Day 15: Florence-Pietrasanta

We sleep well in the sumptuous surroundings. Breakfast is surprisingly limited for such a luxurious place and the service was slow. If the weather had been a bit warmer, we could have taken breakfast on the beautiful terrace but, while sunny, it was still cool.

After breakfast, we take a walk around the city

past the apartment where stayed for two weeks in 2004

and stop to say hello to our friend Lino who works at a bar near the Ponte Vecchio. There are a fair number of tourists out this morning, especially on the Piazza Signoria.

We stop in the church of Orsanmichele

which had been closed for years; this is the first time that we had seen it when the sun was out and we see a lot more of the art and decorations than we had on our last visit–a rainy November afternoon. No pictures allowed inside but here's a sample from the internet.

We head back to the hotel–Diana stops to buy a scarf at the Straw Market–and Luca, the desk clerk, takes us on a tour of some of the other rooms at the hotel–all spectacular in one way or another, either size or decoration or both. Then we are off to Pietrasanta. The ride out of Florence is easy…traffic is reasonably light at 11:30 am and we are soon on the autostrada heading west. We decide not to stop in Lucca for lunch and just grab a sandwich at an Autogrill.

We drive right up to the hotel in Pietrasanta…straight across the whole "centro storico" including the main piazza. Luckily for us the weekly market has just finished or we would have had some difficulty navigating through town. We had visited the hotel–Albergo Pietrasanta–last fall but the day had been so rainy that we never really saw anything but the inside of the hotel.

The town looks very nice as we drive through….it has a distinctive feel due to the presence of many modern sculptures in the streets and piazzas, which contrast vividly with the traditional look of an Italian small town. Over the past 25 years, Pietrasanta has become something of a modern art colony and there are a number of well-known artists who spend part of the year in town. We are greeted warmly at the hotel by Federica, whom we had met last fall and had invited us back to stay at the hotel. We are shown to our room which is a very beautiful and large–not quite as grand as at the Residenza del Moro but spacious and comfortable.

Here is the web page link for more photos of the hotel.

http://www.albergopietrasanta.com/albergo_pietrasanta_hotel.phtml

The public rooms are also tasteful and filled with the owner's collection of modern art. There is glass-ceiling atrium in the garden where breakfast is served and a pleasant outdoor area.

Before I go out for my exploratory walk, Federica suggests that we make dinner reservations for the holiday (May 1) weekend because she expects that the town will be full with visitors. We discuss various possibilities and make a plan for next few nights. Then I go out for a walk….the rain that threatened earlier has stopped so the sun is now shining and the temperature is pleasant. My walk is very nice…the town is level but the tall Appennines are close by and provide a striking backdrop. The town looks very prosperous with lots of chic shops sprinkled in with the traditional mix of Italian stores. In the middle of the entrance to the main street is a large gilt picture frame

which makes the town itself a "work of art". I walk past the cathedral which dominates the main piazza

but it shares the space with the old town castle set into the old town walls

several sidewalk cafes, an old church which is now a museum

and a number of modern sculptures.

Later in the afternoon, we sit at the cafe that is in the sun and have a prosecco before dinner. Dinner is at Il Gatto Nero (the Black Cat), which seems to be a favorite of locals. Our meal is just okay…..I have a bowl of pasta and bean soup and Diana has ravioli to start. For seconds–we have a grilled fish and a roast pork dish–but most everyone else in the place is having the steak….so perhaps we ordered badly. The wine–Montecarlo, a red from near Lucca–is fine.

The stroll back to the hotel through the lit up town is very nice. Tomorrow is May Day and we will drive up to Sant'Anna di Stazzema, which was the site of a massacre of townspeople during World War II and the subject of a recent Spike Lee film.