One Year Away

Tara

We have added over 25 new photos to the Italy album.  Enjoy!

After spending our 2 first days settling into Italian life – a.k.a La Dolce Vita – we headed for Florence. Florence, as expected, is a bustling and touristy city in comparison to the tranquility of Varenna. The crowds and the spike in temperature made it slightly uncomfortable at times.

Our first day in Florence we decided to brave the lineups and visit the Academia, home to the statue of David, Michaelangelo’s famous marble sculpture. It was worth every Euro to see this masterpiece and was the highlight of our Florence visit. After admiring David we made our way to Ponte Vecchio, a bridge lined with jewelry merchants and breathtaking views of the city. We ended our day with a quiet takeout dinner and wine on the patio of our hotel.

It was here that we decided that 2 days would be enough in Florence. So we had the brilliant idea to rent a car and leave Florence a day early to drive around Tuscany and visit vineyards. Great idea – in theory!

We spent most of the following day walking from one side of the city to the next trying to figure out if we needed an international license… Everyone had a different answer (we asked everyone from a policeman to the person at the information office) but we preferred the answer from the car rental representative: "Me, I don’t care, but the Polizzia may if you get stopped". Then we spent the rest of the afternoon going from one rental car company to another and found that the only available car would cost us 350 euros for 2 days… Conclusion: The train it is!

The next morning we packed our luggage and took a train to Orvieto, home of Orvieto Classico wine. This picturesque city sits on a cliff in Umbria surrounded by miles of vineyards. It resembles a medieval town with fortress walls. We tried our best to wander the streets to find the nicest views or alleys. This was a short visit but half a day in Orvieto is all you need unless you use it as your "base camp" and plan early enough to get a car and drive through the area in search of a good wine tasting experience.

Next stop: Rome!