Sunday Outing

Sunday we had a real treat. Our AirBnB hostess, Anna, invited us to visit her home in Fiesole. She picked us up with her car and we headed out -- I mean up! Fiesole is just a few miles north of Florence on a hill.

On our way out of town through the suburbs, we passed the 18th century Triumphal Arch of the Lorraine, built to welcome the arrival of the Hapsburg-Lorraine Dynasty.

Anna's home is one of five flats created from an old convent attached to a church. It is spacious and lovely. This view across the valley to another hill was taken on her large terrace.

After looking around her place, we headed off to walk to the village of Fiesole. It was a steady uphill climb for at least a mile. This photo shows how narrow the road was. Part of the way was closed to traffic due to a break in the road, but most of it was open.

I took this photo through a barred gate. It was part of a very old villa.

Partway up there was a lovely viewing area with benches. It was originally private, part of a Medici property.

Oh, my goodness, what a view of Florence! It wasn't very clear down below, but I think you can see the Duomo sticking up just to the left of center. And just to its right is the dome of San Lorenzo, which is very close to where we are staying. We stayed for a while to rest and enjoy the view.

Along the way we passed the Fiesole/Florence headquarters for the Georgetown University Italian program. It looked like a lovely place to stay.

Eventually we made it to the top of the hill and the village of Fiesole. It was a lovely sunny day and there were several restaurants serving lunch. We tried three of them, but all were only open to reservations. We found one that looked very dark but we went in. It turned out they had a rooftop terrace which was wonderful, so we had the best location after all. We all had different pasta dishes and enjoyed the views.

Anna suggested we could take a bus back, but we decided to walk back down. It was definitely easier than coming up unless you had knee problems.

Grateful thanks to Anna for bringing us out and showing us her home. It was a great day, even if it did cloud over by the afternoon. And this morning (Monday) it is raining. A good day to stay inside for a while!