Tuscany | Florence & San Gimignano : Our Italian Road Trip - May 2018

In Venice, we took the hotel shuttle to the airport and rented a car for our trip down to Rome this week.  We had big plans for places we wanted to see, but soon found we quickly ran out of time -everywhere.  After our 3 nights in Venice, we had 2 nights in Florence, and 3 nights in Rome.

  This trip was all about the journey  .... we took back roads, wandered cities and towns without the GPS just for fun, walked 10 km/day, and drove through the middle of Florence and Rome.  We did have fun and an adventure.

We didn't have time for Cinque Terre this trip, but we did discover San Gimignano in the Tuscan Hills outside of Sienna ... a definite wow!

Our first stop was Florence for 2 nights.

Florence

We parked the car in a garage and  settled into our apartment very near the Ponte Veccio, then went for a walk  and some dinner.

Brad and Norm by the gold shops on the Ponte Veccio

Then off to the Piazza Veccio

Uffizi Gallery

We parked our car here (for about $40 Euros a night!!)

Our hotel,  Family Apartments Rinascimento Palace  (the centre building)

This apartment came with cool views and a washing machine.

View seen from the Ponte Veccio. Our apartment was right across the river from the Uffizi Gallery

The next morning we headed out to find Piazza Del Duomo

The cathedral was begun at the end of the 13th century by Arnolfo di Cambio, and the dome, which dominates the exterior, was added in the 15th century on a design of Filippo Brunelleschi. 

The enormity of this basilica is what first strikes you when entering the piazza, but it is also the incredible workmanship, design and marble details that is so striking.

Time for some Gelato

Here's a nice place

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A real Italian Pepperoni Pizza

A rainy couple of days didn't stop anyone -places to go and much to see.

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Piazzale Michealangelo is seen in this photo just above the red building near the top of the hill.

We walked up the steep hill to Piazzale Michelangelo to see the amazing panoramic views of Florence.

We had to walk up and outside the old city walls.

 It was rainy and a bit foggy, but we still got wonderful views.  Well worth the climb

Time to head down and walk into town for some dinner

We found a great restaurant just behind the Duomo and we had the best meal we had in Italy.

We spent the rest of our last evening in Florence just wandering the streets.

Do not enter sign. ha ha

A very cool bookstore!

Off to San Gimignano -  yes through that arch - it's a street not a garage  ;-)

San Gimignano

San Gimignano is an amazingly preserved medieval hill town in Tuscany, with 14 medieval towers still standing.  You couldn't get a good view of all the towers unless you had a drone or were on a hillside miles away, or were on some other road than the one where we came into town. So, I borrowed a photo of an overview of the town from Rick Steves website.

   No cars are allowed into the walled town, so we parked in one of the large parking lots and made our way into this very quaint town filled with shops, restaurants and hotels.

~Photo taken from Rick Steves' Website

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Pottery, wine and leather shops everywhere!

We are soaked and we have our bottles of chianti, so we are off to Rome.