Italy (2023) - Auditore da Firenze

Day 0 - Years ago, I was into a video game, Assassin’s Creed. One of the most popular protagonists in that game is Ezio Auditore da Firenze. To this day, I still think he’s one of the coolest characters in gaming. So much so that when Cynthia was pregnant, I suggested Ezio as a baby name if it was a boy. Why do I bring up this random game at the start of this travel journal? Because since playing that game, I’ve wanted to visit Florence, and I finally have the chance.

Our good friends, Johannes and Raquel, accompany us on this trip. Johannes was also a fan of Assassin’s Creed, so it was only fitting that they come along. To give you an inkling of his thought process, when I proposed going to Florence, he first said: “We should wear hoodies like Ezio.”

This trip was put together only three months in advance. And in contrast to other trips, I am trying to avoid the anxiety-inducing need to put everything on an itinerary or have everything planned or researched. I’ve only looked at a few things I want to do, and the rest will be more of an ebb and flow, discovery, and exploration. We have friends from the University of Miami, Raph and Adri, who seem to go on these fantastic trips where they explore and discover as they go along; it almost seems haphazard, but it always produces fantastic stories. I want this trip to be like that.

Lately, because of Luna, we’ve come up with a new family motto, it’s the family motto for 2023, and we’ll apply it to this trip, too: “Let’s See What Happens.”

Day 1 - Of Flights and Italian Punctuality

Going into this trip, I was skeptical of ITA Airways. Their website left a lot to be desired and I thought it was a bad sign when all their emails arrived in Italian instead of English. My skepticism was unfounded. Our travel from Miami to Rome went off without any issues. From boarding to take off to landing, everything went smoothly. We landed at exactly the time they said we would.

From the airport, we walked towards the connected train station. We were early, so we sat around and enjoyed some Brioches, which really were two croissants. The train arrived early. We boarded and sat in our business class seats. Then the train rolled away exactly at the specified time.

Here’s the thing, everyone commented on how things in Italy don’t run on time; but so far, everything has run smoothly. After passing Rome, the countryside opened up and we began to see the beauty of this place sprawled before us: Rolling hills, orchards, villas perched on hill tops, and snow-capped mountains.

The train staff provided us drinks and food, something we weren’t expecting - maybe I should have read the description of services for business class passed “Leather reclining seats.”

After two hours and a bit, we disembarked in Florence. Immediately, we began the stroll toward out rental. Florence is a pretty city with old architecture, buildings, monuments, statues, fountains, and lots of luxury stores. I can’t wait to fully explore this place. On arriving to the rental, we made the arduous climb of more than 110 steps to the top of our building to arrive at our unit. This place is AMAZING. Exposed wooden beams, brick floors, multiple bedrooms, balconies, and curiously enough - two full bathrooms side by side.

We dropped off our things and ended up in a small restaurant Vineria del Re. A glass enclosed restaurant where we ordered pasta dishes. I ended up getting a Pici dish with cheese and pepper, and Cynthia ordered a Spaghetti Pomodoro. On the other hand, Raquel ordered a Fettuccini Alfredo, to which the waiters immediately flipped our table over and kicked us out. That may be a slight fabrication. Our table hassled Raquel for ordering a very American pasta dish.

Everything came out great!

Now, we are sitting in the unit, settling in.

Tomorrow we are visiting, the Galleria Dell’Accademia to see the David statue.

Day 2 - Of David & Steaks

It appears everyone woke up last night at 2:00 AM. I woke up because I was hot. I looked at my phone and happened to get a text from Johannes who was sending me a link to a Cuban bakery about 30 minutes from where we are staying.

Still, it took us all a while to get up. I was the first to get up and dressed, heading out to get baked goods. Whenever I am in Europe, I start the day with baked goods. The place was called Il Forno - so good!

Once I got back to the building, I climbed the 110 steps back up.

At 9:30 AM we made our way north by foot towards Galleria Dell’Acedemia. Thankfully we booked a Skip The Line Ticket. The standard entrance was packed with people. We walked straight in. Once inside we were greeted by a large statue, and dozens of religious-oriented paintings. The majority of the art in the Galleria is centered on Catholic venerated themes, such as the coronation of Mary, the crucifixion, and other themes.

