Chic Traveler: Day Tripping in Florence

It will be 11 AM soon here and I already had breakfast. I'm also checking out today from my hostel. Originally I was going to go to Urbino today to visit my friend Giulia, who I met last summer while studying in Salamca, Spain. However, there is a train strike in all of Italy so the trains are not running. I know it sounds kind of crazy, but its actually quite common here. Anyway I met up last night with Shiffi, a friend's friend who is from Australia, and she is letting me stay in her place since I cannot leave Florence while the trains are not working.

Shiffi is studying abroad, but before she got to Florence she was backpacking for two and half months all over Italy!! She has tons of great stories about her travels! We had a great time talking all of last night while drinking wine and eating pizza in a little piazza she took me to in Florence. It reminded me why I had fallen in love with this country when I studied here four years ago. A lot of it has to do with long nights of wine and chatting under the Tuscan moon. Australia is like the US in that they do not allow drinking in the streets and they do not have a lot, or any, public places for people to gather at night, so we were both in heaven!

The streets of Florence are very crowded and loud during the day. There are a lot of vendors selling leather goods and other stuff. One guy actually tried to sell me a leather jacket. It was beautiful but do you think I want a leather jacket in this heat-ha! When you are in Florence you buy leather--it just the only thing that makes sense, unless you want to end up with a souvenir made in China that is the same as things found in other cities. There are shops that sell really expensive leather goods, but there are many street vendors throughout the city center with more affordable prices. But beware of fake leather purses that are not from Italian leather. And if you are into designers like Gucci and Fendi, there are tons of outlets outside the city! The downside is that you need a car, directions, and a brave soul to drive in Italy.

Before I met with Shiffi, I visited Monteriggioni, a tiny Medieval Village that Dante mentions in the Inferno part of the Divina Comedia (The Divine Comedy). It is such a small village that once you enter the walls you can keep walking straight from one wall door to the other, and in two minutes you have crossed the entire town! It is so beautiful but it is completely different than it was only thirty years ago. I met a few locals, which is not hard to do with a population of 43, and they told me about their lives there. There were more tourists than locals, mostly from the US and Germany! Anyway, they told me stories about how the piazza used to only be dirt and animals would run wild through the town. Their business was agricultural while now it is purely tourism.

The day before I visited Siena!! If you are in Florence, you have to visit Siena! Trains are always departing from Santa Maria Novella train station, though make you sure you buy a ticket before you get on board. It is a medieval city with stone streets and walls that surround the entire city. Many believe the Piazza Del Campo to be the most beautiful piazza in Italy, and I agree. Siena is the type of city where you do not need a map because you can just wander through the streets and see beautiful things everywhere. And besides there are signs that point to the major tourist attractions so you are not be completely on your own.

While you are there you should visit the Sanctuary of Santa Caterina. She is not only the patron saint of Siena, but of Italy and Europe as well. She was born in Siena, one of twenty-something children, and she grew up there. The Sanctuary used to be the house of her family. It is a great day trip from Florence and if you happen to be around in July or August, I would suggest going to the Palio. This bareback horse race dates back centuries and they still do everything exactly the same. It is one of the most dangerous horse races in the world and the pride of every Sienese for their contrada (city district), and its unlike anything else. There is one Palio on July 2 and one on August 16. Huge crowds of Italians and tourist flock to the town for this event, so if you want to skip the Palio but still see the horses practice, come the days before the Palio.

Ciao for now!

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(Photo: The Palio race in Siena, Italy)

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