Can't get enough of Siena

As I mentioned in the previous post, our room at San Francesco is right next to the communal breakfast dining area. You literally walk out the door, and three feet away, there are complete strangers eating cornettos and drinking cappuccino and talking about where they’re from and what they’re doing today. It's weird. I'm not a very social person in the morning, so this was a challenge. 

At any rate, although cloudy, it only rained a little bit, so we were able to tromp around the city unimpeded, for the most part. Even with moldy, grey wash-rag skies, this city is stunning. We bought the all-inclusive ticket for the heavily frosted wedding cake Duomo, the Duomo museum (with access to the arch with 360 degree panoramic views), the baptistery, and the crypt. The whole thing costs 10 euros – Florence, please take note. Siena’s Duomo is one of my favorites. I love the heavily decorated facade and byzantine-stripe exterior. It’s so excessive, and yet it works. Where things really get cuckoo, though, is the interior, where there is so much going on (disembodied Pope heads, more byzantine stripes, patterns and illustrated stories all over the floor, sculptures and tombs lining the walls, etc…) that it pulls your attention in a dozen different directions at once. The museum is nice, but I admit what I like most about it is the access to the top of the incomplete façade of the Duomo enlargement that never happened. The views from there are stunning.

After lunch we went back to our room and tried to do what we normally do after lunch, which is to kind of take a break, take a nap, decompress, re-engerize, etc… except that we had to do this with the San Francesco staff/proprietors having lunch/conversing loudly in the communal breakfast dining area right outside our door. Hmmm.

After some afternoon strolling and oohing and awing over the scenery, and over how you can walk 10 feet in this town and suddenly turn a corner and get these unbelievable views...

...we decided to eat dinner at a place really close to the hotel called L’Osteria. I actually ate here on my last trip to Siena, and came away thinking it was just merely decent. But the place garners rave reviews from seemingly everyone, and it’s incredibly popular with the locals, so I just assumed I’d ordered the wrong dishes or something. It’s a really small, informal place, with that classic trattoria look: dark, old wood-paneled walls, coat hooks everywhere, and really cool, old and grainy, enlarged b&w photos of Siena on the walls.

The food was decent overall, and the highlight was an antipasto of bruschetta with melted gorgonzola and black truffle shavings, which was a party in our mouths for sure. It was really cheap, too, especially given that an appetizer like this would cost a small fortune in the US. I ordered (once again) tagliatelle ai funghi porcini, which was, well… decent. The main problem is that it was kind of under-seasoned and the porcinis were a bit bland. Gallo Nero’s pappardelle with porcini dish from the night before kicked this one’s butt. Terezia ordered ribolitta, a traditional Tuscan soup made with bread and vegetables. She liked it more than I did (kind of bland, mushy, comfort food). Overall, the food was good and simple, but I don’t think we’d come back.

Directly across the street from L’Osteria, however, is Gelateria Kopa Kabana. I ordered cioccolatto fondente and nocciola again, while Terezia had a chocolate mouse with nocciola. Both were wildly exquisite.

Click here to see the full set of Siena photos!

Siena!!!

We really lucked out with the weather in the Cinque Terre. Although it was intermittently rainy the afternoon we arrived (and a crazy storm rolled through that first night), for the rest of the time, the weather was perfectly sunny, beautiful, and warm. In the sunlight, it sometimes felt like summer. But today, as we made our way by train from Vernazza to Siena, some seriously gloomy clouds were brewing, and the forecast for the next couple of days does not look good.

Palazzo Pubblico, Il Campo, Siena

At any rate, we made it to Siena in the early afternoon, and I was looking forward to what would be my third stay at a cool, small bed & breakfast place called B&B San Francesco. I was kind of bummed, however, when we showed up and were given the room directly outside the communal breakfast dining area. Not only that, but the room itself is a little lacking and drab compared to the two other rooms I’d stayed in before. Apparently none of the other rooms are available this week. 

We headed straight for Il Campo, which might be the most beautiful and perfect public space in the world. Terezia was awestruck. We then made our way to the piazza with the Duomo and surrounding gothic buildings, and again, Terezia was awestruck. Siena is a seriously beautiful town, and for a medieval and renaissance architecture geek like me, the place is pure heaven.