The main draw to the Galleria is the statue of David. Located in a specifically designed vestibule, the David stands tall amid a sea of people and camera phones. It’s hard to capture the artistry of this piece in photos. Being able to see the details, the texture of the marble, the scope of it, the David is a masterpiece for a reason. I took my usual photos, making sure to be respectful of the sculpture and the people around me.

Another breakout section of the Galleria is a wing of just busts and sculptures. As soon as I walked into this wing, I turned to Cynthia and said: “this room is a bust.” She replied, “It seems everyone lost their marbles.” To which I replied, “We are between a rock and a hard place.” To which she replied, “It looks like everyone here is plastered.” Mmmm Dad jokes.

Luna did so well, she loved the statues and said that some of them were Rapunzel and “Mother.” It was only after being there for two hours that she became a bit ornery. Once we left the Galleria, we went to Pizzagnolo where we at an Amatriciana pizza. Our waitress was Peruvian.

Jo and Raquel headed out on their own, while we took Luna back up the 110 steps to the apartment and a nap.

In the evening we took a leisurely stroll toward the Mercato Centrale, only to find out they have a huge food court on the second floor. We perused the offerings and we all decided to get dry-aged Florentine tomahawk steaks. Wow! Amazing. Jo and I drank Aperol Spritz - we’re in Italy, it’s fine.

Once we finished we grabbed gelato and headed back to the apartment.

Tomorrow we are headed to Pisa for sure, just not sure if we’ll include Lucca or not.

Day 3 - Of Pisa & Lucca

Today was a fun day. It was also a day where the Italian trains have stood against their reputation - every leg was on-time and ran smoothly. Here’s what we did:

We woke up early and made our way to the train station by 8:20 AM to catch the train to Pisa Centrale at 8:53. The train arrived and left on time. The ride was uneventful. We arrived at Pisa and made the long walk towards the Leaning Tower. One of our friends commented to me a while back that the area surrounding Pisa is dangerous and full of suspicious characters. Based on that description, I was on alert. But, all we found were average Italian streets with residents going about their day.

After an 18 minute walk, the leaning tower appeared from behind a set of trees. We slowly approached the complex and were greeted by a throng of people. There were so many people doing the touristy thing where you hold up the tower. So.Many.People. We walked around the tower, the cathedral and a third building. While we did so, we admired the architecture, the details in the structures and its facade. The tower, although seen so often in photos, is an impressive edifice without the leaning aspect. On its own, it’s pretty spectacular.

From there we swung by a little cafe and had a snack, then walked to Pisa Rossore, a train station that is a bit closer. It’s here where we walked by some beautiful homes, but evet 30 feet or so were some highly suspicious guys just hanging around cars, always in twos, some on bikes. They were spread out pretty evenly, and you could tell they were communicating with each other. This is probably what my friend meant by there being suspicious characters. We arrived at the station and took the short 20-minute train to Lucca.

Lucca is a medieval town surrounded by large city walls. From the outset, Lucca was charming. This town had a very old world feel to it. Everything about it oozed European charm. Surrounding the city, the top section of the wall has been turned into a walking park. We slowly meandered through the city, not really going to any particular destination. At one point, I lead us to the “amphitheatre,” this was a large circular area surrounded by buildings. I’ve never seen anything like it, but it reminded me of a large town square where most likely, the majority of the town would arrive to buy, sell and socialize.

Once done there, we explored some more and took the long way back to the train station via the wall route. It was a nice leisurely stroll through a huge park.

We arrived in Firenze safe and sound and on time.

After climbing 110 steps, we made our way to Osteria del Fiore since Raquel wanted Pici pasta and it was highly rated on TripAdvisor for its pasta. I had Fusilli in Pesto, and Cynthia had a pasta whose name she doesn’t remember, Luna had a steak - she only ate a small bit, I ate the rest.

To end the night, we rode the carousel with Luna and then got gelatos.

All in all, a great day that went smoothly and was thoroughly enjoyable. Italy is pretty awesome.

