Day 2 - Off to Florence!
By Arnd
While we're still pottering around in Trento, I change the day's destination three times. From Venice. To Padua. To Lake Como. My actual "strategy" is to check booking.com for quite nice or somehow interesting hotels.
Since we somehow rule out Venice and Lake Como on a gut feeling and the hotels in the other two towns don't really look inviting, we decide on Florence. So today it's simply a motorway leg.
Of course we soon need to refuel again. And we're surprised — in what is actually not an economically weak Northern Italy — by the bleakness that reigns in parts.
The funny thing is that in Italy, card readers for buying coffee tend to be conveniently broken. While they work just fine for fuel. Go figure...
I immediately find an interesting accommodation in the city centre on Booking, the Velona´s Jungle Luxury Suites. For 8 euros per room. In my excitement about this offer I overlook the fact that it's for Ukrainian refugees... So cancelled... But because we find that so likeable, we book two rooms directly at the still very fair standard price of 120–180 euros.
Veronica, the host and owner of these guest rooms, writes me straight back on WhatsApp with a wealth of information. Gives alternatives for parking and arranges to meet us in front of the parking garage. First "Fail Arnd": I navigate Josh, who's driving, to "Florence" but not to the garage address. 8 minutes... Then "Fail Josh". Or maybe also "Fail Arnd", we drive past a street. 12 minutes... Very rigid one-way street regulations. We manage that one more time... And arrive — never more than a kilometre from the garage — actually there.
After Veronica has supplied us with a stack (!) of information material about Florence. Has marked on a map where we need to go. Made each of us a cappuccino, we set off and start our sightseeing programme.
Where is the market hall in Florence?
The recommendation was the market hall. It's two-storey and houses many small restaurant stands on the upper level, which apparently had to win some kind of competitions to be there. But since we had of course already eaten beforehand (wild boar ragù with homemade tagliatelle...), we limit ourselves to a walkabout and find it really good. But not exactly spectacular. It's definitely nicer to sit outside and soak up the hustle and bustle on the street, when you're already there as a tourist.
There are many cafés in Florence. And almost as many parking garages. And all of them are quirky in some way. And parking is so expensive that it apparently pays off.
Otherwise it's a beautiful city that many of you probably know as well. So just a few photos... The postcard photographers simply do it better!
We notice that the signs ("RISTORANTE") mostly consist of just letters. Without a background. That means from one side they're always mirror-reversed. And surprisingly, most restaurant owners agree on which is the "right" direction of a street.
In any case, we return to our accommodation after a few hours. Crash for a bit. And — as you've probably already guessed — don't leave again. Veronica supplies us with soft drinks of our choice, we order a Glovo and work for a few hours with a view of the historic city wall on the excellent Wi-Fi of this really wonderful accommodation.
Everything is indeed subordinated to the jungle theme. Very detailed interior design. With floral motifs. Using lots of dark paint. High-quality materials, lots of decorative elements. So it's full and much of it is bold. But very well-maintained. Very high-quality construction and very tastefully combined. Certainly not in the sense of Scandinavian-calm interior design. But it delivers what it promises.
What impressed me: The abundance of details. My room was called Humboldt. And there were actually books by and about Humboldt lying around as if "by chance". And they were spotlessly clean too. Even the dark window frames. Or the new radiators in old-time style. Everything perfectly clean. Perfectly integrated.
The host Veronica is mega professional and friendly! From the preparation of our arrival to our questions. She was always immediately reachable. Took care of everything and was super nice: 5 stars!
The rating on booking.com is 9.8 by the way, which I haven't managed myself in holiday rentals. An outstandingly good and well-deserved score.
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