Il Campo, Siena

Il Campo, Siena

After lunch, we headed straight to Gelateria Kopa Kabana, which I’ve long been claiming has the best gelato I’ve ever had in Italy. And indeed, their cioccolato fondente and nocciola (hazelnut) did not disappoint, and easily trumps every other gelato I've had. However, quite shockingly, the fragola (strawberry) that Terezia ordered was a colossal disappointment. It was icy and tasted fake. I was totally shocked because in the past, their flavors and quality/consistency have always been top notch. I just don’t know what to make of this crappy fragola incident! Totally vexing. But Terezia agreed that my fondente and nocciola were utterly amazing. Weird! But we’ll be back.

Sitting in Il Campo, gazing up at the tower...

For dinner we went to what’s become an old Siena standby, Gallo Nero. I got to have pappardelle with funghi porcini, which is absolutely the best example of this particular dish I’ve ever had anywhere. Terezia ordered pici with a white ragout (of ground hen, I think?) with pistachios, which was also excellent. For a secondo, we split a wonderfully tender and flavorful ossobuco, and an insalata mista. Red house wine was really good and super cheap. This meal is definitely in the top three of the trip so far, and I was thrilled to see that Gallo Nero has still got “it.” We’ll be coming back for more later this week. (Sorry, I seem to be having a difficult time remembering to photograph the food we order, because when I get it in front of me, I just want to dive right in. I only remembered to photograph it after we'd finished). 

Click here to see the full set of Siena photos!

Last day in the Cinque Terre

This morning we hiked up to Monterosso again (our favorite hike), took the train down to Riomaggiore, found some decent focaccia there, walked the short and (frankly) comparatively dull Via dell’Amore path (it’s all paved, flat) to Manarola, took the train to Corniglia (path to Corniglia is closed), got some decent gelato in Corniglia, then took the rugged and steep up-and-down path to Vernazza, meeting several cats at various points along the way.

After all that hiking, we were completely famished. We’d made a reservation for dinner at Il Pirata for our final night here, and I’d been dreaming about their pesto lasagna all day long, particularly at several points along the hike. But when we got to Il Pirata, the green shudders were pulled down over the windows, and there was a bright orange sign taped to the wall with some hand-scrawled bullshit (but apologetic) story about them being closed due to an electrical problem. Given that all of the other restaurants in Vernazza are either mediocre or over-priced, or both (Vernazza’s most glaring shortcoming), the temptation to collapse in a heap on the sidewalk and cry was difficult to resist. But we mustered what last bit of strength we had to go back down to the center, and we got some cheap take-out pizza and a salad, which we devoured in the kitchen of our apartment. At least we were fed, and it was cheap.

We spent the rest of the evening packing and getting ready for our epic journey by train tomorrow morning to Siena.

One final point about the Cinque Terre: as jaw-droppingly gorgeous as the Cinque Terre villages and surrounding region are, I couldn’t help but notice how it’s definitely gotten more expensive since my last visit in 2007. For example: in ’07, you could buy a 3-day trail and train combo pass for 20 Euros, which gave you unlimited access to all the trails and Cinque Terre trains for three entire days. It was a good deal, and more than paid for itself if you took the train a couple times a day and did lots of hiking. Sadly, those days are gone, as they’ve done away with that, and instead they only offer a 2-day train/trail pass, but for the same price as the old 3-day pass!!! If you do the math, that’s a terrible deal! Another example: a 1-day trail-only pass costs 5 Euros, but I found out this morning that the same pass costs 7 Euros on Sundays! Is that really necessary? Now, I don’t want to complain too much, given that this money is supporting the towns and the trails, but at the same time, I can’t help but notice how much they’re milking it. Most of the food options and gelato here is already pricier than, say, Florence. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to “do” the Cinque Terre if you’re on a budget, and I hope it doesn’t turn into the kind of place where only Portofino yuppies can afford to visit it.

11-4-11 Update: So, having found out about the massive and highly destructive flooding that occurred in Vernazza literally the day after we left, I no longer give two shits about paying extra money to hike the trails on a Sunday. Vernazza is going to need every dime it can get. Vernazza is such an old town, and it has undoubtedly survived catastrophes in the past, though I don't know if any were on this scale. I just hope its residents have the resilience to pick up and rebuild. They have a long and hellish road ahead of them. Terezia and I feel deeply saddened that such a beautiful town that brought us so much happiness is has faced such horrid devastation. 

