BUC-EES IN FLORENCE, SC, PILOT MOUNTAIN, NC, ALMOST HOME!

Tuesday, February 6, 2024
Hampton Inn
76 Hospitality Way
Weston, WV
Sunny, 41F to 48F

 

On the road from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., another long day.  I think TK would have driven all the way home, but I suggested that we not do that. Tonight we are about four hours from Erie, and we did drive straight through last year, but we are a year older.  He will not let me drive his truck (it is BIG), and we need to be safe.

 

TK changed our usual route so we could stop at Buc-ees in Florence, South Carolina.  To a casual reader this may seem excessive. That said, Buc-ees is like the Disney World of gas stations and we are acting like little kids.  Again, there are 120 gas pumps, and we did need gas.  We can attest to how delicious their freshly made, warm cinnamon rolls are (with pecans on top)!!

 

[Note: The St. Augustine Buc-ees has 120 gas pumps too, either the clerk misspoke, or I misunderstood her—I had originally written that there were 240 gas pumps there]

 

Because of this stop, our route took us on some less traveled highways, but there was less traffic, less drama, no Charlotte, and that made things easier.  Eventually we returned to I-77 and then I-79 to get to Weston, West Virginia.  Rest stops along the way were very nice in all four states traveled today, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia.  That’s important. 

 

From the Internet for Brother Bill: Pilot Mountain, a metamorphic quartzite monadnock rising to a peak 2,421 feet above sea level, is one of the most distinctive natural features in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is a remnant of the ancient chain of Sauratown Mountains. 

Approaching Pilot Mountain

My Valentine!

We had dinner at Gino’s Pizza and Spaghetti House near the hotel. Since all we ate was the cinnamon roll that we shared at Buc-ees and a few Combos, we were very hungry.  Gino’s is very comparable to Valerio’s or Maria’s in Erie.  That was our day on the road.

 

Tomorrow—Erie!

 

TK’s Takes: A perfect day to drive, sunny and the roads were dry.

FLORENCE/FIRENZE--THE CITY OF LILIES

Wednesday, November 15, 2023

Port of Livorno, Italy

Aboard the Enchanted Princess

Sunny/ 70F

What a rocky night! TK said we must have gone through a storm, but now the weather is calm and off we go to Florence, delivered by a Princess bus.  We elected to explore this historic city on our own, the capital of the Tuscany region and considered by many to be the birthplace of the Renaissance.  Every building exudes history, block by block. Narrow cobblestone streets, churches every 2 or 3 blocks (it seems), a variety of cafes, fine restaurants, leather factories and shops, fine jewelry, fashionable clothing, gelato, pizza, a wonderful mix of smells and beauty.

This is a view of the Cathedral of Florence from a hill--we had to take photos from the bus 

David by Michelangelo -- copy/same size

Original created 1501-1504 of Carrera marble

The statue was moved to Galleria dell'Academia in Florence in 1873

We have seen the original

We traveled about an hour and a half while the the bus operator pointed out the vineyards of Tuscany, the Carerra marble mines (looks like snow on the mountain top), and umbrella-like pine trees, and told us bruschetta was really pronounced brusKetta.  Our drop off point was a 15 minute walk from the center city. From there was a short walk to the Ponte Vecchio, a must see on a visit to Florence. Built in 1345 it crosses the Arno River.  In 1565 a decree was made that only goldsmiths and jewelers could have shops on the bridge. That is all right with me—so much gold!!

You can see the back of the shops

Janie

On the bridge

Oh yeah! Just one shop on the bridge

So many choices!

Wider view-so many goldsmiths!

Looking back toward Florence from the bridge

A bridge down from the River Arno

We wanted to visit the food market because I had fresh olive oil on my mind. We have been to Florence many times and visited museums and churches. That said, now we especially like to enjoy a coffee and a croissant at a little café and watching the hectic pace of a city full of tourists and native Italians hustle around.

The market did not disappoint, the smells of fish and fresh meat, mixed with citrus and pizza and wines. And the colors of orange, red, yellow, oranges, apples, peppers, every fruit and vegetable imaginable. Vendors with limoncello, candies, and tins or bottles of olive oil. Finally we found the olive oil we wanted (fresh, extra virgin, light).

Inside the food market

Inside the Food Market-- bottles of olive oil!

Vendor on the street

We moved to the outside vendors with leather goods, bags, coats, belts, pashminas, Florentine stationery, souvenirs, and so much more. The rest of our time was spent strolling along the different streets, admiring the beauty of a city that counts its origins back to the Romans in 59 BCE.

