This morning I re-read yesterday’s post, and it seemed a bit terse. Almost angry.
Sorry if you got the same impression, because that wasn’t the intention.
As I was finalising the post late last night, I wasn’t my best self. I was feeling a bit … terse. Frustrated.
But I’ll come to that soon.
I need to start today’s post by rewinding to yesterday afternoon.
Rain. Cold and wet.
We got changed into warm clothes and waterproof shoes and jackets.
Allegedly waterproof shoes.
Got our umbrellas and set off for the bus stop, about a 5 minute walk up the street from Laura’s apartment.
The 14 bus.
We were going out for our pasta making class at 4.00pm.
We got to the bus stop early to get into Florence early. Our host – Laura – had said that buses were not too frequent on Sundays, and we didn’t want to be late.
The bus was on time, and we got into Florence about 40 minutes later. The city was nuts! Cars driving everywhere, parked everywhere. Just nuts.
Why is everybody in town on a Sunday night?
We went for a walk to see (locate) where our class was, then just walked around in the rain for a while. It was pretty cold and miserable, so we found a coffee shop and sheltered for a while out of the weather.
Now, a disclaimer. I’m not complaining about the weather. We have been blessed with fabulous weather for the whole trip, and this is probably the first time in 6 weeks we have had constant rain.
But regardless, we are cold and wet and it’s taking some of the fun out of Florence for us.
So we sheltered in the coffee shop until almost time for our pasta class, and we headed on down.
There were quite a lot of people there waiting for the class to start, but it turned out that they run several back-to-back classes, and the people waiting were split into two groups. MBW and I got put into a group of 11 people, of which there were 7 Americans, 2 Canadians, and us.
All relatively young and hip people. And MBW and myself.
We learned how to make the dough from flour and egg, how to roll and fold it, and then how to create fettuccine ready for cooking.
That was pretty easy, even for someone like me that is as dumb as a box of rocks.
Then we made another lot of dough, split it into two, and made two more things: we formed the first batch into cappeletti with a ricotta, parmesan and nutmeg filling, and a second batch of ravioli with ricotta, parmsan and truffle oil.
We were then shown how to cook the fettuccine in a (provided) tomato sauce, and the other two pastas in butter and sage.
All very easy peasy. I can see pasta being my new Saturday night favourite, particularly in winter.
When everything was cooked, we (all 11 of us) had a meal together of everything we had made. And it was really good.
A carb overload, perfect for a cold, wet night.
The class started at 4.00pm and finished at 7.00pm, and MBW and I scurried to the bus stop to get the bus back home. It is about a 30-40 minute bus trip, so all things being equal, we expected to be home before dark.
The rain had set in and the buldings don’t have much in the way of overhang to protect you from the weather, so it was a bit cold and miserable. Our folding umbrellas were doing the best that they could, but … 😞
The appointed time for the bus to arrive came and went, and Google Maps reported that the bus had departed. How did we miss that?
Then the next one, and the one after that.
As we stood there looking at our phones and trying to work out what we had missed, a young lady (late 20s?) asked if we needed help. She was waiting for the same bus as we were, and she had been waiting for an hour.
She went on to say that the Sunday before Easter is a public holiday in Florence (maybe Italy), and that the buses were at best irregular, or at worst, unreliable.
Tonight they were worse than unreliable … they were non-esistent.
MBW checked Uber to see if we could Uber it out of the city, and we were quoted $110 (approx AUD$200) due to “inceased demand” and (we later found out) because they have to enter a ZTL.
We figured that it would be cheaper just to get a hotel room in the city for the night. As we were deciding what to do, a 14A bus came along and we got on. By the time we were another 2 or 3 stops further into the journey we have about 28 stops to travel home), the bus was well over capacity.
For reference, it was at about this point that I was finishing last night’s post. That possibly explains any terseness in yesterday’s post.
Home, coffee, hot shower, and into bed, ready for today’s adventure.
Today started overcast, with a forecast of rain. Shoes from last night were still wet, so we found alternative shoes, had breakfast and headed out before the sun had even come up. We were at the bus station waiting for another 14 bus before 7.00am.
We needed to be in the city early today because we had tickets to climb Brunelleschi’s Duomo (Dome). There are a few things that you need to know about the Duomo.
