12 nights in Italy Jul/Aug 2023 - trip report part 1: Firenze

Continued…

Second full day -
Always to be expected is something to go wrong. I did not expect that to happen this early in the trip and was really bracing for that to happen in Naples. Not a major issue but it was a little challenging…

Starting off early we found the train station, our train platform and boarded our train with ease, as to be expected given the Firenze station is VERY easy to navigate; and so off we went for a quick 30 min ride to Bologna.

Upon arriving, we found the Bologna station to be MUCH more confusing with several levels and although we arrived with 30 minutes to spare and had planned to walk, google maps would not cooperate so to a taxi we went.

When the taxi dropped us at the meeting spot we found construction surrounding the meeting location and confusion over where to meet our tour guide; panic set in and we thought we were going to miss our tour but fortunately at 5 minutes to meeting time we located the guide and waited for all parties to arrive for a full tour of 5 couples, all from different countries; it made for a very diverse tour.

This tour was 3.5 hours and more stops than the food tour in Firenze. Quite honestly it was information overload but the food was amazing - as would be expected in Bologna! Stops-

1. Il banco del pane - for a pastry
2. La Salumeria di Bruno e Franco - where upstairs we enjoyed a demonstration of the making of tortellini followed by wine, cheese and cold cuts including: Prosciutto di Parma DOP, Mortadella di Bologna IGP, Salame Rosa, Ciccioli, Salame Felino IGP and Culatello di Zibello DOP, Parmigiano Reggiano DOP 24 months; the Salame Rosa was our favorite
3. Osteria del Sole - for lunch including wine, Tagliatelle with Ragù Bolognese and Tortellini with Cream. So good! And a coffee after finishing the meal
4. Failed to note the name of this shop - Here we learned about parmesano romano cheese and the very strict rules for obtaining this classification and how to identify it.
5. Drogheria Gilberto - In the cellar we learned about the process of making balsamic vinegar and sampled three different versions: IGP Balsamic Vinegar from Modena 8, 12, and 25 years aged
6. Panificio Paolo Atti & Figli - here we sampled the Torta di Riso - Rice Cake
7. Final stop - Cremeria la Vecchia Stalla - for gelato!

The money was well spent on this food tour.

We also enjoyed a fun stop to play a game at what is referred to as the “whispering walls” where at one of the walkways under large arches, you and your partner go to corners at opposite sides of the walls and one whispers something to the other into the wall…and the other should hear it on their side. My husband says to the wall (and what I hear is), “Luke, I am your father“. The tour guide loved it and we all had a good laugh. Fun fact! There are hidden canals in Bologna, our guide pointed this out along the way allowing a stop for a picture.

When our tour concluded we were on the verge of a food coma so we opted to find our way back to the train station rather than explore the city for the afternoon; we found the station with ease but should we return it would still be challenging to find our way to the city center, again this station is VERY confusing.
To be continued..

Continued..

I had intentionally waited to purchase return tickets so we would have flexibility in what time we wanted to return but when attempting to buy the tickets my phone did not want to comply-using web or app (did I mention international data sucks?). No big deal, we can use the ticket machine…but this also did not want to comply and needing time to find a toilet and our platform we opted to buy the second train out so we would have some time to give us wiggle room to do all three…we eventually were able to make the purchase, find the toilets, and our platform after winding through the maze of the station, two or three levels down only to learn our train is delayed - no big deal for me, I take public transport daily. For the hubby however, his patience is that of mine for traffic. So we wait, in the heat of the train station while I’m worried what if they changed the train platform and didn’t announce it in English (my italian is 50% at best)? Should we buy tickets for a different train? If we go to the ticket counter to try will we miss the train if it shows up while we try to wind back through the maze? In the end we waited, and boarded the train an hour+ delayed. We find our seats to find an older man in my seat, refusing to move! ‘Whatever’ I think, I’ll take another seat..only to have the rightful owner try to boot me. Going blank with my weak Italian, I show him my ticket and rat out my seat stealer, and get help to boot the offender from my seat-saved!!

