After sleeping in, and repacking (some) of my bag I took a
taxi into the heart of Roma, to Roma Termini. It was crazy! The taxi driver
warned me to watch my bag inside the termini, and pointed to all my bags (all 3
of them – damn shopping!) saying “Attentione” and then pointing back at Roma
Termini. At least I was warned….
I entered the Termini and tried to determine which platform
my train would be departing from. It was a nightmare! The first departure
information board I spotted and read indicated I would depart from platform 5.
So off I set to platform 5, through the hundreds of people moving throughout
the terminal with roller bags, or backpacks, on their own, or in large groups.
Everyone was going in every direction, and mostly seeming to have no idea which
platform they were meant to be on… I held tight over my bags and pulled my
suitcase (which seemed to also have been consuming large quantities of pizza, pasta and gelato as it had put on about 5 kilos) through the terminal and finally found platform 5. The
train was already waiting, however the doors were closed. I ignored the young
man who asked if I was going to Florence, as I had been warned about the men
that would help you with getting your bags onto the train and then demand large
amounts of money for their trouble. I walked all the way down the platform to
carriage 4 where my ticket had indicated I would be sitting…. The doors were
still shut and there were very few people on the platform despite there being
only 10 minutes until the departure time… something was not right. I walked all
the way back to the end of the platform and discovered that my departure
platform had changed (eeek!) to platform 8, thankfully, not too far away. I
quickly trundled my way over to my new platform, having a new appreciation for pack-horses, and down the where carriage 4
should be- there was currently no train, but many more people waiting to board,
and men asking if I was heading to Florence. They were interesting to watch as
they guarded their territory along the platform, even though they seemed to be
all working together. The train pulled into the station 10 minutes after its
scheduled departure (obviously it’s on Italian time!) and I boarded the train
expecting to find an area for suitcases (like when I caught the train in
Switzerland or Germany), however this was not the case. The only area provided
was at the other end of the carriage (oops) and above the seating! Eeek!
Thankfully an English tourist across the aisle from me helped get my suitcase
into (and out of, in Florence) the small space above my seat! The train ride was
lovely, watching the sunflower fields and stunning villas fly past while we
floated along the train line. No pictures as I was holding one of the shopping bags from Florence, and I caught up on a few Z's missed during the tour :)
After about an hour and a half the train glided into Santa
Maria Novella Termini in Florence and about 20 minutes later I arrived outside
the apartment that would be home for the next seven nights, Ponte Vecchio La
Costa 1 (booked through CIT holidays – Relais Ponte Vecchio). It was up a
massive hill, and I was very grateful to have caught a taxi so I didn’t have to
pull my suitcase up the cobblestone street! Elena, the lady from the company
that owned the apartment, provided the key and a small tour of the apartment…It
was not what I was expecting (to put it nicely). Unlike the advertised ‘newly
renovated, comfortable apartment’, this place was old and shabby (not in the
least bit chic) and had multiple holes in the walls, including one that had
been fixed with clear glass on either side so it created a nice looking hole
into the foyer, from the middle of the apartment! Awesome. As Mum and I are
staying in the apartment we had had Flight Centre confirm twin beds and air-conditioning
(it is hot here!!) about 2 months ago. However, this apartment had a double
bed, and when asked whether the couch was a fold out Elena said that it was,
but it had not been made up or anything as they had “assumed we would sleep in
the same bed”. WHAT? Look lady, I don’t know how things go here in Italy but we
Aussies prefer our own beds! I said I would try sleeping on the couch, unfolded
and she left it at that, not suggesting anything else to solve the situation.
She suggested rather than walking up the street we use the stairs that would
lead us onto the parallel road. Her other bit of advice, “don’t use both air
conditioners and another electrical appliance as the power will probably go out”….
Great! She showed mum how to turn the power to the apartment back on out in the
foyer (thanks) and left us to ‘enjoy our stay’. Sure. We soon discovered that
the fridge didn’t seal, which would make keeping food cold interesting and that
the ‘comfortable couch’ was NOT quite so comfy as there was a giant pole
sticking up at the back. There was no Wi-Fi, nor any English speaking channels,
and yes I know, I’m in Italy and so shouldn’t be watching TV all the time, but
it's sometimes nice to simply relax before bed and be able to actually
understand what it is the TV presenter is saying (Not to mention to see if anyone had decided to join the party and push K.Rudd out of the top job... who knows in Australian politics?). Not only were the channels not in
English, I don’t even think they were normal TV channels! They seemed to all be channel 31, or really bad quality shopping channels.
