Florence was amazing and we had an incredible little apartment right in the heart of the city. I enjoy the hospitality associated with B&B's, but it was refreshing to feel like we were free to relax and make our own food, sleep late, etc. in our private apartment. We cooked dinner every night with food from a market across the street. The apartment was loft style with three levels and a balcony that we used for coffee in the morning and wine at night.
I loved being able to walk around Florence and duck back into the apartment when we wanted a break. Chase and I aren't big city people, but Florence wasn't too overwhelming because it was incredibly walkable.
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On our last day, Chase and I wanted to escape to the country. We looked at a bike tour that takes you into the Tuscan Vineyards, but we woke up in the morning and it was raining and we were lackluster. We sat around the apartment all morning feeling a little run down and not much like touring the city. I googled day trips from Florence and saw there was a little town called Fiesole that looked cute and it was only $2 for the bus. We bought our tickets, managed to get on the right bus, and then things went downhill. I felt a little anxious on the bus because we were the only foreignors and it was super crowded and confusing with a million stops. We take crowded buses all the time in Philadelphia, so it wasn't too out of the norm, but something felt wrong. At one point as we wound up into the Tuscan hills, 2 police type people got on the bus and immediately demanded Chase show them our tickets. He did, and the man in uniform told us we owed a "penalty" and seemed angry and offended. Chase stumbled around with English/Italian that no one understood. After about 15 minutes of yelling, someone on the bus that knew about 5 words of English explained to Chasen that he punched the ticket wrong at the main door (even though we paid the correct amount), and our stamps were in the wrong spot. We went back and forth with the officials explaining that, "No, we don't have passports" and "No, we don't have 50euro." We thought getting off at our stop would elude them, but they followed us and threatened to call policia. Eventually we had no choice but to give them the euro (about $65 usd) and as soon as we did, they both walked away. Chase was upset and I felt bad, but I tried to tell him we hadn't eaten out in Florence, so we needed to forget it and try to make the best of the day. Fiesole was a quaint village set in the moutains overlooking Florence with picturesque hills, farms and villas. We walked around for about an hour and then decided to find a coffee shop to ask about our tickets home so we didn't make the same mistake twice.
We again did the back and forth saying, "THIS OK? TO FLORENCE? " Chase got flustered again, and I told him we should just leave. As we were turning to exit, a little blonde woman jumped in and explained to us in perfect English why we were fined and where we should punch the card on the way back. She asked where in the US we were from and said her daughters lived in NYC and San Fran. She bought us coffees and pastries and insisted we stay for a bit. After we finished the expressos, she asked if we wanted to join her back at her home. We learned she is from Finland but her husband is an American attorney and they live in a Medici Villa. She gave us a tour of the home which had a million bedrooms and bathrooms--I lost count! Her husband had photos with Bill Clinton on the wall and what not, so we realized he was a big shot. We stayed for a few hours and had some wine in her garden. Chase took her business card and promised her we would meet her this summer in NYC, because she also has an apartment in Manhattan. It was so cool to get a tour of a home that was built in the 1400's, and the experience was well worth our brush with the authorities!
The 2 chairs below show where we sat to drink our wine--incredible view!
We leave Rome for Paris tomorrow morning, and Rome had taken a lot out of us (first world problems). Yesterday alone, I think we walked 15 miles. I've learned Chase and I aren't exactly city people, even though I've told myself in the past that I am. I think wherever we end up for the long term will need a city close by, but to be at my happiest, nature must be a walk away. My favorite experiences so far have been from the beach at Cinque Terre and the quiet town of Fiesole outside of Florence! We have another apartment in Paris, so we plan to go slow and enjoy the city a bit at a time.
