Italy (5) - Seeing Michelangelo's David

Day 6
We were going to Florence today by train. There were plenty of trains going to Florence from Rome every day so we didn't buy tickets ahead of time. We arrived at the train station after 8:30 am, figured out how to use the ticket machine, and bought 2 tickets to Florence for 84 euros.

The train was supposed to leave Rome at 8:50 am. It was almost 8:40 am, but we still couldn't find the train on the departure list. So I asked a policeman who was patrolling the station, where could I find my train. It turned out that our train's final destination was Venice, not Florence, that's why we didn't find it on the departure list. We were looking for Florence destination. We should look for the train number instead. And it also happened that our train was 15 minutes late, so it hadn't been assigned a platform yet. We waited until our train got assigned a platform and boarded with everyone else.

The trip to Florence was smooth. It took about 1 hour and 40 minutes to get there. We found our hotel near the train station and were able to check in immediately. The hotel is located on 3rd floor in Italian term because they count the first floor as ground floor. There are a total of 91 steps you have to climb to reach the hotel. It can be challenging when hauling luggage or at the end of a long day. But it didn't hamper our liking of this hotel. The host Antonio and Rosanna, an old couple in their 60s, are the most wonderful people we have ever met during our years of travel. They made us feel at home immediately upon arrival. Antonio gave us a really good map of Florence, and marked clearly where the best pizza place, best gelato place, and other good places to eat ... We tried many places he recommended, and they were fantastic!!!

1. Our room.


2. Basilica of Santa Maria Novella near our hotel.


Before the trip, I had heard so many good things about the tripe sandwich at San Lorenzo Market. So we went there for our first meal in Florence. Dave had a corn beef sandwich (3 euros). I had a tripe sandwich (3 euros). They were both delicious. Lots of locals and tourists were eating there, including a Japanese tourist group. The market was cool to see too. They had everything from seafood, vegetables, fruits, to cured meats and fresh meats from every part of the animal imaginable.

3. Love meat shops like this.


4.


5. The place where we ate lunch at San Lorenzo Market.


After lunch, we went to the Academy Gallery to see Michelangelo's original David. It was raining pretty hard when we got there and I had left my umbrella at the hotel. Thank goodness the line was short, probably 5 minutes, and we were in. The gallery was relative small comparing to the other museums/galleries we had seen on this trip. The main draw of the gallery is David of course. Measured at 17 feet tall, David stood majestically under a glass dome at the end of a hallway. It was very impressive. Unlike peak season where people stand shoulder to shoulder trying to get a glimpse of David, there were only a handful of people that day. We were able to sit down at different benches to look at David from different angles for as long as we want.

6. Saw lots of small cars in Italy.


7.


8. The restaurant where we ate dinner (one of Antonio's recommendation).


9. Our dinner: Florence steak, a thick cut from Chianina beef, a Tuscany bred cattle, always done rare over the coals. This was one steak (1.2 kg, or 2.6 lbs) cut in two so we could split. It tasted fantastic, crispy and tender. The guy who sat next to us ordered a steak by himself. The smallest steak they had was 1 kg (2.2 lbs). He managed to eat it all.


(To be continued)