Pisa and Tuscany Wine tasting - Florence Day 2

Florence Day 2:
Day 2 was planned for Leaning tower of Pisa and Chinati Tuscany wine tasting tour. We had decided to chill out after tight schedule of attractions in Florence, Italy. Got up late bit late and had our breakfast at the hotel.

Leaning Tower of Pisa:
We took Local train at 9 o clk from Florence terminal to Pisa Central. The train journey is one or one and half hour depending on train service you select.
On reaching the Pisa central, exit the station and cross the road to catch bus to the Leaning tower of Pisa. The ticket cost you around 1.5 Euros for Day. Inform the bus driver or fellow passengers that you want to get down at the Pisa tower. It takes almost 10 minutes to reach the site. The site is huge open ground which hosts Cathedral of Pisa City and bell tower (leaning tower) next to it. For more details you can visit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaning_Tower_of_Pisa). As any one else you will be tempted to take your picture with tower, either helping it from falling down or applying full force to make it fall. The farer you take the picture the better effect it gives to it. If you want to climb the Leaning tower of Pisa you have to book tickets in advance or depend on your luck to get one. As limited number of people are allowed to enter the tower at given time. Usually people who plan to take flight back from Pisa airport to home country and visit Tower on the way. After spending hour at the Pisa tower we decided to return back. The bus stop for Pisa central railway station is across street. We climbed in the bus and reached the station to take train to the Florence.

Afternoon Lunch Break:
Just walk out of the Florence station and cross the road. There’s Mac Donald’s in front and there are few cheap and really good Pizza Bars. As the saying goes, ‘If you are in Rome be Roman’, we had our lunch in Pizza Bar. Then headed for the Tuscan Wine tasting tour.

After the wine tasting tour, it was end of day two in Florence. We reached hotel and had dinner. It was time to prepare our self to leave for Venice next morning.

Uffizi & Academia Advance Bookings

These are few essentials to plan your Florence,Italy trip.

Advance Ticket Booking for Academia

Advance Ticket Booking for Uffizi

How to book them?

This can be done though some local travel company in Florence. You can either book them through internet or by calling them.

Time Slots

You need to provide them with suitable timeslots. On confirmation they will send you vouchers. You need to carry printout of those vouchers with you. The timings quoted on your voucher should be strictly followed else you will not be granted entry to the attraction.

Vouchers Exchanged for Tickets at enterance

These vouchers will be exchanged for tickets on arrival. Otherwise you will waste couple of hours standing in queue at each attraction.
Having done this you are all set for day trip to Florence.

Rome Termini to Firenze Santa Maria Novella Station or Florence SMN Station

Getting to Florence From Rome

We caught a 6:30 am Euro Star train from Rome termini to Milan. To reach Florence, the destination train station is Firenze Santa Maria Novella Station. There are many stations in Florence with similar name.

As the breakfast in hotel was served from 7 o clk in the morning, we decided to skip it. We had baught few croissants and nestle Choco milk from the Local super market located in the Rome termini. On our way to Florence we had breakfast in the train while enjoying the Tuscany country side.

The weather in early morning is very pleasant. Abhi doubted on our choice of our clothes and was keen to change to something warm. Unfortunately it didn’t last for long. It was soon bright and warm.

Hotel near Florence Station:

Its advisable to book hotel which is near to the station. We had booked an apartment with kitchen. We checked in the hotel and dumped our luggage. By then it was 8:30 am and we had to rush to Academia.

Attraction of Florence, Italy

After spending a day in Rome,Italy , we headed to Florence the next day.

Day 1 Walking plan for Florence, Italy – Academia, Duomo, Uffizi and Ponte Vecchio and Arno River, Plazzo Vecchio, Piazza Pitti or Pitti Palace.

Day2 Leaning tower of Pisa, Pisa in morning.

Day 2 Wine tasting tour in Chinati Tuscany country side in afternoon.

So the plan was to stay in Florence for two nights.
Please check for Uffizi and Academia Advance Bookings section.

We took Euro Star from Rome Termini to Florence at 6:30 am.

Day 1: Start your day with nice tourist map. We grabbed one from the hotel.

