So today was out first real day moving around Firenza for the cultural things. This morning we were all up bright and early, and ready to start our day, however the weather didn’t want to cooperate and was drizzling all morning. Previously we had passed the Duomo of Santa Maria Cathedral. Personally I love seeing inside churches even though I’m not religious, and kinda very intrigued by churches. So we visited both the campanile and Florence Cathedral as you can see from the pictures.

• First stop, The Duomo!
  Impressions.. outside is stunning and magnificent piece of architecture. Inside, overrated!!! Nothing really much on the inside. It is huge and has lots of space and you can climb to the top and outside of it.

   We were feeling quite fit and stupidly thought the 414 steps up to the adjacent bell tower to take in a fantastic view of the city would be a good idea. The idea was good, the effort and burning legs was not.

  

• The Palazzo Vecchio tower is another Florence cityscape standout.
• Then we walked past the Uffizi Gallery. I’m not a big museum person and while we were pressed for time, it was decided I would catch the Gallery alone in the morning. However as part of the public part of the Uffizi, the replica of David is outside. The picture below is the fountain of Poseidon, If I’m not mistaken. But I could be!
• The 14th century shop-lined covered Ponte Vecchio had the most bling and ridiculous sets of gold and jewellery I had ever seen, and that was just in the shopfronts! This is the most famous and most frequently photographed bridge in Florence and the only one that wasn’t destroyed in World War II. The bridge itself houses many goldsmiths, jeweller’s shops and medieval workshops that overhang the bridge.

Anyway, the girls are coming back, and we are heading for dinner and maybe I can finally meet some couchsurfers in Italy!

Back to the pictures

Looking at the Ponte Vecchio on the River Arno

This picture below was most interesting, since I had no idea about the locks on the bridge. The tradition is for lovers to write their names on a lock, lock their “love” to the ponte vecchio in florence, and throw the key over the bridge–securing their love forever.

Contrary to what most believe, the so-called lucchetti d’amore are not related to the origins of this practice. Michele Santini, Florentine born-and-bred, explained their origins to me and they have nothing to do with love. He explained that the tradition began when young men had to leave their home towns to do military service. They attached a lock to one of the bridges before their departure as a promise to return home, essentially a promise to survive the war.
The padlocks originated in Rome where, on the Ponte Milvio, they are even more ubiquitous than on the Ponte Vecchio. Built in the year 109 on a key route into Rome, the Ponte Milvio was the site of fierce battles in ancient times.
The act of attaching a lock to a bridge obviously symbolizes the unbreakable bonds of true love. Additional symbolism is found in the fact that they are attached to bridges, symbolically uniting two sides, and the keys thrown into the river. The fact that the tradition originated in Rome, the eternal city, further contributes to its romantic symbolism.
Love locks, however, aren’t all sweetness and love but also represent the booming tourism industry and its negative effects. As tourists now like to attach padlocks to the Ponte Vecchio and other bridges in Italy, thousands of locks have to be removed each year to prevent the deterioration of the statues and bridges, a lengthy and costly job. In 2006, in response to the protests of Florentine citizens, the city police were urged to control the Ponte Vecchio, in particular the monument to Benvenuto Cellini, and fine anyone who tried to attach a lock; a hefty fine of 50 euro.
Several procedural rules have evolved for these metallic love vows over the years. For example, couples must write their names with a felt-tipped pen, on one side of the lock, adding the date of their passage through Florence on the other side, before throwing the keys into the river. There’s a legend that tells that one of the locks once attached to the railing around the statue of Cellini, was a combination lock to the entrance to the Vasari Corridor, atop the bridge linking Palazzo Vecchio and the Uffizi with the Pitti Palace. This passage was designed as a private route for the rulers of the city. I haven’t heard of anyone opening this mysterious passageway, but maybe you will be lucky…As you can see the luccheti d’amore have symbolized many different things over the years – devotion to one’s country, teenage puppy love, the prospect of eternal love, as well as the damaging nature of tourism. Believe what you like, attach one if you must, but take care not to get fined 50 euro!

Going to Pisa now…. after Chinese food last night and tons of shopping.

Blog entry to follow about how I will never ever understand women!

What makes a purse nice or not, what makes a briefcase/laptop bag trendy for me, when the original sticker price is 400 euros.. like seriously?!