Leather purses

Love these men's shirts!

Toy Shop

Close up of cars, priced from about $23-$40

Old Masters art and Florentine Art painted on wood

Which boots should I bring home?

Pastry shop 

Carriage ride, anyone?

Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore

Seen from afar--top of this blog

Another view of Santa Maria del Fiore

From atop the hill

Clock tower seen from all points

Our final mission was finding the Caffe Condotta, on the corner of Via della Condotta and Vicola Dei Cerchi.  We don’t want to forget where this café is because it has the best sfogliatella—the pastry I fell in love with last year. With no shame, I ate 3 and TK ate 2. (Note: the first 2 we ate at a different café—and my friend Ann said I could eat as many as I wanted with the number of steps we are walking!)

We found Caffe Condotta, first discovered last  year

Corner of Via della Condotta and Vicola Dei Cerchi

Heavenly sfogliatelle (mine was cream filled-sweetened ricotta cheese

We were exhausted when we returned to the ship and went straight to the dining room.  To tell the truth, we both fell right asleep when we returned to our stateroom. I guess we are getting older.

 My FitBit says 16,550 steps today--TK has 16,025--our feet and legs agree with those numbers.

TK’s Takes: There was lots of traffic on the highway as we traveled to and from Florence. Another thing he said was that he would not want to drive an Erie sized firetruck in any of the cities with all the narrow streets. Firetrucks in Europe are much smaller. He also saw a Mercedes pickup truck but did not get a photo to his disappointment.

[Reminder: I need to add a disclaimer that this blog is only a draft, mostly done after 9 hours of touring on this particular cruise and lots of walking. I write for a couple of reasons, to remember all the wonderful things we see and do, to let family and friends know what we are doing, and to provide a bedtime story for those who need a way to fall asleep.]

 

FLORENCE, ITALY DOES AN ENCORE!

Florence

Aboard Regal Princess
Stateroom C512
Friday, November 18, 2022
70F, sunny

 Even though Viator, the tour company, never called to give us directions about what to do about our scheduled tour from Livorno to Florence and Pisa from the new port, La Spezia, I finally got through to their office by phone this morning to find that we needed to be at the bus in 45 minutes and that the stop in Pisa was cancelled.  Of course, we were ready in time and off we went to Florence!

Along the 2 hour ride to Florence, the guide pointed out a mountain that looked as if it had snow. That's not snow, it is carrera marble! After we saw this wondrous sight, we saw several factories with huge marble blocks outdoors.

The white on these mountains is not snow!! 

Carrera Marble!!

 After the half hour walk from the bus stop into the inner city, I was on the hunt for sfogliatella. We found the perfect little café that had a cake plate full of this delightful pastry. Coffee “Americano” is not quite like American coffee, but it is certainly tolerable, and we needed a strong dose to wake us up.

Sfogliatelle and cannoli

Sfogiatelle--only 2 euro each!!

You probably have the idea that we love this pastry!!

We stopped at another shop and bought two more

 

Another goal was taking photos of the gilded bronze “Doors of Paradise” on the Baptistery of the Catterdrale di Santa Maria del Fiore. They were created in the early 1400s by the sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti. It over 21 years to make them. The original doors are now inside the cathedral. The current exterior doors were made from casts of the original in 1990 and installed on the outside of the Baptistery.  Several incidents motivated the church to protect this precious work of art.

Ghiberti's "Door of Paradise"
A view of the whole door

Close up of one panel

Another panel

Another panel

Who can resist photographing this church--

Catterdrale di Santa Maria del Fiore

Another view 

Since I planned on actually buying things during the 2^nd trip to Florence, I lucked out.  I found my favorite leather shop and some other items. TK likes the market (mostly meats, fish, vegetables, wines, breads, pasta, and some eateries), so we visited there again.  Outside this market is a straw market with mostly leather goods (purses, bags, belts, pashmanis, souvenirs, Florentine stationery, all in gorgeous colors). The straw market is 3 streets, stretching about 3 blocks in each direction.  One year we were here during the Christmas market—that was wonderful too!

 

Shopping wore us out, so we looked for somewhere to eat.  There are many choices, but TK was ossobuco, so we were looking for that.  We found Trattoria Antellese, a small restaurant waiting just for us.  By the way, the port lecturer told us restaurants had two price levels, one if you dined outside and another if you dined inside the restaurant.  Since it was a beautiful day, we dined outdoors.