One other gripe – a message to my fellow Americans: I know that many of the people in Italy who work at train stations, information centers, and restaurants speak English, but would it really kill you to at least try and speak Italian a little? Even just to learn a few phrases for ordering train tickets or food? Is it really that hard to say, “due biglietti per Roma, per favore,” or “prendo un cono con cioccolato e nocciola, per favore”? Or even “buongiorno” or “buona sera”? Honestly, you can nab useful phrases like these out of a little pocket phrase book. If whomever you’re speaking to can and wants to speak English with you, that’s fine. But just out of respect, couldn’t you try to at least approach Italians using their language first? Okay - rant over!

See photos from our trip to the Cinque Terre here.

Corniglia and the most mind-blowing pasta of the trip

This morning we hiked to Corniglia. The Vernazza -> Corniglia hike is similar in length and strenuousness to the Vernazza –> Monterosso hike. It’s as stunningly pretty too, although several stretches are a bit more arid and rocky.  There are fewer terraced vineyards along this hike, but quite a few terraced olive groves.

Corniglia is the least touristy of the Cinque Terre villages, which has something to do with the fact that it’s the most difficult one to get to. The train station is about a kilometer away, and requires a ~10 minute hike up a gazillion stairs that zigzag back and forth up the hill. Corniglia’s non-touristy sleepiness also certainly has something to do with the fact that it’s the only village without direct access to the sea; it’s nestled high up on the hills and cliffs, and therefore has no harbor or beach.

I really like Corniglia. Aside form the non-touristy aspect, its main drag still retains its medieval stonework, the views of the sea and surrounding hills are priceless, the locals seem a bit more rugged and weathered, and it’s home to one of the best restaurants I’ve ever been to in my life: Cantina de Mananan. But I’ll get to that last point in a bit.

Sadly, the path between Corniglia and Manarola (the next village down) is closed due to a landslide, so we took the train down to Manarola, which probably has the most striking harbor setting, with its jumble of pastel buildings jutting dramatically from the massive rocks that rise out of the sea at 90-degree angles. Manarola is also home to the best focaccia place that I’ve found anywhere. It’s a little to-go place, which, among other things, makes this amazing focaccia with fresh, Ligurian pesto and cheese, and the whole thing is lightly toasted. It’s a bit pricey, but absolutely necessary.

We were feeling kinda pooped, so we went back to Vernazza, piddled around the harbor, did some laundry, and later, took the train to Corniglia for the aforementioned mind-blowing culinary experience at Mananan.

I went to Mananan back in ’07, and was blown away then, too. It’s a tiny place in what looks like an old, medieval cellar, complete with old, stone walls and a vaulted ceiling. The menu is scrawled semi-legibly in chalk on a blackboard, as is the wine list. The owner/guy who works the front is appropriately gruff and grizzled. Tonight, he opened the place by walking out the front door chewing on a cigar, blowing smoke over the heads of the few of us who were eagerly waiting outside. The place can only hold about 20 people, so reservations are absolutely mandatory. Countless sad-faced people were turned away throughout the evening because they hadn’t made reservations.

We ordered tagliatelle with frutti di mare, which came family-style for two. Words can’t do justice to how amazingly orgasmic this pasta was. The tagliatelle was clearly fresh and eggy; the assortment of muscles, clams, crab, and shrimp entwined with the pasta was obviously today’s catch; the sauce that tied it all together (white wine, garlic, herbs, a bit of hot pepper flakes to give it some kick) was so good it made me want to jump up and down and run around the block three times. Terezia just looked stunned as she devoured it, and at some point proclaimed it to be the best pasta we’ve had so far in Italy. I would probably agree.

The  menu at Mananan in Corniglia

This pasta is serious business!

For a secondo, we shared a grilled fish (ricciola), which was quite tasty (and the little rosemary branch stuffed inside of it was a nice touch). Not as life-altering as the pasta, but still quite good. The local white wine we had here was the best from this region to have crossed our palettes. So, it was an utterly amazing dinner in a pain-in-the-ass-to-get-to location, that we’ll probably remember even when we’re old and senile.

For tomorrow, our last full day in the Cinque Terre, there’ll be more hiking, and an excursion into Riomaggiore. 

See photos from our trip to the Cinque Terre here.

Vernazza to Monterosso and back

(We're in Siena now, at the time of posting, and the hotel has wifi, but it's *extremely* sluggish. So while I'll do my best to get up to date with the Cinque Terre posts and accompanying photos, it's not going to happen right away. Oh - and I added a few photos of Genova, so please refer back to that post if you're interested).