• Afternoon Lunch:
  On our way to Uffizi, it was bit difficult but not impossible to find a cheap eat out. There are some cheap eat outs near the exit of the Uffizi. Or you have to search one in the near by small lanes. Ideal it should cost you around 4 to 5 Euros person in such eat outs. It was difficult to find water fountains in the area and we had to buy mineral water bottles. Therefore it’s advisable to fill up all the water bottles at the hotel early in morning.

End of the Day 1:
We reached hotel and had shower. Since it had kitchen facility and garden with table and chairs set up. We cooked some instant noodles & boiled eggs. We enjoyed it with some cheap wine bought from near by grocery shop. Next day we went to Pisa and Wine tasting tour in Chinati, Tuscany .

Essentials: things to know before you go to Italy

Essentials:
1) Cash: Most important one. We travelled italy while residing in UK and had British bank debit cards. Last year we had been to swizzterland and had used the HSBC UK
debit card to withdraw money. Since there were no issues we were relectant to carry any cash. The ATM or the Bankomat machine allowed us to sucessfully withdraw 100 Euros at the Ciampino airport. In evening we tried using the ATM at Rome termine and our transactions were declined for all the cards. Even after calling up HSBC and Natwest call centers but the cards were rejected. Ultimately we exchanged few GBP at high rate to pay the Hotel bill for tonight. In the hostel we learnt that there were other tourist who had similar experince. However the good newz was that the British chip and pin cards were declined. Since we had US banks debit card with us, we had to withdraw our emergency funds from that bank. Moral of the story is that one should carry enough traveller cheques while travelling to Italy.
2) Summer clothes, petties, shorts, cotton T-shirts
3) Water bottles: There are lots of drinking fountains around rome. You can fill up your waterbottles using them. The shopkeepers near tourist attractions will try to sell you mineral water for 2 Euros and cold drinks for 4 Euros each. Which is too costly. At the waterfountain, splash bit of water on your hands, face and hair to keep you cool. This prevents you from dehydration and keeps you cool. Remember do not wipe out that splashed water.
4) Snack bars: There is lot of walking involved in these 2 to 3 days so stuff your sack with some snack bars.
5) Sun screen, Sun glasses, Caps, scarfs, fans, umbrella are helpful.
6) Locks and Keys: Italy is famous for pick pokecters and thiefs who snatch valuables from you. So its handy to lock your bags with small travel locks or use safety pins in case you have hand bag.

Piazza Pitti or Pitti Palace

Piazza Pitti or Pitti Palace

You reach Piazza Pitti if you walk little bit ahead then from the other end of the Ponte Bridge. Its huge Palace with holds museums and gardens and was residence of Renaissance Banker Luca Piti. The palace has entry fee. After spending entire day in the museum we decided to skip interior of Piazza Pitti and took some pictures from outside. After reaching Piazza Pitti, one can get feeling of seeing Oasis in dessert. Well, that’s sort of true, there is water fountain in front of Piazza Pitti and you can fill up your water bottles for your journey back to hotel.

The walking tours map suggest to take U-Trun from the Piazza Pitti but if you are tired then you can skip it and head straight to your hotel.
There is a church which is marked on the walking tours map. When we reached the church, there was service/ prayers being offered. Therefore we were not allowed to visit the church.

Palazzo Vecchio, Florence

Palazzo Vecchio, Florence

The open space in front of Uffizi is called Palazzo Vecchio. You can take your snaps with copy of David standing in the original location of David in front of the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence. An enthusiast can even go and see the interiors of the town hall. But we were tired and decided to drop it.
For more details visit the site http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palazzo_Vecchio

Ponte Vecchio and Arno River

Ponte Vecchio & Arno River

After a nice break of gelato, we marched towards the Ponte Vecchio Bridge & Arno River through the narrow courtyard between the Uffizi wings. The street to bridge along the river side is colluded with many street vendors selling different kinds of artefacts from Florence mementos, jewellery, toys etc. One can see people rowing boats in the Arno River. It’s the oldest bridge over the river and both edges of the bridge are lined with buildings. These buildings were initially housed butchers shops. But are now replaced with Jewelry shops making it must see activity. If you have some extra Euros in your budget one can do some shopping too.

