On the [Rail]road again (Tuscany Day 1)

On May 15th, Pauline and I boarded the eurostar to start our 30th Anniversary trip to Tuscany. I'm a big fan of train travel, so we decided to go to Florence on the night train from Paris. So after cab ride from Gare du Nord to Gare Bercy and wait in Palatino night train waiting room, we boarded the train and found our little cabin. The beds were pulled down after a while . . .

and we proceeded through the night via Switzerland and arrived in Florence about an hour late at 8:00 AM. Another short cab ride to our hotel - the Davanzati - where they took our bags and gave us some breakfast.

We then went for a walk. The hotel is very close to the Piazza Signoria, Palazzo Vecchio, and Uffizi Gallery, so that's where we headed. What an exciting moment to see those so familiar sights in person, with the Duomo usually present in the background.

We had some lunch at the Cafe Perseus on the Piazza (as expensive as one would expect) and then returned to the hotel, where they'd prepared our room and put our bags in it.

The guys who ran the hotel (3 generations of the same family) couldn't have been nicer or more helpful. All their restaurant suggestions were brilliant, and they answered a lot of other queries as well before the week was done. After settling into the room and getting cleaned up, we went out again and took the first (the short version) of the two hop on hop off bus tours we went on during our stay. It took us across the Arno to the Piazza Michelangelo, where one sees the most familiar and impressive view of Florence laid out below you.


When we returned to the hotel, we rested and then went the few steps to the lobby & breakfast room for the nightly "Happy Hour", where Prosecco or Chianti and snacks were served gratis every night. It was a good way of meeting fellow guests and a great start to the evening. Afterward we had dinner at Trebbio Trattoria which the hotel had recommended. It was not far from the hotel, but in the winding streets on our first day in town it took some finding. But the food made it all worthwhile.