Italy: Day 3

Our day began with something of a pact - to never eat or drink like the night before again...Yes, I realise you've heard this all before but it really did seem like a case of "J'ai trop manger".
After arriving a little late at Steph & Thomas' house thanks to my (previously unrealised) appallingly bad navigation, we settled into the hills around Florence in a little village called San Martino alla Parma. Steph and Thomas have a baby, Cassia, who greeted us both with a smile which set our nerves at ease. They're also the nicest hosts and fed us incredibly well. Toast with fresh (as in a few day's old) olive oil, a traditional tomato soup and a massive slab of steak called Bistecca. I kid you not - it was thicker than two hands pressed together and easily 20cm across. Thomas grilled it in the fireplace and IT WAS AMAZING, and made even better by the Chianti and another red wine (which I can't remember now...I wonder why) we drank. B and I had talked about drinking Chianti before we arrived as many of the places we were visiting in Italy were in the Chianti region. I knew Chianti as having an average reputation as a cheap wine and I was sure I wasn't alone. But after tasting the Chianti Classico I really didn't understand the stereotype at all. The wine from this region is fantastic - mostly Sangiovesi grapes, medium-bodied, fruity and full of character. It changed my idea of Chianti completely and I'll be looking for it in stores in Paris and in Sydney soon. If you haven't tried good Chianti yet, make sure you find the ones with the label.
Anyway, it was a delicious meal and despite the less-than-chipper start the next morning it set us up for a day in Florence. Before we left, though, we poked around Steph and Thomas' olive groves, soaking in the sunshine and a view of Tuscany I'd been waiting for - rolling hills covered in vines bathed in sunlight. Ahhh...

Florence, like Lucca in that it was packed with cathedrals, was for me a much nicer experience. It's on a river, has lovely little bridges, cute back streets and a thriving feel that I'd missed previously. It still retains an architectural majesty with the incredible Santa Maria del Fiore (known as The Duomo) and Bartolomeo Ammanati's Fountain of Neptune. We spent our entire day here, wandering around the town noticing big and little things, dodging skydivers, and, of course, eating and drinking at will. As with all of Europe thus far, the best time of the day came in the evening as the sun started to set. The buildings glowed, the air hung with a very faint sense of haze and the sunlight truly felt calming. I wish I knew the reason for this but at the time I was content to be carried along by it all.
We ended our day leaving Florence by a (unintentional - guess who was navigating again) scenic route through the surrounding hills before settling onto the road towards Radda in Chianti, south-south-east of Florence.

RATING
I enjoyed Florence a lot and had the feeling we'd discovered some really worthwhile things while touring the city. It also ended with a truly enjoyable dinner, which I'll get to tomorrow.
4.5/5