Today was our first full day spent in the Cinque Terre, and the weather was awesomely perfect. After 8:00 AM coffee, orange juice (freshly squeezed - not the usual syrupy Tang style so prevalent in Europe!), and pastries from Il Pirata, we set out for Monterosso via the gloriously picturesque trail.

 In my opinon, the hike between Vernazza and Monterosso is the most beautiful of all the Cinque Terre paths, filled, as it is, with precariously narrow, winding, and sharply steep trails, that offer dramatic views of the villages, the brilliantly teal Ligurian sea, and the steeply terraced vineyards that litter the hillsides. It’s also the most physically strenuous path. For those who haven’t experienced it yet, you ascend a steep trail that takes you out of Vernazza, half of which consists of rough steps made from weathered, jagged stones wedged into the ground. The path snakes its way through the hills, with lush foliage all around, punctuated by dramatic views of the sea. At about the halfway point, you see a picnic table with a bunch of cats lounging around. These cats apparently live here, and locals come by to feed them. This morning they were very loud and chatty, as they apparently hadn’t been fed yet. When you get to Monterosso, the path gives you these majestic views into the crystal clear sea below. The whole hike takes about 90 minutes if you go at a more leisurely pace and take in the scenery.

 Leaving early in the morning had the benefit of there being fewer people on the trail. Most people we saw were coming from the opposite direction, from Monterosso. Before you get to Monterosso, you descend a steep and seemingly endless series of stone steps. Looking down at them can almost give you vertigo. When you’re going down them, the thought of trekking back up is painful, and actually seeing the faces of all the people making their way up the steps doesn’t change that. Then, when you get down towards the sea as the descent takes you closer to Monterosso, you can’t help but be struck by how amazingly clear and vibrantly teal the water is.

We strolled through Monterosso (both the old section and the new), had more coffee, found some good and cheap focaccia slices (one pesto/tomato, one funghi/sausage) for lunch, scoffed at how expensive everything seems to be there, and feeling re-energized, we hiked back to Vernazza.

Monterosso is, in my opinion, the least visually striking of the five villages. It’s mostly flat, it’s the only village with a real beach, and it doesn’t have the dramatic and precarious natural setting that the other villages have – ie, it doesn’t spill over into a steep, seaside ravine. Sure, it’s got a cool byzantine-striped church and lots of quaint, old apartment buildings, but it just doesn’t have the kind of breathtaking quality the other villages give off in spades. It feels more like kind of a posh riviera town.

Tackling the gazillion steps toward the beginning of the hike back to Vernazza was not nearly as bad as we thought it would be. In fact, we breezed right up, and had an awesome hike back. It almost felt easier than the ascent out of Vernazza.

Once back to Vernazza, we rewarded (well…) ourselves with some mediocre gelato from Gelateria Stalin (it had tiny ice-chunks – a cardinal sin! The gelateria closer to the harbor is definitely better), washed some clothes in the sink (our balcony has clotheslines and pins), and used Il Pirata’s WiFi to get back in touch with the real world.

For dinner, we had some pretty good pasta (spaghetti with shellfish and trofie with pesto) and a lousy baked anchovy dish at Trattoria il Capitano. The pastas weren't mind-blowing, but they were good, while the anchovies were made mushy and unappetizing by the acidity of the tomatoes that they were baked with. Tomorrow we have reservations at Cantina de Mananan in Corniglia, where I feasted on some of our cousins from the sea back in 2007.

Oh, and while the weather was beautiful, sunny, and warm today, as soon as the sun went down, the temperature dropped rapidly. I went from basking in the sun in a t-shirt, to needing to put on three layers of shirts, a sweater, and a jacket in a matter of minutes!

Tomorrow, we hike to Corniglia and Manarola. 

See photos from our trip to the Cinque Terre here.

An afternoon in Genova

We had been planning to take a day trip to Genova from the Cinque Terre, and with the weather seeming kind of iffy, and with everything drenched from the crazy storm that woke us up throughout the night, we decided to get Genova out of the way today. After a morning stroll to Vernazza’s harbor...

...we hopped on the train to the Genova Brignole station to get a taste of a city that neither of us had been to before. 

Ultimately, impressions of Genova were mixed. When leaving the station, I knew the general direction we needed to go in order to get to the Centro Storico, but I still wanted to find a tourist info place to get a map of the city. We headed down Via XX Settembre, which had an 18^th-19^th Century grandeur that reminded me of Vienna, but with attractively portico’d sidewalks. Once we got to Piazza Ferrari (which is lined with some wildly ornate Palazzi), we saw signs pointed towards a tourist info place, but wound up on a wild goose chase trying (and failing) to find it. Seriously, at the end of one block was a sign that said it was to the right. At the other end of that very same block was another sign that said it was to the left, but there was nothing in-between! Was this some kind of cruel joke? At any rate, we ended up buying an overpriced map from a newsstand and used that to navigate the city.