Trattoria Antellesi

Janie's fresh macraroni and meat sauce

TK -- I do not yet have a photo of his ossobuco 

Too soon it seemed we needed to head to the bus pick up area for the two hour ride back to the Regal Princess.  Everyone was sleepy.  We arrived back at the ship at 6:15, which meant we were late for our usual table, not a big deal.  Immediately after dinner we returned to our room—I worked on the blog till after 11 p.m. We are both exhausted, but tomorrow is Genoa!  Here we come!

FLORENCE, FIRENZE, WHAT’S NOT TO LIKE!

Livorno, Italy
Aboard Regal Princess
Stateroom C512
Tuesday, November 8, 2022
Sunny, 70F

 So many moving parts! First, we had to take a shuttle from the ship to midtown Livorno (5 euro each, round trip) after arriving in port, then board our prescheduled bus ($33 each) for a ride to Florence, an hour and a half ride.  The bus drop off was the worst ever, it was a half hour walk to the old city of Florence and there was no easy way to tell where we were-landmarks, street signs. The "guide" told us there was no where to drop off passengers in the old city. This would be our pickup area too. Yikes! Thank goodness for the old firefighter—he is very good at directions!

Coffee was our first stop, amongst the pigeons.  The man at the next table said some very bad words in English when his wife did not shoo away the pigeons that landed on the table when he went to pay the bill.  He probably thought no one else spoke English. That was funny to us.

Cafe Scudieri

TK 

Janie

The Cattedral di Santa Maria del Fiore (Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower) was a short walk from the café.  There are churches everywhere, but this is the most famous.

Baptistery with Cathedral and Duomo behind

Closeup of cathedral

 One set of doors was designed by Andrea Pisano between 1424-1452. The door panels depict the 3 theological virtues (hope, faith, charity), the five cardinal virtues (humility, fortitude, temperance, justice, prudence), as well as scenes from the life of St. John the Baptist. Next week when we return I will take photos of the Ghiberti doors, known as the Gates of Paradise.

Pisano doors

Detail

 We continued walking through markets (meat, leather, etc.), the narrow streets filled with people and Vespas, and onto the Ponte Vecchio, a bridge built in 1345, over the Arno River. Soon after the bridge was built, the local government began renting shop space on the bridge, where mostly foodstuffs, such as meat and fish were sold. However, the stench became overwhelming and the shops were converted to mostly goldsmiths and jewelers in the late 16th century. It took them 150 years to smell the stench?? There are only jewelry shops there still today.

Ponte Vecchio over the Arno River

 

So many jewelry shops!!

Markets and shops are everywhere--this is another very metropolitan city. 

Cooler with meat/Market

Breads/Market

Wonderful vegetables. Look closely at the spiny green things at the bottom right.

The young vendor called them bitter melons in English.

What the heck is that and who wold eat it??

Dried fruit

Charcuterie

Soups and sauces served in the market

Another market

There are so many people and languages and motorbikes of all sizes as well as scooters. People walk in the uneven streets and the uneven narrow sidewalks, and one never knows when a bike, motorbike, scooter, car, small bus, or other mode of transportation will be speeding by.  No one seems to know which is sidewalk and which is street either. We were amazed at what seemed like a very dangerous situation to us!!

Random streets--people everywhere, which is the street, which is the sidewalk??

TK wanted to try pizza at a self-serve place—one orders and takes the pizza to a table. He tried a pizza slice with mozzarella and thinly sliced ham, and I had a slice with pepperoni and mozzarella. It was tasty, the pepperoni strong and spicy. The ham was very good.

Piccadilly Bar and Pizza

Pizza in Italy! 

Too soon it was time to meet our bus, so we grabbed a quick gelato (fruits of the forest) along the way.  Great! There is no place but Italy to buy gelato. America, France, not even close.

 It was dark when we arrived at the ship and we headed for dinner—goat cheese souffle and beef medallions for me—very good. TK had Cornish hen. Culinary delight today was sugar free coconut cake.

Sugarfree coconut cake

We are both looking forward to two sea days so we can get into the rhythm of the ship and sea!! 

P.S. Election Day! We already voted in the U.S. election!

Aside to Friend MJ: Happy Birthday!!

TK’s Takes:  There are thousands of pigeons everywhere and he has seen only two flies since we started in Barcelona.

TK: 14,500 steps

Janie:  15,500 steps