I've been chewing the same piece of gum for 6 hours

where is the best place to find cheap flights to denver?

jeff2sf wrote:

Trent Steele wrote:

Wizlah wrote:Florence $#@! rules, man. This is one serious city.

Wiz: I need more info. I'm 3 weeks away. Full report, please.

I'm there nite of 24th, if you have good lodging rec's, let's hear them. Also, places to watch the Phillies game, please research that.

The too the point stuff:
This place is a very nice place to drink wine of an evening on the south bank of the river. It's near an old bit of city wall (I think - did not verify). The neighbourhood around there seems really chill - there's a small square closer to the river (where the via di san niccolo meets the via san miniato) which looked like it had a couple of decent bars and stuff. Fuori Porta has a wide selection of italian wines by the glass, also does your bruschettas, crostinis other italian nibbly bits, plus more substantial food. people more expert than i say they really know their wine and the selection is an interesting one. I had some calabrian stuff which was a bit full on and rough around the edges but very nice with some food. Wizlette had a very nice wine from puglia. I seem to recall something with an interesting smell and quite subtle. I have no idea what any of that actually means. We just had some nibbly bits cos we were walking on elsewhere to dinner at

this place
cheaper end of the scale, but very good food, and nice service. we were waiting for a table for a bit (on a monday night, I might add) and we got served up some gratis prosecco to keep us ticking over. it wasn't the best quality, but the day I say no to free bubbly is the day you take me out back, kneecap me, and force me to fellate david jose reyes.

Ahem. sitting out in one of the larger piazzas, at the back of Santa Spirito. I had tagliatelle with wild boar in a red wine ragu. Wizlette had a pizza with grilled aubergine/eggplant and piccante salami. Both were superb. I seem to recall my starter involved awesome cheese and good ham. the house red was nice. the meal for both of us came out at 45 euros or thereabouts. Florence can be pricey, but that was money well spent. We had an alright lunch which came to about the same price and was nowhere near as good.

The one thing I would absolutely recommend you doing if you can is walking up to Piazzale Michelangelo. Try and time it for sunset - it'll take you about 20-30 minutes from Piazza Guissepe Poggi. sit down on the steps on the west of the plaza overlooking the city. We were there with a crowd of about 40 odd people, a mixture of tourists and locals, just relaxing out as the lights flicked on all over the capital and the sky darkened. It felt unbelievably chill and serene. Worth it. then go for a drink at Fuori Porta.

The Ranty, florid stuff:
It's a walkable city, and worth looking at all the buildings as you amble along. It's also a great place for people watching. Well, italian people watching. Which mainly means watching how they dress. We didn't really shop, but there are seemed to be a lot of good shops on the south of the river. Shops full of well made beautiful things. I live in a city which is about the same size as florence, and has a fair whack of its own history on clear display. But florence does it better. There's not as much tat about. even the shops which sell tat to tourists don't seem as tatty. Florence generally feels quite stylish. But never too big.

The Palazzo Vechio, in essence the town hall for the city since something like the 12th century, has a tour of secret passages which we didn't have time to do but I was interested in if only because as well as being cool and fun, it will probably give you some sense florence's fine history of civil unrest and political assassination.

I couldn't disagree more strongly with either smitty or tv. Sure, there's a lot of renaissance art, but no one is asking you to look at every last damn thing. So don't, and then you'll appreciate the stuff you do look at more. There's a sculpture of hercules killing a centaur in the Piazza della Signoria which is one of the most emotive statues I've seen in years. That did it for me. Wizlette and I stumbled round the Palazzo Vechio, not cos the art was that great (most of it wasn't), but it was evident how much money and effort had been put into making the whole FUCKING BUILDING sing the praises of cosimo medici. Oh, and it's STILL the city hall - there was a session going on as we were leaving. How many people died over politics in that building, and they're still taking votes there.

We didnae go into the Duomo, but then, even walking round it is breathtaking, doubly so when you see a whole city just going about it's business around this awesome piece of engineering. It's very much part and parcel of the city - unlike, say, saint pauls in london which feels distanced from its surroundings.

A city could lose itself in the past with that much gorgeous history on display, but florence doesn't seem musty or old - it's busy, contemporary and bustling. like it or not, if you live in the west, some of what you know about art and politics has been influenced by the power struggles and patronage in this city. If you don't believe me, go check out how much european royalty seem to have either married or been born to medici blood and how much shit they subsequently caused. Or read the bit in The Prince about controlling foreign principalities after you've invaded them, and then reflect on the parallels with modern day iraq and afghanistan. Oh, and dan brown doesnae earn squat without the medicis shelling out for da vinci's work.

And if you managed to make it this far without rolling your eyes 20 times over at the hyperbole, I'd reccommend reading Paul J McAuleys Pasquale's Angel whilst you're on holiday there- an alternate history where the industrial age comes to florence courtesy of da vinci, and machiavelli is a burnt out newspaper man and former political operator. be worth picking up a good history of florence beforehand as well, but I've got no ideas on that front yet.

Jeff, I have no idea where you can catch the Phillies game in Florence. But Time Out Florence would probably be your best bet for a guide book with that information.

Also, I didn't say see no Renaissance. At least, I don't think I did. It's just out of all the stuff to see in Florence, I'd not invest a whole lot of time in the Uffizi. Half day, at most.

i can't believe Turn On the Bright Lights came out SEVEN years ago. that still feels like yesterday.

CalvinBall wrote:where is the best place to find cheap flights to denver?

www.kayak.com

ESPN Radio is all commercials all the time

BigEd loves him some Jon and Kate (plus eight)

ok I get the hint. Lock it up...

"Female vicim" hit by a train this morning in newark =(

Still waiting on the ID, RIP.

td11 wrote:"Female vicim" hit by a train this morning in newark =(

Still waiting on the ID, RIP.

can't play the drunk card this time! happens way too often down there, though.

someone's pandora just played "since i've been loving you," "heart of gold," and now "comfortably numb" in a row. i'm happy

guys, can we stop with the train stories, please?

The good news is that I'm going to have no problems watching the Phillies on Wednesday and Thursday.

The bad news is that I'm being reduced to part-time status (at least temporarily) to achieve this.

Jumanji seems to be on all the time.

MrsVox wrote:guys, can we stop with the train stories, please?

this one time in college...

1 wrote:

MrsVox wrote:guys, can we stop with the train stories, please?

this one time in college...

HA weirdly thought the same thing

Just one more?

I just remembered that at a funeral on Friday, my uncle said to me, "I didn't know liberals wore suits."

I don't even know why he thought I was particularly liberal.