Caveman vs Modern Woman

Tonight we went back to Trattoria Burrasca that we had the lovely authentic Tuscan food from previously. This time we had gone for one reason......a Steak Fiorentine!!!

Basically, a Steak Fiorentine is a nicely seasoned, over-sized T-Bone steak, that is normally shared, in this case between two people.

Shortly after we placed our order the waiter came out with our steak to show us what we were going to get....1.1kg of T-bone....oh, we also ordered some salad (to keep Lesley happy), and a nice bottle of local red wine.

What We Were About To Eat

However, when he showed us our steak there were two different reactions at our table:

Glenn - Mmmmmmmmmmmm......Meat!!!

Lesley - Oh, that looks rather big, and there is quite a lot of fat on it, and that bone is quite big as well.

Glenn - Mmmmmmmmmmmm.....Fat!!!

I am sure you can already see how this meal is going!

The steak arrived, close to rare....yum! Lesley started to gag....so we sent it back to get it closer to Medium Rare.

Sorry, Already Started Eating It Before Photo

It was a very tasty steak, I am not sure how they season these steaks, but it does add another level of taste to it, and the chargrilled taste....yum!

However, I was completely honest, I would have to say that the actual quality of the meat is better back home......but if you are in Florence this steak is a must have!!

We finished off with a dessert of Tirumisu, for me, and Panacotta for Lesley just around the corner at Trattoria da Garibardi, they do very nice desserts here. We finished off the night with a Limoncello each......Ahh that is what I call a good feed.

 

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Giardino di Boboli

I will start this post by saying that it was quite hard to walk to and from the gardens, I think we had hit tourist pollution at its highest, there were so many tour groups walking around it was ridiculous. But having said that I must say that it was worth it, the gardens were great.

The Queue At The Ticket Booth

The gardens open at 8:15am, but we did not get there until about 10:30am, so this most probably explains why there were so many people around. We had about a 20 minute wait in the queue for tickets, but if this happens to you, just wait, it is worth it.

Exiting The Palazzo and Looking Up To The Gardens

Looking From The Gardens To The Palazzo

Garden Views Across Florence

The gardens are quite spectacular and vary quite a bit as you walk around them. You will find everything from Grottos, Fountains, Small Lakes, Treed Walks, Manicured and Structured Garden Areas, and Great Views.

Amazing Grottos

Remember..What Goes Up Will Come Down..Later

Manicured Gardens

One thing that got us the most was the hills, yes we had read that the garden were built on the Boboli Hills, but until you are going up and down them you not think about what that means. I kept looking for Sir Edmund Hillary as he must of used these hills as training for scaling Mount Everest.

Climbing Up Always Rewards With Views

Rural Looking Views

Florence Views Everywhere

You would be enjoying beautiful gardens one moment and then concentrating on your bursting lungs and burning thighs the next...one good thing is we must be getting quite fit....I know Lesley struggles a bit with her knees when we are going up and down hills and steps, but the beautiful gardens made up for it a bit.

The Porcelain Museum

Still Trying To Master Self Portraits

At the top of the gardens is the Porcelain Museum, Lesley was walking around this with a big smile on her face, and then I noticed her striding out measurements......What was she up to?

Get Rid Of The Crockery and You Have The Perfect Kitchen According To Lesley!

It turns out she loved the building, it's doors, it's windows, just everything, and she was getting ideas for her cooking class business, Simply dVine Cooking, and the ultimate kitchen layout she had been looking for.......oh this looks like it is going to be very expensive!!!

We then headed east to look at the rest of the gardens, there is so much to see!!

Lesley Wants It!!!

I got a bit panicky when we saw some of the statues, one in particular that was similar to the heads we had seen in Verona.....this sort of art gets Lesley very excited and I can hear the cheque book screaming!

This park is not as landscaped or manicured as the first section but it is just as pretty, but for different reasons, it has more trees and sloping hills going down to fountains.

Open Treelined Walks Down

Small Tree Covered Walks Down

Tranquil Walks

Some Area Appeared To Be Undiscovered

The whole thing with exploring the gardens was the quiet, even though there were a lot of people in the gardens, they are so big everyone just disappears into them.

Walkways Opened Up Onto Fountains

Walks Down To Fountain

Edge Of The Park

After quite a few hours walking, sitting, and generally exploring the gardens we found ourselves back at the Palazzo.

Spectacular Gardens Near The Palazzo

Rest Time

So we stopped for a drink (we both had Bitter Bianco's) and nibbles at the Palazzo Cafe, I think we managed to find the unhappiest waiter in Italy here, I do not think I have seen a sadder soul that really did not look like he enjoyed life, never mind his job!

Well, we had a lovely time at Giardino di Boboli, and took so many photos, it was hard to work out which ones to put in the blog. Now we are resting up, Lesley is icing her aching knees, and we are thinking about where to go tonight.

 

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The Other Side Of The River

We had a nice casual stroll day today exploring some parts of Florence on the other side of the river.

The great thing about this was the lack of tourists, also being a Monday most of the sights were closed so the streets were not to congested. There were a few people on Ponte Vecchio, but really, it was not that bad.

