Some fools like to relax on the beach, but I prefer trains. Sleeper trains especially. So for a little bit of October entertainment Ruth & I took the Eurostar to Paris, then a sleeper from Paris to Florence and holed up in the Tuscan capital for a few nights.
To sta
rt the trip in style we went to the world's longest champagne bar (more like an elongated Costa Coffee concession) at St. Pancras and toasted our freedom. The champagne menu is vast and so us connoisseurs went for the cheapest option of a £10 glass each. Great way to start a trip in an amazing setting - just wish Eurostar could give the same treatment to Paris Gare du Nord.
Eurostar was running OK despite the recent fire in the tunnel, and after arriving in Paris we crossed town to Bercy and had a beer outside the finance ministry (while the bigheads inside were no doubt working on the bail-out) before boarding the Pendolino train to Florence. Our evening meal in the dining car was hilarious, crammed in as we were next to a French couple on a table for 4 on a rickety old train. Halfway through my artichoke risotto the couple had a blazing row (fermes ta gueule!) and then didn't speak for the next hour. Well, we ploughed on regardless, Ruth eating roast pork and moi the entrecote steak, accompanied by an Italian red and finished off with cake. The meal was passable but didn't attain the heights of its €67 price tag.
Sharing a 6-berth cabin with two Algerian builders, the conversation was limited after dinner and so we nestled into our bottom bunks and slept fitfully for the next 9 hours. Greeting us the next morning were the Tuscan hills and the sweet aroma of the toilet cabin, so bleary eyed we shuffled off at Florence at 9am and took in a few sights before checking in. Our main objective was the Uffizi (ah! tourist hell but oh! aren't those botticellis beautiful!), where we had extortionately priced coffee (€4 a pop) on the terrace in the shade of the Palazzo Vecchio bell tower, as well as breakfast (mini margherita pizza and ham toastie - total bill €20!).
Our hotel, Rosary Garden, was an excellent choice and although a 20-minute bus ride out of town it provided stunning spacious rooms and really friendly service, as well as free afternoon tea every day from 4-6pm with hot water dispensed from a samovar (I want one!). Also one of the best gelaterias in Florence was just round the corner, so we indulged immediately with amarena and chocolate ice creams. As it was a Friday night, we decided to hit a few bars in the Oltrarno district and had cocktails (caipirinha good, but mojito less so) at Dolce Vita in Piazza Carmine, before indulging in that great Italian tradition of "aperitivi".
As we've discovered, one of the best experiences in Italy is to walk into a 4 or 5-star hotel around 8pm, find a table in the bar and order prosecco or cocktails, only to find (to your immense delight) that the
waiter brings an unending procession of snacks. Whether it's crisps or cashew nuts, crostini or cheese, the snacks just keep on coming and get better the longer you stay. We went to Hotel Bernini where I had a beautifully bitter Negroni cocktail along with plentiful nosh material, but our best "aperitivi" experience was at the Four Seasons where the prosecco is not cheap (€12 a glass) but the snacks are bountiful enough to constitute an evening meal. For me, the sugar-coated walnuts were a real winner.
Eating out is not cheap in Florence, at around €25 a head for lunch including wine and €50 a head for a 3-course dinner and drinks, but wow! that Tuscan cuisine is amazing. We had an evening meal at La Giostra that involved prosecco and a plate of starters (including donkey mortadella, liver canapes and balsamic roasted red peppers) on the house, followed by a "primo" of pennette with gorgonzola, pear and pistacchios and a "secondo" of calamari with grilled vegetables. Phenomenal, but hazardous to the waistline. If you don't mind garish, grotto-style lighting and an expensive wine list, La Giostra comes highly recommended.
Our best lunch experience was at Trattoria 4 Leoni in Piazza Passera, where I sampled the most delicious pasta dish of my short life, pear fiocchetti with taleggio and asparagus sauce. It's so good I'm going to try it at home, with apologies in advance to the original creator. So on that note ends my love letter to Florence. Goodbye to warm afternoons on Piazza Michaelangelo watching the world go by in 25C sunshine, farewell to gelati and aperitivi, and hello to drudgery and the 10-week countdown to Christmas.
