Well, the first blogpost from Italy.

This is our second day here, having survived our stupid-o’clock start and subsequent drive to Florence plus finding our hotel.

Florence was simply amazing as a city. There is so much there, so many nooks and crannies, so many edifices, so much art that a couple of days isn’t enough to get under the skin properly let alone sample a decent proportion of it all. Italy was the old America, where everything had to be built bigger, better, more ornate than everyone else, and Florence seems to have led the way in that. The Duomo is outstanding in its sheer size and degree of ornamentation, yet is by no means the only extremely decorated building. It is also in the process of being cleaned, changing from a grimy grey with black streaks to a sparkling white and green. This morning we parked in the Piazza del Carmine opposite the church of the same name. This comprised a large but externally drab building, which inside had the most ornate painted plasterwork, yet seemed to be ‘just another example’ that hardly got noticed.

Our hotel yesterday was a great find. The Uno Vittoria is a very modern hotel with interior design that blends the avante guard with hints of art deco and the electrical engineering of Charactacus Potts. First thing that hits you through the front door is the strip of mosaic running across the floor, over the ceiling and up to the reception desk. We were also a little disconcerted that the corridors leading to the rooms are all painted satin black, floors, walls and ceiling, and with a life-size picture of a member of deceased Italian aristocracy applied to each rooms door. You’ll need to see the pictures, but the room had the bed area covered in squares of purple leather with tiny lights at where the corners met. There were lights under the floor, mirrors and a huge LCD TV screen on the wall opposite and a kingsize bed. The shower room would be a honeymoon couple’s delight, while the bathroom was sparkling, if a little too purple. Aircon, internet connection and everything controlled from a console on each side of the bed. I found this place on Expedia, and it cost a total of £74 for the night including breakfast. The ‘standard rate’ given in the room was 449 euros plus 20 euros for breakfast.

For the price we paid, if we ever go back I’ll stay there again.

I’m usually too tight to pay hotel porters for handling my bag (makes me quite cross) but in Italy this is *how it is done* and so when we were edged into using the porter I didn’t object. We’d never have found our room without him! He was good natured, showed us how to make everything work in English and had the good grace to look both surprised and pleased when I tipped him. In fact service there was thoroughly excellent, with the waiter from last night’s meal recognising us at breakfast, and staff always being helpful in a non-intrusive manner.

So from the sublime to the … less sublime.

We’re here in Siena now. I may blog later about the stuff we saw in Florence.

Having described the hotel there, I don’t really want to describe the hotel here, other than to say it’s old, cleanish and the rooms are larger. I’ll apply the thumper principle at this point.

Siena has dealt with the problem of too many cars trying to drive through tiny streets by banning them. Not all cars: residents may still drive in the city, but visitors may not. It is also absolutely full of scooters and mopeds. We parked outside the walls (this is free, although spaces aren’t easy to find) and walked in to try to find the hotel. Having checked in we got a taxi to drive us back, collect the bags and return.

Siena IS a medieval city. Not was: is. For some good historical reasons it never got developed after the 16th century, and not much before that. It was even ignored by the Germans, who blew up significant portions of Florence, and therefore a lot of the buildings are truly ancient and remarkably authentic. Streets are tiny on a scale that makes even Paris and London look like they’ve never known the word ‘alley’ and frequently mountain-bike steep. As we travelled in the taxi to collect our bags the forecast heavy rain arrived. Travelling back through those tiny, winding passages (they can’t be called streets) the driver won my admiration. Not that I couldn’t have driven there too, but that he was so smooth and so precise in the knowledge of the width of his vehicle. There were some places where the gap was no more than 4” wider than the car, but he always got through with just the right amount of wiggle.

So here we sit. The rain stopped briefly and has now re-started, although with less ferocity. Chris is bored and wants to go out, so I’m going to stop here.