On the advice of our hotel owner, he said we could rent a scooter and ride to Siena then back to Pisa in one day. We headed out around 9:30am and went to rent a 125cc scooter at Florence By Bike for 65 Euros/day. Helmets, locks, and maps were included. The staff there gave us an excellent itinerary to follow to reach Siena but discouraged us from going to Pisa since it would be a very long ride and we’d have to rush from place to place.

We finally got on the road at 11am and after riding for about 30-60 minutes, we arrived at our first stop, Greve in Chianti. We had lunch at the marketplace of bruschetta brie and truffle oil (oh so good!) and panini sandwiches (a bit dry).

Along the way we stopped at Panzano for pictures of the beautiful rolling green hills and we stopped at Castellina in Chianti for wine, truffles in oil, gelato (fragola – strawberry, pesca – peach, Ron’s new favorite flavor of gelato). Next we stopped in Siena and checked out the Piazza del Campo. We had a granite coffee with creme (like a frapuccino but more ice-y). We stopped at Monteriggioni and bought a bottle of white wine.

Our last stop was San Gimignano where we had a wonderful dinner at Hotel Belsoggiorno. The restaurant has a nice view and the food was delicious. The T-bone steak we had was huge and well worth the 40 Euros! We also had beef carpaccio, soup, and risotto.

This should be the happy ending to our journey but we had an “adventure” on the way back. It was around 9:30pm when we left and already dark. We had told our hotel owner that we would be back around 9pm but we weren’t able to call them to let him know because we didn’t have a key. We got quite lost on the way back and it started to drizzle. We went the wrong way and had to turn back a few times. We ended up on the highway and we don’t think we were allowed to be on the highway with the type of scooter we were on. We eventually arrived back to our hotel and the hotel owner was up waiting for us, smoking and drinking because he was worried. We felt really bad but we thought, wow, what good service and concern. He said he was so worried since he was the one who recommended we rent a scooter and that when he said we could do the trip in one day, it was because he himself did the trip with a motorcycle!

Boy what a scary trip back to our hotel but thanks to Ron keeping his cool, we made it safely back.

If you can’t see the slideshow above, click HERE.

We caught to train at 8:30am and arrived around 10am. First thing we had to do was find an internet cafe to book a hotel. We booked our hotel then showed up and the guy was shocked that we *just* booked! A room wasn’t ready yet so we used their free internet before heading out to see some sights. It starting raining pretty hard so we tried to find a restaurant for lunch.

We ended up at Mercado Centrale and I had a huge pizza for only 7.5 Euros while Ron had tortellini with ham and peas. Again, it’s strange, but they charge 1.5 Euros per person as “cover charge”. We went back to the hotel to check-in and get some advice about where we should go.

We walked to San Marco to buy tickets ahead for Accademia and Uffizi. We reserved Uffizi tickets for tomorrow at 9:30am, it cost 14 Euros per person plus a reservation fee of 4 Euros… I guess it beats waiting for hours in a line. We didn’t want to pay the reservation for Accademia so we tried to go see how long the line was today and it was too long so we left.

We went to the P’za del Duomo to see the campanile but we were too tired to climb up. It cost 6 Euros anyways so we thought we’d save it for gelato!

We headed to Bargello to try to see the bronze David but it was 7 Euros to enter. We thought that we should only go to museums that had more to offer so we skipped this one too. Instead we went to find the famous Vivoli gelateria. For a small cup was 2.2 Euros and we tried pear with caramel and banana. The caramel with the pear was a delicious combination.

We tried to see S. Croce but it was already closed so we walked to the Uffizi to see the outside loggia of the statues. We went back to the hotel where I napped all night while Ron fixed his computer, did the laundry, and brought home dinner. We had kabobs, fries, and falafel plus a bubbly wine. I think I just really needed the rest. We are about halfway through our trip and it’s involved lots of walking and uncomfortable train rides. It was good to rest.

If you can’t see the slideshow above, click HERE.