To sta
rt the trip in style we went to the world's longest champagne bar (more like an elongated Costa Coffee concession) at St. Pancras and toasted our freedom. The champagne menu is vast and so us connoisseurs went for the cheapest option of a £10 glass each. Great way to start a trip in an amazing setting - just wish Eurostar could give the same treatment to Paris Gare du Nord.
Eurostar was running OK despite the recent fire in the tunnel, and after arriving in Paris we crossed town to Bercy and had a beer outside the finance ministry (while the bigheads inside were no doubt working on the bail-out) before boarding the Pendolino train to Florence. Our evening meal in the dining car was hilarious, crammed in as we were next to a French couple on a table for 4 on a rickety old train. Halfway through my artichoke risotto the couple had a blazing row (fermes ta gueule!) and then didn't speak for the next hour. Well, we ploughed on regardless, Ruth eating roast pork and moi the entrecote steak, accompanied by an Italian red and finished off with cake. The meal was passable but didn't attain the heights of its €67 price tag.
Sharing a 6-berth cabin with two Algerian builders, the conversation was limited after dinner and so we nestled into our bottom bunks and slept fitfully for the next 9 hours. Greeting us the next morning were the Tuscan hills and the sweet aroma of the toilet cabin, so bleary eyed we shuffled off at Florence at 9am and took in a few sights before checking in. Our main objective was the Uffizi (ah! tourist hell but oh! aren't those botticellis beautiful!), where we had extortionately priced coffee (€4 a pop) on the terrace in the shade of the Palazzo Vecchio bell tower, as well as breakfast (mini margherita pizza and ham toastie - total bill €20!).
Our hotel, Rosary Garden, was an excellent choice and although a 20-minute bus ride out of town it provided stunning spacious rooms and really friendly service, as well as free afternoon tea every day from 4-6pm with hot water dispensed from a samovar (I want one!). Also one of the best gelaterias in Florence was just round the corner, so we indulged immediately with amarena and chocolate ice creams. As it was a Friday night, we decided to hit a few bars in the Oltrarno district and had cocktails (caipirinha good, but mojito less so) at Dolce Vita in Piazza Carmine, before indulging in that great Italian tradition of "aperitivi".
As we've discovered, one of the best experiences in Italy is to walk into a 4 or 5-star hotel around 8pm, find a table in the bar and order prosecco or cocktails, only to find (to your immense delight) that the
waiter brings an unending procession of snacks. Whether it's crisps or cashew nuts, crostini or cheese, the snacks just keep on coming and get better the longer you stay. We went to Hotel Bernini where I had a beautifully bitter Negroni cocktail along with plentiful nosh material, but our best "aperitivi" experience was at the Four Seasons where the prosecco is not cheap (€12 a glass) but the snacks are bountiful enough to constitute an evening meal. For me, the sugar-coated walnuts were a real winner.
Eating out is not cheap in Florence, at around €25 a head for lunch including wine and €50 a head for a 3-course dinner and drinks, but wow! that Tuscan cuisine is amazing. We had an evening meal at La Giostra that involved prosecco and a plate of starters (including donkey mortadella, liver canapes and balsamic roasted red peppers) on the house, followed by a "primo" of pennette with gorgonzola, pear and pistacchios and a "secondo" of calamari with grilled vegetables. Phenomenal, but hazardous to the waistline. If you don't mind garish, grotto-style lighting and an expensive wine list, La Giostra comes highly recommended.Our best lunch experience was at Trattoria 4 Leoni in Piazza Passera, where I sampled the most delicious pasta dish of my short life, pear fiocchetti with taleggio and asparagus sauce. It's so good I'm going to try it at home, with apologies in advance to the original creator. So on that note ends my love letter to Florence. Goodbye to warm afternoons on Piazza Michaelangelo watching the world go by in 25C sunshine, farewell to gelati and aperitivi, and hello to drudgery and the 10-week countdown to Christmas.
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