Parks & Errands

Playground in Piazza della Indipendenza

One of the two statues in the Piazza. This one is Peruzzi.

A reasonably slow day today after yesterday - although Santa Maria Novella still made sure we were all awake at 7.30am with her bells! I had a number of errands to complete in 3 different locations!

No 1 - Italian SIM card and rail tickets. No problem, after trying to get the tickets at the ticket machines with no success, I asked at a nearby desk to find I don't need a ticket, other than the pass I already have. Bargain! SIM card also completed - Why, you ask? I have no way to recharge my Saudi SIM while I'm here, my Australian SIM doesn't appear to have International Roam activated (although it should, I asked for it to stay on Intl Roam - but then who can trust Telstra to do what you want?) and I am tired of paying a fortune when I want to make local calls to museums, ticket offices etc.

Lamppost base. I can only assume the wolf foot relates to the Romulus/Remus myth somehow.

Fountain in the middle of the duck pond that comes on periodically then turns off.

No 2 - The Uffizi Gallery (the main big one everyone wants to see) and the Galleria Academia (where the statue of David is housed) are generally packed with people and have long lines at this time of the year. However, both of these venues also offer an evening session which starts at 7pm. The day/bus tours are over - no cruise ship tours - backpackers/uni students are all heading for the bars etc and they are only open on particular mid-week nights...... perfect for those of us who are here for a period of time. Galleria is FREE for this session - which is even better - while at Uffizi Jacob is free while I have to pay a full rate for Ethan as we aren't EU citizens....... that said, sometimes they don't ask where I'm from and give me his ticket half price anyway - depends on the person. I didn't pay entry for either of them to the Museo & Duomo in Siena yesterday....

Piazza della Liberta

second arch with fountain in the middle

This required a walk - so we went via a couple of parks/piazzas that are in the northern part of the city area. The first, the Piazza della Indipendenza had a small playground - so we stopped for awhile. It was a short walk (200m maybe) to the duck pond and cycle way near the Fortezza de Basso then a walk in the shade down a wide tree lined "promenade" to the Piazza della Liberta. The usually bleats about food were coming thick and fast so I didn't stop to have a good look at the arches in the Piazza. Next stop was the Piazza San Marco where we ate and watched the buses go around - it is primarily a large bus terminal area as it is close to the Galleria, Museo Scientifici, Museo Archeologico and Church of the Annunziata. As it turns out I can't book for the night sessions - you just turn up - he said you might wait 20min at the most - anyway will try and see! Whilst waiting in the line the boys decided to have a fight and be virtually uncontrollable so it was a quick dash from there back to the supermarket for a few groceries and home to put them in bed!

This is the Basilica di San Lorenzo, the market is held alongside.