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denYesterday was mostly spent at the factory, then Bruno took us to lunch. "Do you like pasta?" he asked. I had fresh tortilini with melted butter and sage, while Aaron went for a pizza. I suppose you can't expect minions to appreciate good food, but the pizza did look nice.
Here in Tuscany they do an oil that is beyond extra extra virgin olive oil. It's cloudy, or turbid according to Bruno, and doesn't keep more than six months. To go with my tortilini I had Tuscan bread covered in this olive oil and salt, and beans covered in olive oil, salt and pepper. It was all washed down with a new chianti. Apparently for breakfast the locals toast thick slabs of bread, rub garlic all over it then cover it with olive oil. It sounds very yummy but not for breakfast. We finished off with an espresso. It came in a cup 2" deep and 1.5" wide, and was 1/2 full of a mouth-numbingly strong black syrup. Now THAT's coffee.
Today was spent wandering around the old town. We walked to the top of the bell tower of the Duomo, then into (and under) the Duomo, marvelled at the dome built around 1300ish, found the fake statue of David that replaced Michaelangelo's original when it was moved into a museum, and wandered around a Medici palace. Aaron declared he needed a cheeseburger for lunch, but we couldn't find a Maccas or KFC anywhere. He had to settle for a chickenburger at an Irish Pub. Soccer was on the tv: Australia vs Uraguay.
Chickenburger, 1/2 pint of beer, chips and a coffee: €10.00
Australia beating Uraguay
Later we crossed the Ponta Veccio with all the gold shops. Apparently there is more gold traded on that bridge than anywhere else in the world.
About then my ankle decided to remind me of the time I fell off the glacier in New Zealand and started to complain. We wandered slowly back to the hotel along the banks of the river.
Right now I'm trying to organize a TGV to Rome. The city is only 2 hours away by train, and we should be able to "do" some of the sights there in a day.
Here in Tuscany they do an oil that is beyond extra extra virgin olive oil. It's cloudy, or turbid according to Bruno, and doesn't keep more than six months. To go with my tortilini I had Tuscan bread covered in this olive oil and salt, and beans covered in olive oil, salt and pepper. It was all washed down with a new chianti. Apparently for breakfast the locals toast thick slabs of bread, rub garlic all over it then cover it with olive oil. It sounds very yummy but not for breakfast. We finished off with an espresso. It came in a cup 2" deep and 1.5" wide, and was 1/2 full of a mouth-numbingly strong black syrup. Now THAT's coffee.
Today was spent wandering around the old town. We walked to the top of the bell tower of the Duomo, then into (and under) the Duomo, marvelled at the dome built around 1300ish, found the fake statue of David that replaced Michaelangelo's original when it was moved into a museum, and wandered around a Medici palace. Aaron declared he needed a cheeseburger for lunch, but we couldn't find a Maccas or KFC anywhere. He had to settle for a chickenburger at an Irish Pub. Soccer was on the tv: Australia vs Uraguay.
Chickenburger, 1/2 pint of beer, chips and a coffee: €10.00
Australia beating Uraguay
Later we crossed the Ponta Veccio with all the gold shops. Apparently there is more gold traded on that bridge than anywhere else in the world.
About then my ankle decided to remind me of the time I fell off the glacier in New Zealand and started to complain. We wandered slowly back to the hotel along the banks of the river.
Right now I'm trying to organize a TGV to Rome. The city is only 2 hours away by train, and we should be able to "do" some of the sights there in a day.
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no subject
Date: 16 Nov 2005 16:33 (UTC)(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 16 Nov 2005 18:58 (UTC)*uh, that's the ice-cream that was cream cheese flavour, I'm sure the baptistry is more building-flavoured....
no subject
Date: 16 Nov 2005 20:48 (UTC)**Looks back at her gluten-free doughnut and cringes.
I want pasta!!
Date: 16 Nov 2005 21:37 (UTC)The food sounds delicious! No garlic for breakfast coming from the eaters of vegemite?! :D Actually I would eat garlic for breakfast if there were cheese and olives and extra bread and maybe some sausage and maybe an orange or two. That coffee sounds divine, the only thing close if perhaps turkish coffee, and I can only have that once in a while.
Real pizza is just baked crust and sauce drizzled with olive oil and garlic and sold in roaside stands there, but I am not sure about Florence. It's snowing here:P. Figures:D.
I want pasta!
Date: 16 Nov 2005 21:41 (UTC)No garlic for brekfast from the eaters of vegemite?!:D Actually, I would eat garlic for breakfast provided there were olives, cheese, extra bread, maybe an orange or two, and some sausage. The food sounds delicious! The coffee sounds divine, and reminds me of turkish coffee which I can only have once in a while.
*******
Re: I want pasta!
From:no subject
Date: 17 Nov 2005 01:18 (UTC)The square where the David is has another museum (the name of which escapes me for the moment) where Donatello's David resides. It is my favourite statue of all time, and I squeed rather loudly when I found it there - having not realized it was there at all until I almost tripped over it - much to my mother's bemusement.
Make sure you have ice cream while you're there. They know how to do it right.
(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 18 Nov 2005 01:28 (UTC)Remember... memories of a lifetime are made this way... take your time and enjoy them! Don't try to fit in too much... just "enough."
(no subject)
From:(no subject)
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