Tuesday, July 13, 2010

EuroTour 2010, Day 14, Rimini to Florence

Time to leave the Adriatic and drive to Tuscany.  But first, breakfast.

I do not show you the fruit and muesli, but I do show you the breakfast view.

Lon purchased white chocolate spoons.  Here they are, resting on the Volvo, ready for a drive.

Not sure why, but I quite enjoy the highway signs in other countries.  And the list of foods in the USA that are cities in Italia is, how you say, long.  (Add an a to long, as in, longa.)

According to google maps, we could drive 300 km going North to Bologna and then South to Florence, or we could drive 200 km straight East, through small towns and such.  Google maps also estimates the drive time the same, either way.  We opted for the latter, since who knows what traffic you will hit in a major city like Bologna (we saw some bumper to bumper passing through the first time) and perhaps the slower drive would be more scenic.

The first area we saw was outside Forli, which is clearly the Napa Valley of Italia.  Nothing but vineyards and wineries, as far as the eye could see.

Let us call this Dovadola, one of the dozen or so villages we passed through.  Every village was the same; a school, a tavern, a ristorante, a few apartments, and then small roads heading out to rural homes and farmland.

When wine country eded, we found ourselves unexpectedly climbing up a winding mountain road.  It turns out we are passing through the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines.  These mountains are simply gorgeous, and home to the Parco Nazionale delle Foreste Casentinesi Monte Falterona Campigna.  Is it not amazing how easy it is to translate sometimes?

We stopped in San Godenzo, which is at the very top of the mountain.  As I took this picture, I said, "Lon is a happy camper."  Then a few seconds later...

... a happy camper passed by!

We walked into this shop and ordered sandwiches.

Barbie's sandwich; prosciutto inside bread.

My sandwich; prosciutto and cheese, inside bread.  Lemon iced tea for me, three cokes for the cohorts.

One will rarely eat at a prettier, more isolated place than this.  There is not another community for miles in either direction, and they are hidden by hills.

The Volvo, parked across from the restaurant, looking isolated in the forrest.

Lon picked up cheese puffs, named Flipper.  You may not know this, but to avoid the F-word in the Mormon community they say, "Flip."  For fun, Barbie and I use the words flip and flipper a lot, and I call her, "Flipper," instead of, well, effer.  And now you know why I loved that Lon's Italian cheese puffs are named Flipper.

The Tuscan-Emilian Apennines.

The Tuscan-Emilian Apennines.

We drove up this incredibly narrow street on the way to our hotel.  You cannot really tell, but those walls are probably less than two feet further apart than the width of our car.  Barbie, the trooper, drove through slowly without hesitation.

Now... we are staying at Il Salviatino.  This is a Tuscan villa, a mansion to be honest, recently converted into a boutique hotel.  It is without question remarkable.  But you will see none of it today.  Tomorrow I promise that I will walk around and give you a photo-tour of the estate.  Perhaps even video.  Until then, it remains a mystery.

After seeing our room, we hopped back into the Volvo one last time to return it to the other side of town.  In traffic.  But there was a pot of gold at the end of that rainbow; we would be near Barbie's favorite gelateria in Florence.

The Volvo, returned to a Hertz garage, seen for the last time.

Wait here your car, indeed.

The foursome walking along the Arno, towards gelato.

Barbie enjoying herself immensely.  I did not have my own, but I did have some of hers.

The view of the Piazza Santo Spirito.  To the right, where you find the main piazza, is a location where retreating Nazi's publicly murdered freedom fighters and political opponents, as they knew they would soon lose Florence.

Driving up the Via Lungo l'Affrica, back to the hotel.  "Africa along the way."

I will not show you the hotel yet, but this is the view of Florence from our rooftop veranda.  Open it in a new window and you will see the large, red tile dome of the Duomo and the smaller blue dome of the Tempio Maggiore, the synagogue.

Dinner in the hotel.  Barbie and I are sharing.

Zucchini tart with a stuffed zucchini flower.

A taste of Lon's white beans and bacon.

Pasta with meat ragu.

Barbie wanted me to try to get a picture of these breadsticks.  It was dark out there.  Very dark.  How dark?

A picture without flash.

As we dined, we got hear the cheers of the audience at a rock concert in the soccer stadium. 

The red circle on the right is the soccer stadium.  The camera did not pick up the dancing light show which streamed out of it.  The red circle on the right is the Duomo.

It is seriously time for bed.

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