Genova is very claustrophobic. The old section, not counting the spacious harbor, has very few wide-open spaces, and is almost devoid of grand piazzas (save for Ferrari, but that’s outside the medieval section). The buildings are generally a story or three taller than those in Florence, and with the pedestrianized streets being so narrow, it feels as if they’re closing in on you. It was a difficult town to photograph as a result: I saw some really cool facades with interesting details and bas reliefs, and a lot of trompe l’oeil, but it was almost impossible to photograph much of it due to the narrowness and darkness of the streets. A lot of shops and restaurants had neon signs so as to stand out in the dimness. I noticed window ledges on some facades with ornate, scary faces staring down at the street, and that’s about all you could really see when gazing upwards.

The city’s main cathedral, Cattedrale di San Lorenzo, has an impressive façade, covered in byzantine gothic stripes and beautifully ornate rows of columns. Sadly, the damn thing was closed, so we couldn’t go inside. In fact, every single old chiesa that we saw toady was closed. Are they ever open to the public, or is Thursday Genova’s “all churches are closed” day?

But that leads me to my next observation – Genova is extremely untouristy, and we saw very few tourists while we were there - which is nice. Nowhere did we see people lining up to get into any old buildings, palazzi, or museums, and there were no people peddling tacky tourist crap from carts on the street. I saw a couple of people walking around with cameras, but that’s it. Genova doesn’t really have any serious historical buildings or museums to suck in the tourists (although it does have an apparently nice aquarium). You really have to take the Centro Storico itself as a whole. The non-touristy aspect was nice after dealing with some of Florence’s tourist-clogged arteries.

Genova also has a gritty edge to it. I’ve read that it’s got some seedy enclaves, a robust narcotics market, and areas you wouldn’t want to walk through alone late at night. While it felt safe during the day, we did walk through one medieval block, which amusingly, had several prostitutes standing around. I also noticed a lot of rough looking young guys in sweats with severe crew cuts and gold chains, kinda hanging out at random places, eyeing people suspiciously. Terezia says she saw some cracked-out looking faces. Definitely a different vibe from Florence.

At any rate, we wandered around Genova’s old section, up and down the hopping, narrow thoroughfare Via San Luca, down to the harbor, and back up towards the cool, medieval Porta Soprana gate and the St. Andrea cloister. We also walked through Via Garibaldi, a wider street lined with lavishly ornate palaces. We searched all the pizzerias for a cheap lunch of pizza or focaccia with pesto Genovese, but couldn’t find any! We settled on crappy non-pesto pizza from some place on Via San Lorenzo (we were hungry and weary), but found better gelato at Grom, up the street.

I’m still trying to get my head around Genova. It’s definitely an interesting place filled with less obvious charms, but we’re not exactly clamoring to go back and spend more time there.  Based on what I saw, it didn’t appear to be worth more than a day trip. I’m glad we saw it, but unlike Siena, Florence, or even Bologna, there wasn’t enough there to really lure me back.

We ended up leaving a couple hours earlier than we originally planned. We got back to Vernazza in time to have some mediocre pesto pizza for dinner from the place just down the street. Now we can devote the next three days to the Cinque Terre!

Click here to see the full set of Genova photos.

Bella Vernazza, crappy weather, and psychotic Sicilian twins

(Apologies for the delay – but internet access is spotty here in Vernazza, so updates are going to be sporadic for the time-being).

Bella Vernazza!

We really lucked out with the weather in Florence – not a drop of rain nor a cloud in the sky the entire week (a first for me – every time I’ve been there in the past, it’s always rained at least once). Today, that changed quite dramatically after leaving Florence for the Cinque Terre.

We left for Vernazza today via a hot and stuffy train filled with chatty high-school girls apparently commuting home from school. The clouds in the sky were looking increasingly dark and foreboding, and by the time we got to La Spezia, and waited for the connecting train to Vernazza, it started pouring. Once we got to Vernazza, the rain stopped, and we were able to get to the place we’re staying- Camere di Rosa - dry.