Returning to Firenze was a relief after the train fiasco. With no plans remaining we enjoyed an evening wandering the streets, happened across our hotel from our last visit in 2015 and the little bar next door ‘The Black Bar”, where we stopped in to see if the same workers may still be there, and one was! So we ordered a quick bite to eat and some drinks and I pulled up the photo we took last trip and showed the worker, Barbara; she was so happy we returned. She comped my wine and we sat upstairs to eat a small dinner of sandwiches. Before leaving we ordered more drinks to go and asked to recreate our photo.

We wandered in search of street performers to find a musician a few blocks away and enjoyed the rest of his set before calling it a night. With the following day being our final day in Firenze, we had no official plans but I had hoped we could do a day trip to Lucca if the hubby was ready to brave the train again…

Day 3 our final full day in Firenze

Given we did not have to be up early, we opted to sleep in and enjoy a leisurely breakfast on the hotel terrace. Breakfast runs until 10am but we lingered around from 9-11 enjoying the Duomo view and cooler temp with the cloud cover.

By the time we were ready to start our sightseeing it was after noon at which point we decided not to venture to Lucca (bummed but hoping we can make it on the next trip). Instead we wandered during the peak heat of the day and wore ourselves out so we stopped in at an Irish pub - where there was outside shaded seating and misters - for an apertivo. We would have ordered a late lunch as well but the kitchen closed until 6:30 so we lingered here enjoying two drinks thinking maybe we could wait for the kitchen to reopen; we were surprised when for the first time ever they tried to rush us out bringing the check before we even asked for it. I did a double take wondering if we were still in Italy. That was largely the excitement for the day.

Dinner was a quick bite taken to go with drinks at the Black Bar where we said arrivaderci to Barbara until next time. In Italian I told her maybe my Italian will be better when I see her again in 8 years

To be Continued…

Continued..

We turned in early to prepare for our departure in the morning, next stop: Sorrento via Napoli by way of train. Surely we won’t experience a train delay again, right?

Day 4 - departure from Firenze and on to Sorrento
We enjoyed our last breakfast at the hotel, packed up and off we went to catch the train departing at 10:48 to Napoli. Our train arrived on schedule and we boarded to what would be a fairly empty train. We located our seats with no other passengers around us. With this trip expected to be 3 hours, I opted to open the laptop to catch up on some work, the wifi worked decently.
This route took us through several tunnels and when the train came to a stop in the middle of one, I thought ‘shoot, not another delay’…after a few minutes passed an announcement was made indicating that trains were delayed due to a train having hit an animal on the track…great. I figured it would be a good time to check our connection time in Napoli since I had planned an hour buffer between trains…only to discover the train schedule had changed and the train we had already purchased tickets for is no longer on the schedule (see my post in the Italy forum here https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/changes-to-the-campania-express-schedule). Double great…when we arrived in Napoli we found the ticket booth with ease - way easier to navigate than Bologna. The worker told us it’s ok just take the next one, which is another 3 hour wait. The bright side here is this allowed us time to eat lunch, finally some pizza from Napoli and it was delicious

Our transfer to Sorrento from this point was a seamless 1 hr and 10 min via the campania express. Our hotel was a short 3 min walk from the station and being later than expected we headed up to the rooftop bar for apertivos and had a quiet first evening. More to come on the Part 2 Sorrento trip report

Summary of Firenze -

Where we stayed: B&B Hotel Laurus al Duomo
Final notes/observations for this leg of the trip:
-Loved the neighborhood and hotel.
-The breakfast was decent with a large spread.
-hotel has an elevator, A/C works well and decent wifi
-The rooftop terrace view of the Duomo gorgeous. If only it would have been available outside breakfast hours...I must have missed that part when reading reviews
-also to note the pigeons at breakfast were a bit of a nuisance for those braving eating outside
-Easy 5 min walk to/from FSM train station

Thanks for sharing your trip with us, Crystal! Lots of great delicious details!

I also don’t have fond memories of the Bologna train station. My first train was late, so I was trying to make a very quick (less than 5 minutes) connection from a fast train to the slow Regional. They were at opposite levels and locations in that station, so I was racing through & trying to locate it. Fortunately, the conductor saw me after the doors were locked, stopped and signaled for me to get on.