We left Amalfi this morning, of course once again, the Italian concept of “I don’t know!!” came up. Beth asked about the bus to Salerno, since we wanted the earliest bus to Salerno. The guy at the counter said the earliest one was at 9am, yet we saw a bus leaving to Salerno at 8am. So in the mean time, just walked around Amalfi one more time and then hopped on the bus. The drive along the Amalfi Coast is definitely a travel wonder of the world. There are surely drives or commutes that are as picturesque in the world as the Amalfi Coast drive but there is none that is better in the world. Comparable would be Gornergrat Express through the Swiss Alps or the Express Train from China to Tibet but nothing to surpass it. Anyway, we eventually got to Salerno upon which we missed the 10.23am train to Napoli, and had to grab the 11.22 to Napoli… within that time, we looked for shoes, Beth thought an ATM swallowed her bank card and I found a semi decent salad!

Food note: I don’t know how vegetarians can travel through Italy without going mad by having only to eat Cheese, Bread and Antipasti. The salads you find on the streets or even in restaurants are either really expensive or not fresh. I have not had a great salad in Italy. The pizza, pasta and antipasto have been amazing though…as if I came to Italy for the Salad

Waiting in the Station Napoli, we decided to go back to that Sharwarma place that we got the ridiculous Sharwarma in the first place. So of course, we got…

(Beth hereJ, while Rishi is snoring away…) By ‘we’, he meant him and Amanda who got the Shawarma with fries in itJ – we even saw pizza in their display box with fries on it! I wonder what the Italians feel about that?:-) Anyha, I got the yummiest and oiliest spaghetti pomodoro – from the same Middle-Eastern restaurant that they got the Shawarma from! I have to say the portion was the biggest we had since we arrived! The guy kept piling it in the takeout box until I said ‘that’s plenty, could you give me some carrots on the side instead?’, he smiled and added some boiled carrots for me. I’m not even crazy about carrots back home but it was a treat to eat vegetables after days of eating bread and meats. The only vegetables I had in the last 7 days was some antipasti grilled eggplant, zucchini and peppers drenched in EVOOJ in Minori where I ventured to on my own after my trip back to Solerno. I also had some Tiramisu gelati there after I promised myself I would give my poor tummy a break from it for atleast 2 days. I think we’ve all been OD’ing on gelati since we arrived. Finding a decent fruit has been a bit of a challenge as well. Other than the banana I picked while we stopped off at a street fruit vendor’s on our second day in Rome, I didn’t have any fruits (or vegetables) in the last 5 days or so. That’s one of the things I announced to the guys when they got back from Sorrento – that ‘I had vegetables today!”J. After their adventurous trip to Capri and the Blue Grotto, I’m sure they didn’t care less about what I ateJ. I’m not complaining about the food in Italy by any means but it’s funny how you miss having some foods that you take for granted in TO.  Like I mentioned to Rish the other day how much I missed scrambled eggs which I rarely have in TO…

We’re on our way to Florence and Amanda and I are looking forward to finally going shopping for purses, shoes, etc. I really haven’t bought much so far except for the thick leather belt that Rishi and I had bought in Amalfi where the owner kinda customized it for us… yeah, we both like saying it – that we had it custom-made it for usJ. So Florence hopefully will be where we’re going to finally get to shop… we shall wait and see…

Well woke up at 6 this morning, unshowered and still reeking of sea salt yeterday..bleck! Couple things are apparent…

1.   If I dont go to the gym, I feel like mush… seriously

2.   Pasta, bread and what not, while amazing here and all, doesnt not make a body good!!

3.   Sea salt and clothes don’t work together

4.   Money doesn’t grow on trees, since the Euro makes me feel poor especially after an expensive pair of sunglasses.

So we’re off to the grind again.. so we will be in Florence at about 3pm today, and then we have to find a hotel. Man, i have so much to blog right now, it aint funny! Things about the Amalfi Coast that came to mind:

·     This place while expensive, doesn’t have to be at all. There are good cheap accomodations once you get off the main drag. Typical!!

·     The food in the markets, while not cheap is amazing and high quality. Last night I had some Mushroom antipasti with a Seafood antipasti, light proscuitto and rye bread! Talk about an amazing home made sandwich!!!

·     Driving here is hazardous to your health, your car and your mind. How the bus drivers do it here, I will never know! The idea of 3 inches separating cars is a feat of driving intelligence. Seriously!!!

·     The coast line is truly one of the amazing things to see! I have seen a lot of beaches and coast lines in my life so far, the Amalfi coast line is definitely right at the top. (I refuse to say the best, since I haven’t seen all the coast lines of the world, but definitely right at the top)

·     Typical Italian nonsense does hold though : These people do not know how to say “I dont know, sorry!” It drives me insane, if I ask 4 people a question, I expect a somewhat consistent answer, not 4 completely different answers!

Anyway, getting ready and off in a bit….