Day 4 - Of Ponte Vecchio, Piazza de Michelangelo & Locked Buildings

The plan was to be up by 8:00 AM. Most of our group didn’t get up until 9:30-10:00. I got up at 8:30, got dressed, and found another bakery since Il Forno was closed. After acquiring an assortment of croissants (Brioches), I meandered around a nearby square and stumbled upon the Uffizi Gallery. Interestingly, croissants are typically called a French pastry. Still, in just about every country I’ve traveled to, there are croissants done in the way of that culture - Swiss, Irish, Austrian, Icelandic, and now Italian. I feel it’s no longer a French pastry but a world pastry.

Once everyone got ready, we made our way to Ponte Vecchio. We spied all the gold, jewels, and watches along this heavily populated bridge. From there, we aimlessly wandered the streets south of the river, stopping at a tiny cafe for coffee; I drank an Aperol spritz, because Italy.

From there, we walked toward Piazza de Michelangelo, which took us down the river, eventually climbing up a hill to reach a panoramic vantage point. It was beautiful to behold Florence from this vantage point. In a balcony below us was a guy filming what seemed to be a reggaeton video while a girl aimlessly walked around him. Once we walked around, we ended up in another cafe for a small meal.

The walk back to town was leisurely; we enjoyed this town's scenes and ambiance.

When we got back to our apartment, the key to the front door of the building didn’t work. It flat out wouldn’t turn in the lock. Thankfully someone let us in, but this began an ordeal that we are still unsure how it will play out. As it stands, the owner of this unit came by and tried his key, no luck. He flat-out told me: “I don’t know what to do for you.” He left.

We tried vaseline on the lock, we tried degreaser, and a bed and breakfast offered a code to the front door but never got back to the owner. The plan is to have the building’s superintendent to give it a try. If it’s not fixed by the time we get back from Siena, we will go to another hotel.

We’ll see what happens.

Because of this issue, we had to take turns eating dinner. I made reservations at a tiny hole-in-the-wall spot called Ristorante Dante e Beatrice. The waiters were friendly, and the service was excellent. I had risotto, Cynthia had Spaghetti, and Luna had steak. I highly recommend it.

Once we got home, we sat around, drank another bottle of wine, and planned our trip for tomorrow: Siena.

Day 5 - Of Siena & The Constant Fear of Being Run Over

Today was another travel day. We woke up early and walked to the train station. The route to Siena would take about an hour and a half. The ride went smoothly, and eventually we arrived in the picturesque town of Siena. The only problem is that Google Maps took us into the city through a more modern (not pretty), part of town. But once we crossed through the city gates into the historic center, Siena turned into the Tuscan gem we were expecting. On the bright side of things, we discovered a full grocery store!

That may not be exciting for you. But for us on this trip, we’ve yet to find a full grocery store in Florence. Everything has been tiny bodega type places where they have laundry detergent, but not dish liquid. Or they have bath soap, but they don’t have deodorant - things like that.

Anyway, we made our way through this old town, perusing the different architecture, materials and ornamentation of each building. So many of these buildings looked like they were one huge building, but you could see the clear delineation from one building to the next. Not by a gap in between the buildings, but because the bricks from one building to another would abruptly change, same with windows, frames, and statues.

A note about Siena and statues. There’s statues of a wolf all over the town. It’s a curiosity. Some of the statues have two young children suckling on the wolf - super weird. Well, legend has it, that the town was founded by two young men, who when they were babies, had to flee into the forest to survive assassination. A she-wolf suckled and raised the two boys. So, when they grew up, they returned, took back the throne, named it Siena, and made the She-Wolf the symbol of the city.

We made our way through the town and eventually ended up in the Piazza de Campo, which is a large fan-like piazza. Once there, we found a restaurant, sat outside and enjoyed a meal while watching the people in the piazza. It made me think about what this place was like 500 years ago. Who was here, in this very spot? What were people doing, what buildings were around?

After the meal, we slowly made our way back through the town and towards the train station. This time, Google Maps took us through a much better route.

The trip to Siena was short and required a bit of travel to get there and back, but it was lovely.