Rosa met us at the door and seemed really sweet. She had actually mistaken another couple - who’d gotten there a few minutes earlier - for us, and had to kick them out of the 4^th floor room with balcony that we booked, and usher them into the 3^rd floor/no balcony room. The room was immaculately clean, and the bed is one mattress!!! I repeat – the bed is one mattress!!! Do you know how difficult it is to find that in Italy – where most places have two single mattresses pushed together?!?! One queen-sized mattress!!!

There’s also an area with a loveseat/sofa bed, and a semi-useless kitchen, which has a fridge, a sink, and plates/utensils, but no stove, oven, or even a hot plate. A very spacious, and surprisingly non-funky place, considering it’s Vernazza. And did I mention the balcony? The balcony is awesome. No harbor or ocean views (those places are way out of our price range), but the views of the street and surrounding buildings all clustered together on the hillsides are still awesome.

Terka on the balcony

We strolled down to the harbor, hiked up to the little castle tower, wandered the warren of narrow passages and winding, steep steps, and drank some local wine on the balcony.

For dinner, we went to Il Pirata, which might be my favorite place to eat in Vernazza. Run by certifiably insane Sicilian twins, Massimo and Gianluca, it’s a café/restaurant/pastry shop with excellent food, enhanced by the twisted and caustic humor of the twins. One twin works the front , while the other does the cooking. I had to order the pesto lasagna, which I had the last time I was here, in 2007, and which I’d dreamed about (and tried to recreate at home) frequently. We also had a tasty gnocchi with pesto. For dessert, we ordered an excellent ricotta cannoli. One of the twins actually swore that he recognized me, but who knows?

When we left Il Pirata, it was totally pouring. From our room, you could hear the wind howling up the street and blasting the buildings, while rain pummeled the roof and skylights of our room. It was definitely cool, but then obviously, rain is not the kind of weather you want to have when you’re in le Cinque Terre. The forecast says it should clear up by Friday, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed. If it’s nasty Thursday, we’ll think about a day trip up to Genova. We knew it’d be a gamble coming here in late October, but Terezia wanted to go anyway. 

See photos from our trip to the Cinque Terre here.

Last day in Florence :(

We left at 9:00 this morning for one last trek up to our favorite spot (via the not-so-secret stairway shortcut), San Miniato al Monte. Naturally, it's just as cool a place to be in the morning as it is in the late afternoon.

After that, we trekked across town to the train station to get tickets for our ride to Vernazza/Cinque Terre tomorrow. In typically Italian fashion, none of the ticket machines were accepting peoples' cards (and these things don't take cash), so we had to go stand in line and buy tickets from a human being. "Bella Vernazza!" exclaimed the human being when we bought the tickets from him.

After another porcini flatbread from Pugi, we strolled lazily home, trying to keep the day as low key as possible. We had dinner on the cheap with two mouthwatering lampredotto sandwiches (piccante, of course) from the tripe stand, eaten on a bench alongside the Palazzo Vecchio, followed by more gelato.

Tonight, we met up with my Italian pen pal Serena and her fiancé. I met Serena through work a few years ago (UC Press did exchange advertising with her publishing outfit), and she and I have been writing each other ever since. We had drinks at a place called Zoe that was a block away from our apartment. Serena was in person pretty much the way I imagined she'd be - warm, friendly, hyper, energetic. I felt bad for her fiancé, because he couldn't speak much english. But I really dug hanging out with them, and it was really cool of her to take time out of her schedule to meet us in the flesh!

Oh, and we discovered a super tasty new Kinder Chocolate treat called Choco Fresh. It consists of a layer of incredibly creamy cream, and a layer of hazelnut goop, all coated in chocolate, in a mold that kind of resembles a rhino. No pictures (that damn camera/living life balance again), but if we find more we'll be sure to document them more thoroughly.

We're definitely going to miss the apartment. Sure, it has its quirks, but it's cute, we love the location, and it's just the right size for us. Plus, I finally got into the habit of ducking when exiting the bathroom to avoid bashing my head against the low-hanging doorjamb. This neighborhood, called San Niccolo, is one of my favorite areas in Florence. It has more of a mellow vibe and more of a neighborhood feel. It's quieter, and a lot less touristy, yet it's still close enough to cross the river and walk right into the thick of things in a matter of minutes. We would definitely stay here again, and I hope we get the chance to sooner rather than later.

San Niccolo neighborhood

San Niccolo neighborhood

San Niccolo Neighborhood

See the full set of photos of our trip to Florence here.