In order to keep your trip reports together, I suggest you just write one sentence in the next several "Add Reply" areas. I will then delete my post. Can't wait to read the rest of your reports, as we were in the AC and Sorrento this past My. Thx for sharing!

Thanks @jean! Glad to hear the conductor waited for you and you were able to make your train in Bologna.

@Pat - I thought about that but likely won’t have all together today and thought this way could keep each post more or less focused for each city, should anyone be interested in reading about the particulars of the trip by specific city. My write ups are so long they make me tired to write and re-read, I can see how others may not want to read through 15 max character replies from me on all the cities lol

Also wanted to add with regard to the train delays - I was unaware that we are entitled to a refund of 25% if the train is delayed (30 min+?) did not realize this was the case with our first delay since we purchased from a ticket machine. Our train tix from firenze to Napoli I had purchased in advance so I received an email indicating as such. Curious if anyone has taken the steps to obtain the refund, if it was easy and your experience. TIA

Curious as to when they took your luggage away at your plane connection, was it gate checked (picked up at gangway on disembarking) or baggage claimed?

@Susan - when we were at the gate was when we were informed of the need to check the luggage and so it was gate checked, but then available to retrieve upon arrival at baggage claim with all other checked luggage.

Crystal, I want to read them all!

Hey Crystal, THANKS so much!! Keep those updates coming, really really useful. What was the name of the walking food tour company in Florence? Sounds like you absolutely did Florence the right way. Bologna train station sounds like a real drag, good to figure that out ahead of our next trip.

@pat - thanks! Brevity is not my strength but usually not a lot of depth in the detail as there is so much information to take in and so difficult to retain it all lol.

@Sandancisco thanks! Glad to hear and hoping our experience proves helpful to others.
The food tour we went with in Firenze was provided by Eating Europe http://eatingeurope.com
“The Other Side of Florence Food Tour”

A deeper dive on research would have helped to prepare for Bologna navigating the station. If you are planning to travel to/from Bologna via train I hope you are able to find more to help ease your navigation within and (if you are planning to walk) from the station for your trip..
It definitely was the trip with the most train issues to date for us, that made for more memories and new experiences

Thanks Crystal, it's on our list for December! We had an amazing Eating Europe Testaccio tour in Rome a few years ago, so glad to hear they are as good in Florence. And really thanks for the heads up about Bologna, glad to be forewarned.

Great detail, thanks!
We also had trouble in Bologna Centrale last year.
We were waiting , along with many others, for our train to Florence to pull in, when suddenly everyone started to move fast to a different platform.
Not sure how they knew, as there was no sign change or audible announcement.
We just followed the crowd, hoping to get on the right train!
It was.
It’s a gigantic station, with a lot of walking and going up and down and up again to (hopefully) find your platform.

Thanks for the trip report on Firenze. I enjoyed reading it with my morning coffee! I looked up your B&B. It looks really nice. The food tours sound great. I did a limited food tour in Siena way back in 2015 -- tastings from local shops/food counters minus the big entree meal. I discovered the fun of "complete" food tours in Ljubljana in 2019. I did another one in Warsaw this year. I'll be in Florence and Rome next year, and will do a food tour in one city... or maybe both.

If you make it back to Firenze some day, a good place to linger in the shadow of the Duomo is at the nearby library. It has a sandwich shop with great views of the dome and green spaces with nice views, too.

Thanks again for the report!

Thanks @ S J!
Wow that sounds like quite an experience at the Bologna station. I was constantly monitoring the train progress via app and web just hoping the platform was correctly noted on the tracker.

I kept thinking to myself, is it just me or is this station layout nuts? I sure hope this doesn’t deter us from visiting again. The food tour was excellent and I would really like to explore the city more. Should we return, at least will know to better prepare and hopefully find more helpful info on the layout of the station and such in advance.

Thanks @Dave!
It was nice to be able to focus on the food and relaxing this trip.
I do hope to make it back to Firenze eventually as there are other “still to do’s” there. And I really do want to get to Lucca for a day trip so my fingers are crossed we will return. Your recommendation by the Duomo sounds great and will definitely put on my “still to do in Firenze” list

Thanks for sharing. I looked up your hotel and have made note of it for my future trip. Cute story about Barbara 😊