Uffizi

Uffizi

There is a separate window for collection of reserved tickets in front of the Uffizi entrance. As usual there are two separate lines- reserved tickets and non-reserved tickets. It’s worth taking audio guide or visiting the http://www.uffizi.com/ or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uffizi before you visit Uffizi. You are not allowed to take snaps or film in the Uffizi. You are not allowed to take in water bottles. So either you have to throw them at the entrance. If you are carrying any sack bags then you have to leave them at the reception. After 2 to 3 hours tour in Uffizi you can come out and rest in the big courtyard. Enjoy drink or may be Gelato.

Duomo

Duomo

The Duomo in Florence is the third largest cathedral in the world. Also known as The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. The entrance to the Duomo is free. There is queue in front of the Duomo for entrance. On your way to Dumo spot tourist information centre and grab walking day tour map. You can spend another half an hour inside the Duomo admiring its beauty. The dome of the Duomo is painted by artist Zuccari. For more information on the Duomo please refer the site. Florence Duomo From the exit you can come out and enjoy the Façade, the grand entrance of the Duomo. Bank opposite the Façade is the Main portal – three huge bronze doors adorned with scenes from life of Modonna. On the right of the Dumos entrance is the Ghitto’s Bell Tower. This completes the visit to the Duomo. It’s almost noon and we head towards Uffizi.
Recommended: On the left side of the Duomo is the entrance for the stairs which lead to the dome of the Duomo. It gives you spectacular view of Florence. We skipped that but its worth watching Florence from the top of the Duomo.
Dome

Entrance of the Duomo:

Video Clip inside the Duomo

Afternoon Lunch:

On our way to Uffizi, it was bit difficult but not impossible to find a cheap eat out. There are some cheap eat outs near the exit of the Uffizi. Or you have to search one in the near by small lanes. Ideal it should cost you around 4 to 5 Euros person in such eat outs. It was difficult to find water fountains in the area and we had to buy mineral water bottles. Therefore it’s advisable to fill up all the water bottles at the hotel early in morning.

Academia- David

Academia- David

We had booked 9:15 am slot for Academia Gallery in Florence. The Academia is not mapped on some of the tourist maps. The Landmark for Academia is St Marks Square or Academia itself. It should take you about 1 hour to visit Academia. Yes, this can increase to couple of hours more if you haven’t booked the Academia tickets in advance. (Note: Please refer the advance booking section. ) There are two lines at the entrance- one for reservations and the other is normal line. The Academia has housed the original of original David by Michelangelo since 1873. If you plan to visit Uffizi then the 1 hr visit to academia is worth admiring the only David and the four unfinished prisoners. The David is master piece of Renaissance sculpture. It is one of the two greatest works of sculpture done by Michelangelo. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_(Michelangelo) ) You are not allowed to take snaps of the original sculpture. However there is copy of David in the courtyard of the Uffizi. At the exit there are toilets and get ready for another day through the lanes of Florence.

Tuscany Wine tasting tour

Tuscany Wine tasting tour:

I was keen in watching the Tuscan wine yards and country side. So I had booked Wine tasting tour using the site citydiscovery.com. This one was the cheapest one available. The original tour operators are CAF Tours and Travels and you can book directly with them at this site CAF Tours. It costs you around 40 Euros per person. This does not include wine yard trip as stated in citydiscovery.com site. A guide picks you at 2 o clk in afternoon from Piazza Stazione, at the corner with Piazza dell'Unità and drops you back at the same point in the evening. It’s the time to relax in the air-conditioned bus and enjoy the picturesque Tuscan country side and Italian Villas.On your way one can see lot of Wine yards and Olive oil plantations. There is half an hour halt to a church. There is small cave where young lady used to live. Not to mention a restaurant with toilet facilities. The bus then takes you castle which belonged to the Medici Family. A new guide took over from there. She briefed us about the history of the castle and the owners. She then took us around the private rooms of the castle and the Wine cellar in the basement. She explained the process of wine making and the variety of wines grown in that area. At the end of it, there was wine tasting session. We were given 3 different types of wines grown in the near by wine yards. The wine was accompanied with some snacks. The tour operators allow you another half an hour to buy Wine and Olive oil from near by shop. Those who are not interested in buying stuff can enjoy the country side and take some snaps in the mean time. The bus heads to Florence city centre and drops you at the Piazza dell'Unità.

This was end of day two in Florence. We reached hotel and had dinner. It was time to prepare our self to leave for Venice next morning.