Our hotel owner advised us to leave at 7am to go to the Vatican to avoid the lines but we really couldn’t get ourselves out of bed so didn’t leave until 8am. We caught the number 64 bus near the Repubblica. Just a tip, get off where everyone else gets off or else you’ll go too far.

We visited the following places:

1. Basilica S. Pietro
You have to go through a long security line. We rented the audio guide for 5 Euros a person. You could actually rent just one if you have an extra set of earphones since there are two jacks and they already provide you with one set. Also as a warning, you need to have an ID (like driver’s license) or put down 100 Euro deposit for the audio guide. We first went up to the Cupola and it seriously seems like it never ends but it’s worth the climb. There is an elevator for 7 Euros that takes you partway but it’s almost not worth the money. To climb the steps, it’s 5 Euros. The steps are many and very narrow so the audio guide helps to entertain you as you climb. After our climb, we visited the church inside before leaving around 11am.

2. Sistine Chapel
It’s not that close but within walking distance and the line was around the block but it moves pretty fast. It costs 14 Euros per person (but only 8 Euros for students and under 26 years old, darn it, we forgot our CAL student IDs). We went straight to find Michaelangelo’s masterpiece and it was a long journey. Once we got there, no photographs were allowed and it was a bit hard to see on the ceiling but now we can say we were there.

3. Castel Sant’ Angelo
It was 8.5 Euros to enter so we just beheld it from outside.

4. Ponte Sant’ Angelo
We crossed it to see the castle.

5. Piazza Navona
Like a small art market and surrounded by restaurants. We had a bit of gelato and rest.

6. Campo de Fiori
A farmer’s market but most stalls were already closed. I bought some green figs to snack on while we stopped by a cafe for beer and Coke.

7. Fontane di Trevi
We took some photos at the fountain before walking all the way back to our hotel.

We had a little nap again before heading to dinner down the street. We ran into a group of high school students on a trip with Education First. Man, what an opportunity.

We had a nice dinner of carbonara, pasta bean soup, potato cake over fish, tomato soup, tiramisu, and panna cotta. Of course we had a bottle of wine. I was disappointed we had to pay for the bread basket, it was 2.8 Euros. The owner saw me taking all the photos so he placed the restaurants business card in front of my photo. If you want to try the restaurant, see the photo of tomatoes.

We got back by 10:30pm and went to bed early as we’ll be leaving for Florence tomorrow morning.

If you can’t see the slideshow above, click HERE.

We arrived in Rom at 7:30am. Before disembarking, they served us a simple breakfast of croissants, juice, and coffee. We walked from the Roma Termini to the Discover Roma Hotel and were able to check-in right away. The owner Vincent provided us with a map and an excellent itinerary.

Today we saw the following sights:
– San Carlo Quattro Fontane (four sculptures)
– Fontana del Tritone (Triton fountain)
– Trinita dei Monti
– gardens
– Pincio
– Piazza del Popolo
– Mauseleo Augusto
– Palazzo Montecitorio/Chigi
– Pantheon
– Area Sacra
– Piazza Venezia
– Piazza Campidoglio/Arco di Tito
– Colosseo
– Palatino
– Circo Massimo (horse racetrack, seen from afar)

In between all this walking, we found a store selling Hello Kitty stuff, their brand “Ki La Ra” which has cool stuff like clothing, shoes, luggage, motorcycle helmets, etc. We stopped by for lunch of a panini, lasagna, and onion rings… very expensive!

We were very exhausted in the late afternoon so went back to our hotel area to have a light sandwich before napping until 7pm. We woke up for dinner and we went within walking distance to Pizzaria (aka Hostaria Romana da Dino) on v. dei Mille 10.

We had one huge bruschetta, Ron had veal with ham & wine, I had a cannoloni and mixed salad. We ordered a side of funghi (mushrooms) and a bottle of Prosecco. It was a surprisingly affordable meal and we left happily full. There’s no “cover charge” either. There were some restaurants we considered that charge 1 or 2 Euros per person to go into the restaurant. Such a strange concept.

Tomorrow will be another full day.

If you can’t see the slideshow above, click HERE.