When we arrived back in Florence, Cynthia and I took a walk around by ourselves, bought Luna a necklace and ate a cannoli. It was nice to get some time to ourselves on the town. We also got a bit of time to visit one of the leather markets.

For dinner, I made reservations at Osteria Da Caterina. This was a tiny restaurant, but the food and service were amazing. I had a purple Gnocchi in gorgonzola sauce - wow! Also an Aperol Spritz; don’t judge me.

So here’s something about Florence that you don’t hear about in YouTube and in travel shows. You’re in danger of being run over by a car EVERYWHERE. Any street, at any time, it doesn’t matter how many pedestrians are there. It can be in a square, a town center, by the Duomo, next to a restaurant - at any moment there will be a car coming at you or coming from behind. It’s the wildest thing I’ve experienced in a major European city. Sometimes it feels like you will be hit by a car while you’re sleeping in your bed. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. When you get run over by a SmartCar Taxi while you’re eating gelato, don’t say: “Jovanni didn’t say anything about this!” I did, there are cars everywhere, and scooters and motorbikes; and they do not care about you. Ciao!

Tomorrow, we are staying in Firenze and taking in the last bit of this town before heading to Rome. It’s also mine and Cynthia’s anniversary. Hooray!

Day 6 - Of Uffizi & The Best Sandwiches in Firenze

It’s our 14th anniversary today!

Today we stayed within the city limits of Florenze. We slept in a little, about 8:15. I got up and made my way downstairs to find a bakery to get some breakfast pastries. All the previous fornos were closed, oddly enough; it’s Tuesday. Still, I found a cafe that was open. I bought the usual two plain brioche (croissants), two vanilla, and two chocolate.

It’s interesting how Italian businesses, or even European businesses run in comparison to American businesses. Here, business are open when they’re open - catch me when I am here, if not, tough luck. Whereas American businesses are open all-the-time-forever-always. On the one hand, I appreciate that Europeans don’t treat work as their life, on the other hand, it’s annoying when you go to a business and it’s closed during what seems to be normal business hours. I prefer the European way, to be honest.

Once I got back, we ate and headed to the Uffizi gallery. This impressive collection dates back to the 1300 or 1400s. There’s pieces for several different artists, but the standouts are Boticelli, Leonardo Di Vinci, Michealangelo, and Rafaelo. Some notable pieces were on display, and they were nice to behold. Like the Galleria Dell’Academia, a lot of the pieces were religious in nature, focusing a lot of attention on the coronation of the Virgin, the crucifixion, and with scenes depicting Roman and Greek mythology. It was interesting seeing these differing mythos being displayed together.

The Uffizi can take longer than two hours if you do both floors, but because of Luna, we only stayed for two hours and say the top floor. The layout of the gallery is interesting; the main artery of traffic is a showcase of Roman sculptures, while side-rooms exhibit works of “the masters.” It’s a nice layout.

After the gallery, we walked down the river toward Ponte Vecchio, where we found a small cafe while we waited for Johannes and Raquel to finish. In this little cafe, we had some of the best sandwiches and gelato we’ve had all trip. No research, no knowing - we saw a cute cafe and we went for it. The woman who attended us was cheerful and helpful. Everything we had there was so good - It’s called Caffe’delle Carrozze.

After the cafe, we did some gift shopping in the leather market, and eventually made our way home.

Once Luna woke up, we left her with Johannes and Raquel, while Cynthia and I went out for an anniversary dinner. We ate at the Auditore Ristorante Braceria. The food was superb, although I felt a little bamboozled by the steak prices. We ordered a steak for the two of us, only to later find out it was $100. We tried to relate it to what a meal like this would cost in Miami. The steak alone would have been more than $100 and not as good quality. It was nice to have a meal just the two of us to celebrate our anniversary.

Once we got back, we gave Luna the left over steak, which she promptly ate up. The plan is to get some gelato tonight, with some horse carousel rides for Luna.

Tomorrow we have a very early train to Rome, where we will spend the next two days.

Florence has been a great destination, and we’d like to visit it again soon.

