There are clearly many surprises left to be discovered in Florence (like, who, exactly is sitting behind those little doors in the wall waiting to dispense glasses of wine?), but we have limited time here.  Today gave us our last few hours of exploring.

As in previous days, we relied upon the Firenze Card, which gets us access to most of the city’s museums.  It is a good deal if you like to browse through these places to catch the highlights and the general atmosphere.  For someone who likes to methodically investigate a museum’s collection over the course of the day, it might not be such a bargain.

Before we could explore we had to vacate our lovely temporary apartment and find storage for our bags for the day (about 18 euro for three bags in an automated locker facility near the train station).  Then we headed off to the Boboli Gardens for a pre-planned rendezvous with Nadia.

The gardens were elaborate and lovely, if a little unkempt in places.  They featured a broad central boulevard which led to a circular lagoon with an island in the middle.  The island was filled with all kind of flowers and fruit trees, but we could not get out to it.  They were being watered;  maybe they open the gates after that is done.

From there the boulevard slopes steeply upwards, and we managed our way to the top to find a field surrounded by sculpture and a view the the Pitti Palace spread out below us.  This was all nudging us closer to a major goal of the day, and perhaps the whole trip.

A few seasons back, our family favorite show The Amazing Race visited Florence and there was a pivotal sequence that took place on a veranda above the city.  Nadia was able to locate the site and pointed it out to us — it’s right across the river from her apartment.  We have since been trying to get up there, and the Boboli Gardens provided our route.  After strolling the upper portion of the gadens for a while — taking care not to follow any appealing trails back down towards the city, we found an exit that was only a five-minute (relatively level) walk to the Villa Bardini, which houses the famous (to us) Amazing Race Terrace.

Before we knew it, we were in the very same place where the Amazing Race contestant — who was a life coach and motivational speaker — came very close to having a complete breakdown because she could not figure out the task of carving a model of Michaelangelo’s David (that guy is literally everywhere you turn in Florence) from a block of plaster.  Right behind it was the patio where teammates had to sit and watch the action take place.  It’s a coffee shop now.

We reveled in reliving such a momentous event (this particular team wound up eliminated from the race, largely because of what happened on the Bardini terrace).  It also has a very nice view of the city.

It’s worth noting now that since we got off the train from Monterosso on Monday, we have not been on any vehicles — with the exception of the ebikes from the tour yesterday.  All day, all week, we have been walking around on our own feet.  And we have been moving about a fair bit.  Our legs and feet are starting to get worn out a bit.

Except for Nadia, who has had months of training at this.  She led us down through the Bardini Gardens and across the river to her favorite sandwhich shop, where they slice up the fine artisinal sandwich meats right there in front of you.  Then she brought us to another of her favorite spots, the Michaelangelo Gardens and terrace back in the hills above the city.  Somewhere in there, she even found us a reviving spritz at one of her favorite corner cantinas.

Once back in the hills, even Nadia got a surprise because a special portion of the gardens recently opened up for a month or so.  For the second time today, our march up the hill was tempered by such beauty as to lift the spirit and move our feet steadily along. Flowers can do that to a person.

The top of the Iris Garden led directly to Piazalle Michaelangelo, which is the most popular terrace overlooking Florence for people who are not Amazing Race fans.  Thankfully, there are stands there selling refreshments, because our Italian sandwiches were salty and the water fountains in the Iris Garden were labeled non-potable.

From here, we worked our way slowly down through the adjacent gardents, stopping at Nadia’s favorite shady benches.  She left us about halfway down to strike out for her apartment and pack for this evening’s train.

Faced with about two hours of waiting before departure, we decided to take in one more museum.  The Pitti Palace was not far from our luggage and the train station.  It was the third Firenze Card event of the day (the pass got us into the Boboli Gardens and the Villa Bardini — the Michaelangelo Gardens are free to the public).    Here, we got to roam the extensive palace while visiting a fashion exhibit and the “modern art” wing, which, eventually, wound its way through the renaissance to make it to the late 19th century.

Then it was time to collect our bags, re-unite with Nadia at the station, and give our feet a rest while we enjoyed a two-hour train ride to Milan.

