just order your coffee and pay for it when you are ready to leave.
3. Coffee is great (if you drink long black ask for Americano) - by all means sit at the outdoor tables and be waited on and watch the world go by, it is part of being a tourist in Europe, just be prepared to pay a lot for the priviledge - in the main tourist areas it could be as high is A$8.00 for a coffee - on the other hand, go to a small hole in the wall bar, even in the main tourist areas, order at the counter and pay around A$1.60 for exactly the same coffee - you can still sit down at the little tables inside.
4. Pasta is great but is generally considered to be an entre (prima plate) - for a light dinner it is good but not substantial - it seems the norm is to have a pasta dish then a main course dish which is sometimes a bit too much.
5. Lunch is a bit like coffee - pay a lot to sit outside at a table, or very little, as low as A$4.00, for a panini and a juice in a small bar or lunch place - very good value - pizza slices also good value.
6. Even in the narrow streets of Siena and Florence there is a safe feeling, however caution is always wise - violence appears to be rare but petty theft is possible.
7. Alcohol is everywhere but you never see anyone drunk.
8. Men and women dress very well, an obvious statement, but this does not deter them from riding a push-bike.
9. Scooters are very common, also fairly obvious - saw just one example of three people on one scooter.
10. The narrow streets in the larger citys seem chaotic but the traffic actually flows very well with very little tooting of horns and no road rage (this may be different in the south).