There's a ritual practiced by Italians all over this country. Each night, before dinner, you put on your best threads and shake your tail feathers out in public in a slow stroll around the main piazze in town. We're still getting the hang of this, so instead of a preening passeggiata around the Piazza della Repubblica or the Piazza Santa Croce, we went on a 4 kilometer stroll up a huge hill on the other side of the Arno at about 7 this evening.
We took this walk directly out of our Lonely Planet Florence, which suggested we begin at the Ponte Vecchio. This is the only bridge not destroyed during World War II, and it's lined with jewelers and folks hawking paintings off of blankets. Today, they were joined by a young Japanese man phonetically singing "The Day the Music Died," which added a more surreal touch to the proceedings.
The area immediately across the Arno was jammed with people, but we took a quick left onto the Costa di San Giorgio and the crowds thinned almost immediately. This road takes you right up a fairly steep hill.
Yes, you share the space with cars.
After just a few minutes of panting your way up the hill (I would not recommend this walk in the middle of a sunny day!) you reach the house Galileo lived in during the first half of the 17th century. It's beautifully restored, but does not appear to house a museum or anything of the sort. I'll have to go back and research.
But it DOES move! Though there are apparently some, even now, who might like to argue with Galileo.
At the top of the hill, the road evens out and goes through a 13th-century gate in the town's medieval walls, the Porta di San Giorgio.
Right through this gate is a giant fortress, the Forte di Belvedere. Through August 31, they're having a cultural festival there, with a restaurant and bar (of course!) and exhibit on what looked to be 20th century Italian art. We're thinking about going back tomorrow, so I'll report back if we do.
Through the gate, the road's name changes to the Via di San Leonardo. This stretch, though nice, is not that interesting - it's mostly made up of these walls that are too tall to see over, punctuated every once in a while by gates you can't really see through. The little bits between the bars do afford pretty views of the valleys below.
Plus, every once in a while there's an only-in-Italy moment.
Very suddenly, a major intersection springs up from behind one of the walls along the side of the road. Why, it's the Viale Galileo Galilei!
This road seems to be a major thoroughfare for traffic heading out of Florence, though it has some really lovely views back into town across a valley. It's a nice street to walk along, since it's lined with trees that keep you sheltered from the traffic.
Plus, you get these truly amazing views off to the left.
Eventually, this road deposits you in the Piazzale Michelangelo, a large piazza holding a big bronze copy of Michelangelo's David. From here, you can see just about all of Florence's major sites, including the Duomo, the Palazzo Vecchio, and Santa Croce.
Especially at twilight, when we were there, the view was completely unbelievable.
However, one can only take in sights like these for so long when one has gone at least three hours without eating, right? So, back to the house for dinner.
Our route back to our flat took us past Santa Croce.
Seeing this building reminds me exactly how insane it is that we're actually living in this town.
At home, Husbear put together a meal with some fresh gnocchi we picked up at the mercato centrale today, along with a pasta sauce made with raw tomatoes, basil, and cubed mozzarella.
As Husbear said, this gnocchi was the best he'd had that he didn't make himself or get at a good restaurant. I think that's actually pretty high praise! We'll have to try more fresh pasta from that stand at the mercato centrale.
Sorry, folks, but I'm fading fast here. Bedtime for Girlie!
girlie
