DATE: Friday 14 July, 1995
PLACE: Caserta to Florence
WEATHER: Hot
REMARKS: First stop: the local palace spotted at the end
of a long vista last evening. This is a must.
Supervised carpark, then bus into the gardens, a long formal,
'architectural' garden with statuary and water features.
The scale is staggering.
At the far end is a fountain, and along side a 'Giordino
Englizi'. A guided tour is lost on us (in Italian) but the
grotto with pool, statue, and summer house inside rocks is
delightful. Even a 'toy' castle for the children to play at
being royalty.
The apartments are even more grand. Marble everywhere, painted
ceilings, all the walls draped in silk, baroque furniture
and light fittings. The layout makes for tiring viewing: long,
continuous string of sumptuous rooms eventually leave me dazed.
All the 'plaster' effects are in fact painted.
A well worthwhile diversion, although it is now mid-day
and too late to divert to Monte Cassino.
Thus a straight run north on the autostrada, with a single
stop for refreshments at a servicio. We are deluged by a thunderstorm
of frightening dimensions and suddenness. At least it causes
a dramatic slowing of the pace of the traffic, and lasts about
10 minutes. At 1500 a road-sign indicates it is 35°.
Firenze is the same only less so than Rome. The traffic
is expected therefore. The railway station proves a mystery
to Desiree, but we find the Information Office and they find
us a pensione, the Hotel Patrizia, occupying the upper floors
of a university building.
Good location, OK room (singular), no air conditioning, 4
beds, and a bathroom. It is one (small) block from the river,
and within sight of the Duomo. Very central.
Helpful staff (actually the owner) direct us to a local
ristorante (Pinnochio) where the kids are a hit, and to car-parking
across the river to avoid having it towed by the street-cleaning
crew. However getting to the park leads me (solo) at night
through a maze of one-way streets seemingly around half of
Florence before finalling about 600 metres from the Pensione!!
Oh well.
What will we do tomorrow?
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