Day 7 - Of While in Rome

We bid Firenze farewell this morning, leaving our apartment at 7:00 AM and making the sad trek to the train station. Another business class train, this time back to Rome. The ride was uneventful, I got some work done on my laptop.

At 10:00 we arrived in Rome and quickly made our way out of the Rome Termini. I’d always suspected that Rome was like other major European cities. A metropolitan center with the typical Euro trappings, but marked with vestiges of an ancient or at least storied past. Rome was exactly that, but unlike Florence, which was basically immaculate, it’s dirty, graffitied, and not entirely charming.

With luggage in tow, we arrived to our hotel. Our room wasn’t ready, so we left everything in Johannes’ and Raquel’s room. I had created an itinerary that would take us from the hotel to the Trevi Fountain, to the Spanish Steps, to the Piazza de Poppolo.

Navigating Rome isn’t difficult, but it’s not easy. Many routes had several turns, often with multiple cross-walks; there’s also traffic everywhere. We knew we were getting close to Trevi fountain because we came across several tour groups walking past us. Once we arrived, we were greeted by a mob of people taking Instagram-worthy photos, all highly posed; there were also selfies, lots and lots of selfies. Getting through the crowd with a stroller was not fun, but Johannes and Raquel went to the far end of the fountain where not many people hovered. We got to spend a few minutes just sitting there enjoying the fountain, taking photos, and pretend-dunking Luna into the fountain because she was obsessed with going into the water.

From there, we made our way to the Spanish Steps. You know you’re near this landmark because the Spanish embassy is nearby, and because there’s more mobs of people wandering around. Like in other major landmarks, there’s the Instagram stars, the selfie experts, and the large groups posing for photos. It’s tough to get good shots in this place because there’s just so many people. It was still nice to see because my brother proposed to his now-wife in this spot. The steps have multiple levels which eventually end in a church, because Europe.

We climbed the stairs and took photos and enjoyed the view.

Once done, we stopped off at a cafe for a light lunch.

We ended the tour for the day walking to the Piazza de Poppolo. This piazza appears out of nowhere, one second you’re walking in between tall buildings and a few ancient buildings, then all of a sudden, the piazza opens up before you. It’s a sprawling square with a fountain and obelisk at its center, with two fountains on either end. We visited the fountains and enjoyed the time there. Luna wanted to run everywhere, there was nothing to stop her. Couple this freedom with fountains and she was absolutely thrilled.

From the Piazza we made the very long walk back to the hotel, where we again had to navigate the streets of Rome, filled with cars, shops, people, trash, oddly parked vehicles, weird cross-walks, but charmingly enough - streets lined with orange trees.

At the hotel, we took a nap.

For dinner, I made reservation at a restaurant that was literally 30 feet from our hotel - Culinaria. Wow! This place looks like you’re inside a basement wine cellar, the kitchen is open to everyone through glass, and the staff is just two people. It’s a quaint, cozy, superbly charming place. But was the food good? Yes! Oh yes! This was so good, the four of us immediately agreed that for tomorrow, we’re just going to come back. Forget all the restaurants in Rome, this is where we wanted to be. All the pasta dishes were the best we’ve had this entire trip.

Tomorrow, we have tickets to see the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and attached gardens, and we have plans to see the Pantheon. It’s our last day on holiday in Italy.

Day 8 - Of Gladiators and Ruins

This is our final full day in Italy while on holiday. We began with a long 35 minute walk from our hotel to the Roman Coliseum. When booking our visit to the coliseum, there was specific availability, so I figured the crowds would be limited. Nope! The coliseum was a sea of people; everywhere we turned there were people. This made it difficult to take photos of the coliseum or its surroundings without having a bunch of people in the shot.

I hate crowds, it’s partially why I tend to travel to Europe during the colder months. Add the anxiety of having Luna with us, and it made appreciating where we were to be a bit more difficult.

Still, being in this ancient place was impressive. The sheer scale of it, the history behind it, it’s fascinating and amazing. This feeling of wonderment is enhanced by the supplementary commentary from our audio guide that narrates the details of the coliseum. How the bottom levels could be flooded to create “sea battles,'“ how the ground could move and shift with a series of pulleys and levers, how exotic animals could “appear” from nowhere. It’s all impressive considering how old this place is.

