la fine... (the end)

Saturday September 13, 2025

Florence, Italy

Iconic Ponte Vecchio. More information about this bridge is below.

Yesterday (9/12)

We went wine-tasting in the area east of Florence. We visited two wineries. Had fun at both. Bought more wine....Both wineries were interesting and had a long history in the area.

At the first winery, Tenuta Bossi, we got lucky because the young man serving us really seemed to enjoy our knowledge of wine, and when we asked questions or made comments, he would leave the room and come back with another wine for us to taste so we would learn more about Italian wines! And he guided us through the charcuterie plate so we would have the best pairings. Totally awesome visit!

At Tenuta Bossi

The second winery, Travignoli, we also got lucky because as we arrived a truck full of freshly picked grapes arrived and we got to watch them get unloaded and go through the machine to separate out the grapes from the vines. That was cool! Then we learned about the history of the winery and had our tasting.

Like many of the wineries we visited, this one also makes olive oil. This picture is of an ancient olive oil press. Horses or mules would pull the giant wheel around the circle to crush them.

This is the machine that initially separates the grapes from the leaves when they are first brought to the winery.

Interesting note - at two of the wineries we had to pay extra to ship wine back to America due to tariffs. At one winery they said it was included in the new, higher prices for the wines, and at another they just added a $10 surcharge for each purchase.

The drive back to Florence was beautiful. Once we got closer to the city we needed to get gas before we returned our rental car. The first tiny gas station we came across was a self-serve one that we could not figure our how to use. That's right - four educated, successful, and well-traveled professionals who have been buying gas for MANY years could not figure out how to buy gas. We felt a little better when three local young people walked by and tried to help (they were so nice) and they couldn't figure it our either. So, off we went to find a full service station, where we again had problems but this time a woman who worked at the station came out and helped. Yay!! (FYI - in Italy you have to run your credit card before you remove the gas nozzle from the gas pump!!). We then returned the rental car, and walked back to our hotel.

Dinner tonight was Pizza! It was delicious, and the restaurant was a fascinating mixture of old and new architecture. We had to laugh, though, when our wine was served in a pitcher and came out of a box. It actually tasted fine, and went well with the pizza, so not complaining, just think it is funny after all our wine tasting.

And Gelato for Dessert!!

Saturday September 13

Today we did some more sightseeing in Florence. The first stop was an old church, Cappella Brancacci, which we had heard had some beautiful art work on the walls. It is not one of the better known tourist locations, but it was a wonderful place to visit. First of all, although it was a smaller church with fewer visitors, it is one of the best equipped to help disabled people. They had ramps everywhere, a stair lift, and an elevator. Once we all got inside the paintings on the walls really were beautiful.

One one wall of the church was a display of medals. These are medals that have been given to the church each time a miracle happened there. In many cases the medal reflects the type of miracle. For example, a heart could refer to someone who was saved from a heart attack in ancient times.

medals

One of the most interesting things to me was looking at where the restoration was occurring. Seeing the contrast between the areas that had been cleaned and restored, and the areas where they hadn't started yet was very dramatic. I hope you can see that in these pictures. No wonder it is going to take over a year to get that done.

Next we visited Ponte Vecchio (see opening picture) and Palazzo Vecchio and Piazza della Signoria. Ponte Vecchio bridge is not one of my favorite bridges. The bridge was constructed around 1340, and connects two important areas in the city of Florence. It is unusual in that homes and businesses were built on the bridge. The bridge is now closed to vehicle traffic, but it is always packed with people, some actually using it to get somewhere, but mostly LOTS of tourists. And because of the tourists there are lots of stores (usually expensive) on the bridge and in the area around the bridge. However, the view from the bridge to the Arno river and other bridges is great.

View from Ponte Vecchio

Palazzo Vecchio and Piazza della Signoria are close by and include some great statues and cafes. The fountain of King Neptune is one of the best known and one of the most prominent statues in the plaza. A new addition to the area is a gold statue of a modern young woman standing, facing away from the ancient statues, and staring at her cell phone. I thought the message was so funny, and looking around - it is fairly accurate!

King Neptune statue in Piazza della Signoria

Clock Tower and statuary in Palazzo Vecchio

Statue of girl with cell phone

Gelato of the day -

Birds - Karen spotted some birds during our walks along the river

Snowy Egrets:

Grey Herons:

Great Egret:

From there we headed back to the hotel and did some shopping on the way. Time to write the blog, pack, and get ready for our last dinner for this trip.

The Daily Dog - There were lots of dogs out today!!!

Farewell Selfie:

Tomorrow we fly home to San Diego. We had a wonderful time on this vacation, saw amazing sights, ate delicious food, and had fun with good friends.

Thank you again for joining us and taking time to read our blog! We enjoy sharing (Nancy does fantastic research and Karen loves taking pictures). Until we travel again, farewell, ciao - auf wiedersehen - farvel - head aega - do widzenia - hejdå!