A Day in the Gardens

Months ago, Greg and I watched a show on the Food Network with Guy Fieri where he was in Florence. Of course, we took notes. One of the places he raved about was a pizza place called GustaPizza which is on the other side of the Arno. It's a tiny place and by the time we got there yesterday a little past noon, the place was crammed with people. They have only 6 or 7 options for what you can order so we wedged our way up to the counter. Somehow they managed to find a table in a small back room for us to sit; perhaps they took pity on us because we were easily the oldest people there. We were seated with two young American college girls who had just arrived in Florence and needed advice as to what they should do. And don't you know that I always have advice to give! The pizza was very good but I prefer some of the ones we've had where the crust is crisp. This had a pretty soggy bottom but the taste was excellent.

Like a pizza with a salad on top!

Yesterday our plan was to spend the day at Boboli Gardens and Bardini Gardens. We'd seen Boboli Gardens before but had heard Bardini was even nicer, and since one ticket gets you into both, we thought we'd wander around the two of them. Biboli Gardens is huge and both of them are on steep hills so if you go, be prepared for lots of up and down walking. But there are many benches around to sit and rest.

Some shrubs and trees are now blooming which made all the walking worthwhile. Here are some of Greg's pictures from Boboli Gardens.

Greg's second favorite building in Florence.

The easiest way to get from Boboli Gardens to Bardini Gardens is to exit the gardens by the old fort. You will see signs that guide you the few blocks to Bardini. Because the Bardini Gardens are on a steep hill, it's best to walk a short ways up to the top where there's a nice cafe and then work your way down the slope.

As much as we love Boboli Gardens, we preferred Bardini yesterday. It was beautiful and there were very few people there! And the views looking out over the city of Florence are spectacular! More photos from Greg.

Last night we had dinner at a small, family owned restaurant called Cafaggi. It's only a few blocks from our apartment, and although it gets great reviews on TripAdvisor, there were no tourists there. The food was wonderful and so was the service, but the atmosphere is pretty bland. My grilled squid was the winner of the night. So much flavor!

Greg's osso bucco with artichokes was also very well done and tasted a lot better than it looks.

One of the many things we've observed in our trips to Italy is the creativity of the drivers and the way they park. We can't figure out if parking tickets don't exist here but it's fun to see how and where they park. I captured a few to give you an example but you see this everywhere in the cities and in rural areas. Those crazy Italians!!

Just a little bit on the sidewalk

And a little more on the sidewalk

And more

And totally on the sidewalk!

And my favorite - in the crosswalks on a corner.

Today we will do laundry and wrap things up here in Florence. Tomorrow we take the fast train to Venice!