This is Russ Groom. Today we traveled North from
Florence to
Milan.
I was excited to be in Florence. Florence is the home of some great Michelangelo masterpieces; the statue of David and the Christian icon, "The last supper," are stored here. I begged the team to spend some time here, and begrudgingly got it. Unfortunately, for us we soon found out that all museums were closed on Mondays. This ruled out the artwork, so I convinced the group to take a walk to the city center. I said it was only a few blocks away and everyone hesitantly believed me. We ate breakfast, had some coffee, and were off to the city center. Just a few steps from the breakfast cafe, we were transported into Medieval Florence. We walked along the Arno River towards the center of town. The road turned to cobblestone, and the bridges, although strong and sturdy looked about 500 years old. Within eyesight we could see several bridges, some were just walk across bridges and others gave foundation to houses and shops.
From the river walk we turned toward the Piazza Della Signora. There David stood, although we learned later that this was a life size model of the original that was housed in a closed museum. Unable to see the real thing we figured it would do. It was great to be here. The Piazza was an open area between buildings, It was a scene of Italy; cobblestones, pigeons; old men playing chess, all here, encircled by tall buildings.
I convinced the team for another hour as the sites and styles of this city were too attractive to pass up. Granted another pardon, Todd and I raced to the cathedral at the center of town. The cathedral was called Duomo and was built in the 15th century. It was a remarkable place towering over the city below it. The ornate structure was built with black and white bricks. Todd and I bought our tickets and entered. The walls were decorated with religious artwork; angels, saints, Jesus, and many other pictures depicting religious stories and settings. We knew time was ticking so we speedily walked the halls and climbed the tower. The walkways were narrow and convoluted. Although there was a general flow of people it was hard to figure out the right way to go. Despite the confusion we ended up at the top of the structure in an open air lookout over the city. The city does not match anywhere that I have ever been. It just seemed and felt like we were in Italy.
As time ticked away, we knew that we should be getting back. We attempted to retrace the steps that took us from David to the Duomo, but failed. Todd and I are sometimes a bad combination. The two of us spend more time talking than paying attention to where we are. The city is definitely not laid out in a grid-like fashion. It seemed to be built around these circular meeting places. The narrow streets radiate off of these centers, but certainly did not seem to go in a North-South East-West direction. Maybe some streets did but this only added to the confusion. We would see places that looked familiar, but the excitement of being on the right track soon died out as confusion again set in. I guess we could have asked somebody, but this quickly turned into a game. Finally after traipsing through street malls we ended up at the bus station an hour after our agreed meeting time. We decided that only a taxi could take us back to the square where we started, but we didn’t know the name the square. Figuring that a description of where we wanted was as good as a name, we again embraced the taxi idea.
The next challenge was finding a taxi. Even though we were in a central area for public transportation, everywhere we stood we looked up to see signs telling us we could not hail taxis from where we were standing. We would try to cross streets, but most seemed to have barricades dividing lanes of traffic, making it impossible for us to cross the streets to where we were suppose to be. Finally we got to a reasonable place where we could hail a cab, however, it was at this point we suddenly realized we were back at the square. We didn’t need a cab at all. Quickly we darted off to David and prepared for a tardy-induced beating. But the rest of the team was not there waiting, not even one person. We combed the area and soon found them. Apparently the rest of the team had lost themselves, not like us, in their surroundings and time had gotten away from them as well. We threw down some lunch and quickly headed back to the Rovers and our next leg of the journey.
We started up the Cars, unfortunately, Hercules had a lifter tick which caused Nick a few anxious moments, but otherwise everything was in order. We departed Firenze bound for Milan. The drive was again beautiful. I suppose the scenery of Italy will always call me back.
Again map troubles caused squabbles in the lead Car. To make amends for the tiny undetailed Lonely Planet maps, Nick and Chanda had the foresight to buy a large city map of Milan. When the Milan city center sign approached we attempted to find our selves on this large detailed map of the city but driving down foreign streets and unfamiliar territory increases the difficulty of finding exactly where you are on the map. I was doing my best, but that wasn't cutting it so we stopped to ask directions, and received some friendly advice. I walked into a jewelry store with my map, and in my best Spanish apologized for speaking Spanish and asked where we were. I am not sure if it was my Spanish that worked or my confused expression and map that got the point across. In any case they pointed out our location on my map and even made some hotel recommendations.
We drove a few more blocks to one of the suggested hotels, but, like my map reading abilities, the hotel wasn’t appealing to certain members in the car. Fired for map reading duties and hotel selection, I retired to the back seat in silence as the rest of the team now had to deal with the problem without me.
Driving in the crowded narrow streets, not knowing where you are going is not fun, and produces short fuses. However, breaking some of the tension, a young vespa driver drove up along side and complimented Nick on the Rovers. A brief chat ensued and soon we were following him to a nearby hotel. This Hotel was too expensive, so we were again left on our own.
Fate feeling sorry for us at this point (or maybe it was tired of listening to our whining) lead us to the Hotel Milano where we finally found lodging. The owner, named Paplino, took great care of us in Fine Italian fashion. Our stay at the Hotel Milano was an experience we will all cherish.
The evening ended with a fine Italian dinner served with Borge wine. Although I don't like to drink wine, I had to taste this stuff, and sure enough it lived up to its name.
