We spent three nights in Florence, right in the heart of Tuscany. Getting outside of the city was my favourite part, seeing the rolling green hills and rows upon rows of empty grape vines was beautiful. Florence itself is famous for being the heart of the renaissance where people like da vinci, michelangelo, leonardo once lived and worked. The were a ton of galleries and museums to visit but by that point we had seen so many of those type things we opted for a morning walking tour and because we liked it so much, an afternoon tour as well. Through these tours we learned a lot about what life was like in Florence during the medieval period and then the renaissance era. During the medieval period the city was made up of tens of stone towers that people built and lived in to be able to protect themselves from the constant fighting that was occuring between those who supported the pope and those who supported the king. Supposedly, when one one of families that lived in then tower was defeated in a fight, to shame them or demostrate their lower rank, the winner would cut down a level or two of the losers tower. Scattered throughout Florence you can see these medieval towers of varying heights. During the renaissance period, control of the city was sought after by two rival banker families, the Medicis and Pazzis. The story of these families and similar stories in other cities across Italy gave some insight into where Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet feud between the Montagues and Capulets originated and why it was set in fair Verona, the city we are waiting in at this very moment to catch a train to Milan.
After Florence we took the train to Venice to see the city of amore. When you step out of the train station you immediately get to see one of the city's famous canals. The first day was sunny and beautiful and we were absolutely mesmorised by the charm and waterways of this island city. One day was probably enough though as the city was overrun with tourists and expensive restaurants. The second day, was spent trying to get out of the main tourist areas and finding cheap eats. Alas, we did not get to ride upon a gondola, which were running in the 100-120 euro range per person but we did get to do some shopping and window gazing, which was fun given the variety of elaborate Carnivale masks, for which the city is also famous.
Our most recent stop has been in the town of Bassano del Grappa where the lovely Alberto and Laura had us for for two nights. It was so nice to get out of another concrete city and be close to the mountains again. Bassano was a very pretty small town famous for its bridge (Alpini) and for inventing the drink, Grappa named after the local mountain. We also visited a nearby town called Marostica that had this beautiful old fort on a hill that we climbed to get a great view of the countryside. Overall, we just really enjoyed taking it easy and were so happy to eat some home cooked meals. Ive attached some photos of Geoff and Alberto skating at Bassano's brand new indoor skateboard park as well as us trying Bassano's unique drink called mezzo, or half and half, which i think is made from soda water mixed with something like Campari and some other liqueur. Was different from anything ive tried before but good!
Anyways will post again soon as have good wifi. Jess
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