The audio guide also details how people sat in this place, how men and women did not sit together, how each level was designated for certain classes of people from the emperor, to senators to middle class to the commoners.

The arena itself just looks like a maze of corridors and archways; it required an extra ticket to visit. It’s impressive to think that beneath the floor of the arena they housed the gladiators, the animals, and so many other things.

We stayed there about two hours, the crowds annoyed us and we saw what we came to see. But the people were ridiculous - couples waxing poetic on the romanticism of the age while on a balcony where a line of people waited to take a photo. Or people wanting to take photos of their partners from across large distances, holding up traffic. Or folks walking way too close. Or weird men who would look at Luna and hover around us. Thankfully Cynthia and I have pretty gnarly angry faces.

From the coliseum we made our way to the sprawling Roman Forum. It’s had to appreciate this place from the ground because from ground-level, it looks like a series of ruins that are scattered around a large square that’s about 50 feet beneath the city’s main elevation. The forum includes many buildings and structures, from temples to store houses, to archways leading to where the emperor would stand; it’s all pretty amazing to see power diminished to dust, grandeur relegated to distant memory. It reminded me how, despite man’s best efforts, nothing they create is permanent; even Rome, one of the greatest empires to ever exist, just lay here before us in ruins, a spectacle for people for people to see for 16 euros.

One gets a greater appreciation for the Roman Forum when viewed from up top. There you can see a clearer delineation between buildings and public spaces. What’s so interesting is how these structures were built by one emperor, only to be destroyed or altered by another emperor hundreds of years later. It made me laugh because in Miami we are impressed when a building is standing for 50 years.

From the Forum, we began making our way back to the hotel, stopping at a quaint little cafe that had bad service, got our orders all wrong, and was just not a great experience. It was the worst experience in a cafe we’ve had all trip!

Once we got to the hotel, we took a nap along with Luna.

At 6:30 we made reservation to eat again at Culinaria. This place was so good we came again! Dinner was amazing again! We enjoyed our last full meal in Rome.

Summary - Of a Tale of Five Cities

It’s been a week since our holiday in Italy has come to an end. There’s been plenty of time to process the events, the places, the people, and everything else. Here goes:

Florence/Firenze is a beautiful and vibrant city that’s filled with culture, art, food, history, and shopping. It was clean while maintaining the old-world charm you’d expect from such an ancient place. I could have spent another week there, for sure. I loved my morning walks to get baked goods for everyone, enjoying watching the people set up their merchant carts for the day, food being delivered, the streets being swept; it was a city waking up each morning and I got to see it. I loved the tiny little markets where asking a simple question about wine or cured meats resulted in a fifteen-minute lesson on the history of the region in regard to those foods. I loved 5 Euro Aperol spritz. I loved pasta and Florentine steaks. I loved being able to take Luna every night to the carousel and see how excited she’d be. I loved being able to celebrate our anniversary in such a charming place.

The day trips were also special, Pisa was fun as was Siena. But, the breakout star was Luca. Even now, as I sit and write this final entry, I long to stroll the perimeter park. I want to go back and sit at a cafe in the square or along a small street and watch the people go by.

Rome is the type of city, much like Los Angeles, that I can visit once and be okay not going back. I appreciated the historical significance of it; the ruins, the buildings, and how you can be walking along modern architecture and suddenly hit some ancient site. The historical sites were impressive, but full of people. Rome was not charming; it was busy and chaotic. Still, within the haze of cars, people, motorbikes and oddly angled streets, there are gems to be found. Culinaria gave us some of the best meals I’ve ever had while traveling.

I know a trip was good when a week later I am still thinking about it, I feel the pull to return. I want to go back and walk the streets, eat the food, and once again escape into Europe.

While driving with Luna this week, this interchange happened, and I think this is where I’ll end the blog:

Luna: “Poppa?”

Me: “Yeah, baby?”

Luna: “I want to go to New Home (her name for our apartment in Florence).”

Me: “Me too, baby, me too.”