At this point, I left, and went wandering through Florence,
trying to escape the hell that was our apartment. I wandered along the
glittering Ponte Vecchio with its multiple jewellery shops. The windows of the
shops all sparkle with gold and diamonds creating a beautiful walk over to the
ancient city. I wandered in and out of the many shops in the streets of
Florence and up to the Duomo, where I watched the herds of tourists arriving,
listening to their tour guide, taking a picture of this magnificent structure,
and then leaving in their herd onto the next attraction. Around 5:30pm I
wandered back up to the apartment (literally! There were like 100 steps to get
up to the street level and then up the road, and then up the flights of stairs
to the front door!). Thankfully mum had done our washing, hung it up and so we
headed out for some dinner. It was then bed time and I settled in on the couch
to read my book… 
Day 16.
After a sleepless night (hey at least I got to read quite a
bit of my book) due to watching the slight crack in the door, and freaking out
over the holes in the walls and wandering if some axe-wielding murderer was
watching us from the other side, it was time to get up and head to the famous
Accademia, most known for housing the David. Prior to our departure in the
morning Mum contacted the Flight centre to organise other accommodation, with
very little help provided. She then tried contacting Elena, discussing how this
was not the apartment we booked (our was meant to have a bath, which ours didn’t,
which was a dead give away!). She simply said it was. Mum asked if their other
apartment had double beds, it did, but no air-conditioning. What? She basically
said there wasn’t anything she could do….
We met the tour group and our fantastic English tour guide
outside the Accademia at 8:30am. The guide was very knowledgeable and quite
funny calling us all poppets and cursing at the tourists complaining about
waiting in the every growing line running outside the gallery and down the
road. “I’ve been waiting for 30 minutes and the line hasn’t moved” I heard one
guy tell the guard at the door. “Yes” was his reply. “Well, why is this line
moving then? It’s not fair!”. “This is the tour group entrance, and your line
should move every 25-30minutes as we let a few people in”.
I was glad we had booked with a group, as we simply lined up
and waited for about 5 minutes, while the guide gave us a brief history of the
gallery and then we were in! Fantastic! The alrt collection in the Accademia
was amazing, and it showed an interesting evolution through the different ages,
based on how the figures were portrayed and he colours and backgrounds used. It
was fascinating to listen to the guide discuss the history of the art and how
it depended on the religion and ruler at the time as to the colours and images
used.
We wandered through the various rooms, finally making our
way to the corridor which led to the amazing David. Leading up to the David
there were four large, unfinished sculptures also by Michelangelo. These were
created by him while he was waiting for his marble slabs to be dragged down
from the mountains. It is unclear why he didn’t finish them, however they do
provided a glimpse into the sheer size of the blocks of marble he used to
sculpt his masterpieces. Our guide told us how they used to get the slabs out
of the mountainside in ancient times, as of course they couldn’t just call up
their local marble guy and get him to blast or carve out a large block. Instead
Michelangelo himself would travel to the mountain and pick a site where he felt
the marble was good. Theyy would then drive long metal rods into the mountain
where the marble to be collected was located, strengthening the block so it
didn’t break when pulled out. They then put large wooden wedges around the
section to be removed, and filled the gaps made with water so the wood would
expand and crack the marble apart. Ropes would then secured the marble to a
higher point on the mountain, so they didn’t just roll down the hill and break,
and more ropes would be connected to the slab so that horses further down could
pull it out of the side of the mountain, and down the side. Workers would put
large wooden poles in front of the marble so it could gently move down the
mountain side without damage. They were then either shipped via horse and cart
or boat to where they would be used. It was fascinating! These four unfinished
statues still had the metal rods sticking out of them!
We then moved down to the most famous masterpiece in the
academia – the David. I was shocked at how tall this rand statue is! It’s huge!
Unfortunately you are not allowed to take any photos in the academia and so I
can’t show you the David, however I’m sure you’ve seen images before! But just
think, people (even tall ones) only come up to the base of the statue! It’s
magnificent! It was also fun to watch the guards yelling and walking up to
people saying “NO PHOTO! NO PHOTO!” over the light hum of the rest of the crowd
admiring the David. The cat and mouse game between the guards and the public
who would sneakily try to get a photo of the masterpiece was hilarious!
After finishing the tour of the academia, and exiting out
through the shop, we headed back to Sante Croce to the brilliant gelataria for
a salad for lunch, and their free Wi-Fi! Using this free Wi-Fi, and in the
airconditioned comfort of this fantastic restaurant we found one of the last
remaining hotels available for the next 6 nights and booked in! Not wanting to
waste anymore time we headed straight back to the apartment and packed
everything and moved out! It did take us two trips, but we got everything out
and were welcomed into the luxury (compared to the apartment) of our new hotel,
Gallery Hotel Art. What a fantastic establishment! Located a 1 minute walked
from the Ponte Vecchio, and away from the crowds, this hotel provides a lovely
spot to base our Florentine holiday from! By the time had moved everything and
tried to contact Elena to return the key (she was suspiciously not answering
any of her phones) it was already 5pm and we were exhausted! I don’t remember
anything after moving our stuff and lying on the bed for what was meant to be 5
minutes until I woke up the next morning…. Oooops!
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