www.henningn.dk

Check out
Tuscany photos
Tuscany photostory
Florence photostory
Siena photostory
Volterra photostory
Cinque Terre photostory
Lucca/Bagni di Lucca photostory
Pisa photostory
Danish version

Saturday, february 25'th

KLM is a clumsy airline. Tickets were booked in very good time. Billund via Amsterdam to Florence. Then there was an e-mail from KLM. Firenze airport was shut down - had to go to Pisa instead. Some mails back and forth, before they decided that I actually needed a new ticket. I send my ticket to Amsterdam - waiting for a new one.

3 days before departure - still no ticket has arrived. Call them - oh - they haven't had the time - hello - you had a month!. Well - have to pick it up at the airport. So I leave early for the airport, and find the ticket office. No ticket here. But they manage to make me a new one within half an hour, so I'm just ready for check-in before closure.

Flight is nice. Maybe because not a single KLM-flight is involved. Sterling to Amsterdam and Meridiana to Pisa. Arrive in Pisa at 12.30 and find my train to Florence. That takes about 1½ hour.

From the railway station a short walk to Hotel Kraft booked via www.hotels.com. Nice hotel, but room 227 is a bit on the small side.

Out in town to take a look at Florence. Have been here before for a short weekend, som I'm able to get around pretty easy. Pass some of Florences' major sights - Palazzo and Ponte Vecchio, The Uffizi's, Sante Croce and the huge Duomo. It's pretty cold, but anyway much nicer than the weather I was leaving back home. All the locals wear thick jackets though, as it was freezing temperatures or something.

Pizza for dinner, at a nice place near my hotel. And the relaxing a bit with winter-olympics from Torino on the TV.

Nice breakfast at the hotel, then a bus - no. 7 - to Fiesole, 8 km. outside Florence. Nice little hilly suburb, with a few sights and a great view of Firenze - the latter disturbed this morning by the misty weather.

There'a an archeological area, with a nice outdoor amphitheater and an indoor museum. They give you a little bochure at the entrence. No football or tree-climbing outside, and no drinking or touching things inside. Football inside though, seems to be ok.

Then uphill the steeo Via di San Francesco. At the top there's the great view - but not much today, due to the weather. There's also a nice little convent - San Francesco - built back in 1399. You can see some of the cells the munks used to live in. Suddenly my hotelroom seems enourmous.

No. 7 back to Florence, where I get off at the Duomo. A short stroll throght tourist Florence to Ponte Vecchio, where an exiting walk starts. First uphill throgh the small stree of Costa di San Giorgi. On the top you turn left, and then it's downhill on Via de Belvedere along the city-walls of Florence. This is slightly off the beaten track, so no tourist around.

At the end of Via de Belvedere, it's late lunchtime at a local restaurant, befor I'm going uphill again on Via del Monte Alle Groci to the fine church of San Miniato al Monte. This is an old church - build back in 1018 on the top of the grave of San Miniotos. He was a businessman from Armenia, whose head was chopped of in the 2'nd century, because he had different ideas than the Emperor Decius. From the church there's a great view of the roofs and the churches of Florence.

A short walk from here is Piazzale Michelangelo, which is more of a local place where people gather. Lot's of stalls, live-music, locals wearing thick jackets and sunglasses. This a where the locals go for a sunday afternoon. 

Downhill again throgh the nice streets of Via de San Niccolo and Via del Bardi back to all the tourist swarming around Ponte Vecchio. It starts to rain now, so I follow the Arno-river back to my hotel.

Dinner at a local kebab. The language here is international - "Eat in or take away" is known everywhere in the world. I take away.

Daytrip to Siena. SITA's Rapid-bus takes an hour to go there.

According to the legend Siena was created by Senius, son of Remus. So a lot of places in town where you can see statues of the wolf, suckling Romulus and Remus. Can't remember the story though - but there was something with a wolf involved

First stop - Piazza del Campo. Huge - oyestershaped - with a slight fall towards Palazzo Pubblico from 1297. This is the Piazza where they have their famous horseriding-thing twice a year. Today - no horses - only some schoolclasses and some few tourists.

I walk around Siena for a few more hours. Nice nice - exiting building - and very Tuscany.

Leaving Siena in the afternoon by bus back to Florence. A short local walk in the evening, before I find a local trattoria for a good dinner.

Sometime ago a read at the Lonely Planets ThornTree-side about the most exiting places in Tuscany. 3 was mentioned. Siena, Volterra and Lucca - while a third very much visited town San Gimignano was considered a tourist-trap. Yesterday was Siena - I will return to Lucca - and today it's Volterra.

The busraid out here is slightly complicated. 2 hours with a buschange in Colle di Val d'Elsa. But it's worth the trouble.

Volterra is a very lovely and nice town up in the hills. Very old and with 2 city-walls around. One made by the Etruscans and one made by the Romans. The town was settled around 260 b.c., but most parts of the town you will find today was built ind the 12'th and 13'th century.

I walk around the town for 3 or 4 hours. Then you have seen it all. There's a huge castle, which demands a special pass to get inside. It's made into a state-prison, so if you get inside, you can't be sure to get out again. But if you get a room with a view, it might be worth the effort.

A small childres-carnival today. Nothing much - a few costumes, a bad magician, some confetti - and all the kids a happy with that.

Back in Florence at 4. Another evening-stroll here. Pass a hotel where suddenly the whole german football-times turns up. They are playing Italy tomorrow. I can hardly recognize any of the players. Michael Ballack is the only exception.

Dinner at my trattoria Il Contadino. Fixed-price menu - 2 courses - 10 Euro - pretty fair.

Firenze-dag i dag. Jeg har tegnet en rute ind på et kort, som kommer forbi de fleste seværdigheder og semi-seværdigheder i den flotte by.

Første stop er Basilica di Santa Maria Novelle. Det er en gammel kirke tæt på banegården. Det er en fin dominikaner-kirke fra 13-hundrede tallet, som så siden er blevet pyntet lidt op. Den har den traditionelle flotte stribede facade, som flere kirker har her på egnen.

Videre til Marcato Centrale - et kød, frugt og grøntsagsmarked i en gammel hal fra 1874. Udenfor hallen er der ca. ½ million platugle-gadesælgere, der sælger massefremstillet souvenir-tingeltangel til tumbede turister.

Then to Basilica di San Lorenzo. If it wasn't for the tower and the dome, you would expect it to be a horse-stable or something. First church was built here in 393 a.c and was rebuild in 1059. Not much left from these day. The one that is standing now was made ind the 14'th century. Michelangelo made a front for the church, but it was never really finished. That's why the entrence looks a little scrappy.

Next stop is 2 piazzas. First San Marco and then Piazza della Santissina Annunziata. At the latter you will find Spedale degli Innocenti, established in 1421 as the first orphenage in Europe. There's a small door, where you could put you small children through, if you wasn't able to raise them.

On to the Duomo and lunch. Then to Palazzo Vecchio, Piazza della Signoria, The Uffizi'es, crossing Arno via Ponte Vecchio to Palazzo Pitti. I have to follow the streets, and can't do as the Medici-family that owned both the Palazzo Pitti and Palazzo Vecchio. They build themself a private indoor walkway, even across the Ponte Vecchio, so they didn't have to mingle with the crowds.

Behind Palazzo Pitti the fine park of Giardino di Boboli, with nice views of the city.

On to the nice neighbourhood of San Frediano, with a few churches and piazzas. Then across the river to my hotel.

Italy wins tonights match against Germany 4-1. I watch on the TV. Maybe there's a reason why I know no german players afterall.