The Life of Riley: Honeymoon Part 2: Firenze

We arrived in Florence and walked the short distance from the train station to our hotel, Soggiorno Sogna Firenze on Via Delle Porte Nuove. When we checked in we were thrilled to find that our room was the only one with direct access to a little patio area on the roof. Mr. Riley went out for a bit of an explore whilst I had a siesta. When he got back he was pretty excited about what he had seen, so we wandered into town and had some food in the main square. We had no idea how to get back to the hotel as we had walked a fairly circuitous route into the centre, but kept walking down the road we happened to be on and ended up at the right place, just at the point that I was thinking we should turn round and try a different direction. Sometimes you just have to keep on plodding on and stick to your original decisions I guess.

The next morning when we woke up it was raining heavily. Mr Riley was pretty grumpy and wanted to go home on the basis that we could sit inside in Sheffield, but at least he'd be able to understand the TV. Fortunately for us, my wedding vows had included ignoring his morning grump, so I chose not to pack our bags just yet and instead go for breakfast. By the time we had eaten, showered and left the hotel, the sky was already clearing. We walked along the river, over Ponte Vecchio and then decided to go for ice cream at the Gelateria dei Neri, which had been recommended to us by a uni friend of mine who had spent many years as a tour guide in Europe. I have to say it was pretty damn good. I had stracciatella (kind of like chocolate chip ice cream I guess) and amaretto & peach, which was beautiful.

More photos and whatnot after the jump...

As the sun had come out and we were both dressed for rain, we decided to nip back to the hotel to get changed before grabbing a slice of pizza for lunch. I wish I had written down the name of the place, which was cheap but tasty. Never mind. Afterwards we had a look round the Museo di Palazzo Vecchio and went up the tower. The view was incredible.

That evening we went to La Spada for our meal. We had the most amazing steak... 1kg of meaty gorgeousness between us. Honestly, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. We had starters, and sides, and I had pudding, and whilst I'm sure they were all pretty tasty, that steak was just out of this world. YUM! The restaurant itself was busy, and whilst there were obviously tourists in there, there was also plenty of Italians. We were sat next to a lovely couple, a German guy who spoke as much English as I speak German (so, 3 words give or take) and his Italian wife, who not only spoke German, but English and Spanish as well. We had a lot of fun chatting (or using universal sign language) with them. After we had eaten we were so full we just headed back to the hotel.

The next day we headed into town and waited in the queue for the Galleria dell'Academia to see David for about 25 minutes, before realising that we would have to wait there for at least another hour before getting even close to the door. We decided that we would go and do something else and get advanced tickets for the museum from town. Life is too short to wait for that long in a queue.

We went to the cathedral next. We had a look around downstairs before going up their tower. I have never been scared of heights before, but I have to say I was terrified. The worst bit was a walkway inside the cathedral, but about 3 miles up in the ceiling. After that I felt really uncomfortable and by the time we had climbed to the top I stayed long enough to take a photo of Mr. Riley before I headed straight back down and got myself a coffee.

We went back to the the pizza place for lunch, and then back to the Gelateria dei Neri. This time I had Pistachio (my all-time favourite flavour of ice cream), Ricotta & Fig (sounds weird? well, it was actually frickin' AWESOME) and banana (which was ok). I wish I could get that Ricotta & Fig stuff in Sheffield though. Actually, I don't... it's hard enough with delicious Our Cow Molly and Yee Kwan stuff here, without introducing another irresistible flavour.

We got our advance tickets for the Galleria dell'Academia, but by the time we got there, around 7.30 I think it was, there was no queue anyway. David was much bigger than I thought it was going to be. I loved looking round, and am a bit annoyed that they wouldn't let you take any photographs in the museum, not even without the flash. The museum is worth looking round, with lots of old stuff and the occasional statue in adidas trainers.

After a nondescript dinner that night we wandered around looking for a meringue for me before sitting in the square, watching the people enjoying the Florentine evening.

The next morning I wished my dad a happy 74th birthday on Facebook (I love that my dad is on Facebook!). We had a light breakfast before walking to the place where we were meeting the transport for the cookery course that we had booked on. When we got on the bus we were quite obviously the youngest people on the course, and Mr. Riley was a little bit unsure as to what to expect. It was about a half hour journey out to the beautiful villa where the Good Tastes of Tuscany hold their courses. In our group there was 3 Americans, 3 Australians and us.

A wonderful Italian man and his wife were our teachers for the day. We started by preparing tiramisu, then roasting peppers directly on the hob and Mr. Riley and I got the job of topping and tailing a ton of green beans. We had all sorts of pots and pans on the go, Frank Sinatra playing on the stereo and a stunning kitchen to work in, and after a lot of preparation we ended with a five course feast. Fortunately we were each given a cookbook, as I wouldn't be able to remember what we did otherwise. Wine was included in the price and was flowing all day. Mrs Italian Cook spent most of her time laughing at us having only been married for 10 days and pointing out everything we had to 'look forward' to. She was wonderful, and it was her who taught us all how to make fresh pasta. We all ate together and there was much laughter and merriment. Definitely the best day of our honeymoon.

When we got back to Florence, I had eaten so much and drunk so much that I had to have a lie down. That night we went for a very light meal and a last sit in the square. The song that we had heard played by various buskers throughout our stay in Florence was playing as we left the square for the last time, and there was definitely a tear or two in my eye to know we were leaving the next day. We later found out that the song is called 'Con te Partiro', which translates as 'time to say goodbye'. It's a really beautiful song, and every time I hear it from now on, it will always remind me of our honeymoon. You'll definitely have heard it before... here it is in its full orchestral glory: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcrfvP11Hbo