Friday, September 24, 2010

Day 20 - Florence and Levanto


At the Uffizi Gallery at 8.15 am we are in the queue you have when you are not supposed to be having a queue. We are in the queue for people who already have a reservation.

Half an hour later we are in and spend several hours gazing at paintings. So amazing to see so many paintings I have looked at in art books, studied in art history (wish I could remember some of things I was told at art school!). For a brief moment or two as I gaze at the many portraits I contemplate all these lives, now over.

We are about to exit when I say to Alan that we haven't seen any of the Boticellis or works by Leonardo da Vinci. We buy a guidebook and discover some rooms we haven't even been to – thank goodness we do. The Boticellis are exquisite – Alan taken with how beautiful his women are. I especially like 'Spring'.

We do a last minute look in some shops, have lunch and make our way to the train station.

The trip to Levanto is uneventful – we both nod off a bit like old folk. There is a little excitement at the end however when we hop off the train one stop too early and have to quickly jump back on the train – no mean feat with our heavy suitcases - and then at Levanto we can't find our bed and breakfast.


As Alan remarks travel is a great thing for teaching you that when things go wrong there is no use in stressing. There is always an outcome, usually positive, you've just got to go through it. We ask a few people in the supermarket, then on the street, and finally find Le Gerbera, which is very tasteful and pleasant – apart from the building site behind and the train noises.


Levanto is a small seaside town, at the end of the Cinque de Terre, and it is nice to be at a place where there are not so many tourists. There is a cool nip in the air at our outdoor restaurant just back from the beach. We have our best meal in Italy so far – octopus and fresh fish.


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