At the end of the ride we found a much more cosmopolitan atmosphere, with clear boundaries as to where cars and people were supposed to walk.  We found our new temporary lodgings, and, on a whim, abandoned Italian food for a nearby — and very good — ramen restaurant.

Nadia suggested that sometime during the trip we Bob and I might like to do some kind of wine tasting tour, while she and Lanie went shopping.  It may have been a ploy to get rid of us for the day, but it was a suggestion that we were on board with.  I found a winery tour of Chianti (the region of Tuscany that we’re in) by e-bike, and we were sold.

Bob’s post yesterday about the roads here neglected to mention the bike factor.  Amongst the crowds of pedestrians and incongruous cars (and golf carts, and scooters, etc.), there is a constant stream of bikes weaving in and out.  There seems to be no consideration given to lanes of any kind — the cars/bikes/people just flow in whatever direction there seems to be space.  We have had bikes zooming by us everywhere we walk — but today we got to experience the other side of the equation.

Our tour started right in the city center, so we had to wind our way through town.  We started out right behind our guide, Iacopo, which is just where I wanted to be.  Much less chance of getting lost or making some kind of traffic mistake.  After about 10 minutes of riding through the city, the landscape pretty quickly changed to quiet streets lined with greenery and stone walls — and hills.  It was extremely satisfying to start struggling on a hill and then just click the magic button that turned up the electricity and let you zoom forward almost effortlessly.

Iacopo was an excellent guide — knowledgeable and funny and friendly — but he was not one to dawdle.  A little way outside town we found we’d lost three members of our group somewhere along the way.  Our route had had several twists and turns, and apparently they hadn’t kept up.  Eventually Iacopo decided that we had to continue on without them.  He sent his friend Simone (who was along for the ride and had no affiliation with the tour company at all) back to try to round them up.  (“He has a map,” Iacopo declared confidently.)

The route was beautiful, winding through the hills with gorgeous views of Tuscany opening up on either side.  We wound through vineyards and olive groves and the occasional town.  Once in a while we’d stop to take in the views.  As we were about to leave one of these stops, Iacopo began to whoop and whistle.  Simone and the errant Italians had appeared in the distance.  (Although Iacopo had sent Simone off to find them and bring them back to us, he was clearly astonished that Simone had actually managed to do so.)

For the rest of the trip, my main goal was to try to avoid getting behind them.  Even after the getting lost incident, they didn’t seem to be in any rush to keep up with the group.  One of them in particular didn’t really seem

to know how to ride a bike, and when nearby I was constantly hearing the grinding of gears.  I kept getting stuck behind them, watching the distance to the rest of the group grow, and then eventually having to pass.  I much preferred being up front with Iacopo and the punctual Germans, where I didn’t have to worry about being left behind in the hopes that Simone would find me.

We stopped at a family winery for lunch and wine tasting.  The food, as always, was delicious.  The winery also makes olive oil, but apparently this is so labor-intensive that it’s not very profitable.  We got to enjoy some with our lunch, though.  On the way back we stopped at a couple of viewpoints with amazing views back over Florence (and very steep downhill descents).  After we returned to the city we went to another bar for some more wine tasting and snacks.  (We declined seconds on the wine, being mindful of the upcoming periously journey back through the city.)  Even though I ended up at the very back of the line and there

were a few touch-and-go intersections, we made it back without getting lost or colliding with any pedestrians.  I made ample use of my bell.

After all the excitement it was time to meet back up with the girls.  Our friends the Sullivans are also in town visiting their study-abroad son, and invited us over for apertivi on their terrace.  We picked up the ingredients for limoncello spritzes on the way over, and they were pretty good even though we accidentally bought still water instead of sparkling water.

Nadia had made a dinner reservation for us at her favorite (and apparently, everyone’s favorite) restaurant, Trattoria Zaza.  We were able to swoop in past the long, long lines and enjoy a delicious dinner on their patio.  Afterwards we went to Nadia’s favorite gelato shop, which had a very long line even at 10:30pm.  We can only hope that the miles and miles of walking that we’re doing is burning off some of the many, many calories we’re eating and drinking.