Firstly, it is one of the things that everyone says is a “must do” in Florence. There are 463 steps leading up to the top of the dome, and the steps were originally there so that workmen who built the dome could get up there. The steps weren’t installed for the benefit of tourists.
The steps up to the dome were also installed in a time when workplace health and safety rules were a little different to what they are now.
The steps are narrow, steep, and irregular. And the passageways that you walk through are often narrow with a low ceiling.
Visitors to the dome are specifically warned that the climb is not suitable for people with certain medical conditions such as high blood pressure (check), vertigo (I’m not thrilled with heights), claustrophobia (yes, I sometimes have those tendancies), or pregnancy (not sure, but I don’t think so).
The other piece of important advice from those who have clmbed the dome before us is to ensure that you have an empty bladder before climbing. It appear that Brunelleschi also neglected to install toilets up in the dome for the benefit of workers or tourist.
So we went to the Duomo’s ticket office where there are paid toilets, and we paid our €1.00 each and mitigated another potentional risk.
I’m not sure how to classify that €2.00 in my expenses log, or if I can claim it as a tax deduction … I’ll have to speak with my accountant about that.
We had bought tickets months ago for the dome climb and while they weren’t terribly expensive (€30 each), this might be the only opportunity we ever get, and I wasn’t leaving MBW to do the climb herself. And some of the ladies at the pasta course last night said that they had done it that day, and it was amazing.
Claustrophobic, but amazing.
There were also 3 ambulances positioned at the bottom of the building, so I figured that I would have medical aid in the event of a catastrophe.
We were in the city before 7.45, dropped off our backpacks and went off to do the 8.15am climb.
Sure, the steps were narrow and 463 steps is a bit of a killer, particularly for people like us that eat deep-fried things at 10 o’clock in the morning.
And some of the passageways were narrow and low, but the experience was amazing. You come out at the very top of the dome and get amazing views across Florence.
And you also come out at the very top pretty sweaty. Well, I was sweaty … MBW was glistening.
One disadvantage of the 463 steps up is that there are also 463 steps back down, and they are pretty perilous. Narrow circular staircases that seem bad going up are pretty tricky coming down, especially with no handrails. And you get dizzy.
But we had fun and the experience was amazing. We were done and dusted by 9.30 and had collected our stuff, and we went for a wander.
The next activIty planned for today was a foody walking tour with taste testings. That was scheduled for an 11.30am start, so we poked around the city for a while and bought some souvenirs, then went to a McDonald’s McCafe for a brew.
Not the best coffee I’ve ever had, but not the worst either. And it came with a free pass to the McToilet.
The walking tour was great – it lasted for 2.5 hours and we learned about lots of stuff and tried many different things. The only problem was not the walking tour, but the weather. The rain had set in and it was constant and borderline heavy by now … so you didn’t just get wet from the stuff falling from the sky, but you also needed to avoid all of the stuff that had already fallen from the sky and was now a ground-level problem.
Gutters overflowing, water running down the streets, cars and buses going by and splashing you.
The tour finished with gelato, and we do like gelato.
It was now after 2.00pm and the rain wasn’t letting up. Our shoes and socks were soaked, our jeans were wet, our jackets were wet, and we were ready to head home.
We still have one more full day here in Florence and while the weather forecast doesn’t seem promising, we are mainly doing museum-like stuff tomorrow, so hopefully we won’t get as wet.
We caught our number 14 bus back home to have a quiet afternoon. We’d had a late night last night, a poor night sleep (because we are both out of practice waking to an alarm), and an early start today. I’m out of practice waking in the dark too.
We got back to the apartment around 3.30 and got out of our wet clothes, and into some dry stuff.
Our host – Laura – has 4 cats, and the apartment guidebook speaks extensively about the cats … but is silent on important matters like how to turn on the apartment’s central heating.
It was really, really cold inside, so we messaged Laura and she activated it remotely.
We had a quick dinner of pasta, with ricotta and walnut pesto, and I’m about to make coffee for MBW.
I think it will be an early night tonight, but I’m looking forward to exploring Florence some more tomorrow.
And I’ll be praying for sunshine.
Ciao
#Europe2025