Looking back over Ponte Vecchio

We saw some amazing photos of Ponte Vecchio from around 1945 in a small cafe near the bridge, it was the only bridge left standing along the Fiume Arno, everything around it was devastated.

Copy Of One Of The Photos

We spent quite a while walking through streets, enjoying the peace, and just generally exploring the area.

The Quiet Streets

Cute Little Gardens Overlooking The River

The View From The Gardens Back Across The River

We passed Palazzo Pitti, we have plans to go there tomorrow and explore the Giardino di Boboli (Boboli Gardens) as they have been recommended to us by a number of people.

Palazzo Pitti

There were a number of artists displaying mainly water colours in this area. Lesley fell in love with one artists work in particular just at the end of the bridge, and sure enough we now have a set of very nice water colours to take home with us.

Where The Locals Live

Artists Near The Palaazo

Lesley Negotiating A Deal

After a nice day out we returned to a small restaurant just at the back of where we are staying that does some good quality food, we had a very very late lunch of their special Antipasti, very nice!

Yum!!

So tomorrow we are off the explore the gardens, hope it is as peaceful as today.

 

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Planning Ahead

Had another rest day, if you can call it that. Today we spent a lot of the time planning ahead, working out where to next, so really it was not that restful!

We are looking at doing a couple of weeks through Switzerland and Austria at the end of November to the beginning of December...average temperatures will be between -3 to 3 degrees, makes you shiver just thinking about it.

Then we look like heading to Spain for a while, places like Barcelona, madrid, Valencia, Granada, and Seville.

Working out accommodation as well as transport took up most of the day!

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That Pool, Again

Got up and both decided that it was a pool day today.

So we did the usual.....walked to Firenze Santa Marie Nouva Rail Station, bought our bus tickets from the Newspaper Stand, and jumped on the 17C bus to the Cascine Park where the pool is. We go to the end of the line, Kenndey stop, and then walk through the lovely park to the pool.

Pathway To The Pool

Parkland

Pool Comes Into Sight

Then we spend a nice relaxing day swimming, sun bathing, and just chilling out.

 

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Rest

Well, we did absolutely nothing today. It was more of a rest up day after the last three very busy days.

So we did our usual email catch-ups, trip organising, and just taking it easy.

Ate in and ate a lot healthier than what we have been for a while, a guess you could say we took today off to recharge our batteries.

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Lerici - An Italian Secret

After yesterday's terrible attempted visit to Cinque Terre and the massive crowds, we were a bit concerned about our planned visit to Portofino.

We had a chat to the hotel staff who informed us that Cinque Terre through to Portofino are excessively overcrowded at this time of year.....they suggested we should try a place called Lerici, it is where the Italians go to holiday and is quieter as the overseas tourists are more interested in Cinque Terre. They also told us it is a favoured beach resort and quite different to Portofino, but very nice.

It was very actually very easy to get to Lerici from La Spazia, just a 20 minute bus ride through the town and down the coast, so we purchased our return tickets for 10 Euros at the Tabacchi shop next door to the hotel and walked 100m to the bus stop.

We were on a bus full of locals, each had their bathing gear under their arms ready for a day out at the beach. We got off at the first stop beside Lireci's beach along with nearly everyone else. Our goal today was to walk from the little Castle of San Terenzo to the large Castle Lerici along the beachfront and the Lido edging on the Gulf Of Poets...this area is called the Gulf Of Poets due to the large numbers of poets that visited here many years ago, such as Byron and Shelley.

The Bus Stop Near Castle San Terenzo

The weather and location were perfect, today got into the low 30's, there was a nice sea breeze coming across the gulf, and the walk along the waters edge had lots of trees and shade, and the crowds were non-existant

Along The Main Street

The Public and Private Beaches

Across The Harbour and Gulf To Portovenere

Portovenere, Palmeria and Tino Across The Gulf

The town itself is a lot larger than Portofino, it is a beach resort and has a couple of bays, the town itself has some very pretty aspects to it and the larger castle, Castello di Lerici is quite spectacular. The views from Lerici across the gulf are beautiful, with views of Portovenere, and the islands of Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto.

Looking Back To Castle San Terenzo

Looking Forward To Castello di Lerici

Lesley On The Lido

Shadey Trees

We finally got to the base of the Castello di Lerici and found a great little bar to have a rest at, you guessed it, with a nice cold Spritz Campari and those free nibbles they give you.

Our Favourite Time Of Day!

After a good relax and a couple of Spritz Campari's it was time to find somehwere to eat. We found a nice little seafood restaurant just behind Piazzetta Da Vasco and chose a spaghetti dish each...you cannot beat fresh seafood!!!

The Back Streets Of Lerici

Piazzetta Da Vasco

Lesley had Mixed Seafood, I had Anchovies and Capers

After lunch it was off to the nearby bus stop to the rail station, and the next train back to Florence......let me tell you 2.5 hours on a train, after a great day out, seems like forever! On the way back I snapped a photo of the quarried mountains near Carrara that we could see from La Spezia, we believe that these quarries supplied the building materials for the Leaning Tower Of Pisa.....they do look amazing.

The Amazing Quarried Mountains Near Carrara

Soon after pulling into Firenze Santa Maria Novella rail station, we were back in our room thinking about going to bed, it had been a hectic three days, but fun!

 

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