Tuscany suggestions?

[Lisa Nikodym]

I'm leaving in a few days for Florence & Tuscany, staying through Christmas.  I've already settled on the primary regions of Tuscany we'll be seeing, but am looking for suggestions for any great photo locations in those areas:

     Florence

     The San Gimignano / Volterra  area

     Siena

     The Orvieto / Pitigliano / Sovana area

Any suggestions?  Keep in mind that the weather will be wintery, but I don't mind being out in it.  Happy to have suggestions for restaurants, walks & sights too (we already have our hotel reservations).

Lisa

[Jazsax95]

Hi Lisa,

I lived in Florence for a year not too long ago.  I was studying, and at the time I wasn't able to get to those areas specfically for photography.  However, I'm sure you'll have no trouble finding great shots; Italy's beauty is readily abundant, particularly in Tuscany.  There is a beautiful landscape all over as well as beautiful, photogenic cities.  

My suggestions for you are regarding restaurants in Florence.  One place is called Il Latini.  They have great traditional Tuscan cuisine.  The people are very kind, and it is not touristy.  The other place I would recommend is called Cafe Italiano.  However, there is a trick to finding it.  There is a large restaurant by this name, and connected to it is a tiny pizzeria which I knew as Cafe' Italiano also (it has its own small entrance, very hole-in-the-wall).  But you can't order pizza from the main restaurant.  And this pizza is truly divine.  The owner is from Naples, and Naples is where Italy's best pizza comes from...except for this place in Florence! I live in Chicago and have been to New York city a dozen times...but nothing I've had quite matches Neopolitan pizza.  And when you're done, you can walk 20 feet to some wonderful gelato at Vivoli.  These places are well known to Florentines, so your hotel people should know where they are, or I can probably draw the route on a map and email it to you if you'd like.  I'm always happy to help someone enjoy Florence by experiencing a couple of my favorite parts.  I bet they have a German market going on now in Piazza Santa Croce, also pretty cool and right near Cafe Italiano.  

There is a lot of great food in Italy; it's probably hard to go wrong.  But I really hope you can make it to at least one of these places.  They are the best thing next to a home cooked meal by my host family.  Have a great time and let me know if you need a map.

Sam

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Hi Lisa,

I lived in Florence for a year not too long ago.  I was studying, and at the time I wasn't able to get to those areas specfically for photography.  However, I'm sure you'll have no trouble finding great shots; Italy's beauty is readily abundant, particularly in Tuscany.  There is a beautiful landscape all over as well as beautiful, photogenic cities. 

My suggestions for you are regarding restaurants in Florence.  One place is called Il Latini.  They have great traditional Tuscan cuisine.  The people are very kind, and it is not touristy.  The other place I would recommend is called Cafe Italiano.  However, there is a trick to finding it.  There is a large restaurant by this name, and connected to it is a tiny pizzeria which I knew as Cafe' Italiano also (it has its own small entrance, very hole-in-the-wall).  But you can't order pizza from the main restaurant.  And this pizza is truly divine.  The owner is from Naples, and Naples is where Italy's best pizza comes from...except for this place in Florence! I live in Chicago and have been to New York city a dozen times...but nothing I've had quite matches Neopolitan pizza.  And when you're done, you can walk 20 feet to some wonderful gelato at Vivoli.  These places are well known to Florentines, so your hotel people should know where they are, or I can probably draw the route on a map and email it to you if you'd like.  I'm always happy to help someone enjoy Florence by experiencing a couple of my favorite parts.  I bet they have a German market going on now in Piazza Santa Croce, also pretty cool and right near Cafe Italiano. 

There is a lot of great food in Italy; it's probably hard to go wrong.  But I really hope you can make it to at least one of these places.  They are the best thing next to a home cooked meal by my host family.  Have a great time and let me know if you need a map.

Sam
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Thanks, Sam, for the suggestions; and Thanks, Lisa, for asking. I am saving all responses to this question for my own trip to Florence and Tuscany in March and April. By the way, one of the most helpful guidebooks I have found so far is called "Eating and Walking in Tuscany and Umbria", by James Lasdun and Pia Davis. The one to get is the new 2005 edition, which has just been extensively revised.

Eric

[Lisa Nikodym]

Sam:

Ok, I knew you to be an expert when I saw your comments on Neapolitan pizza!  The best pizza I've ever had was at a cheap hole-in-the-wall in Naples.  We must *definitely* find Cafe Italiano!  Followed by gelato at Vivoli, of course - the spouse and I are biiiiiiig fans of Italian gelato.  I have a little book of the best gelato places in Italy, and I'm pretty sure Vivoli is in there, and it has maps, so we should be able to find it if the two are that close to each other.  Just in case, though, I'd appreciate the addresses (cross-streets, if possible) for that and the other restaurant you recommend.  I have a good map of the city, so the address and a cross-street should be sufficient.

What's a German market???

Eric:

I've already found the book you suggest, and it's coming with us.  
If you're looking for more book recommendations, I've perused a great number of Florence & Tuscany guide books, and (IMO) the best overall book for info on things to see is the Rough Guide.

Lisa

[bob mccarthy]

Unless you have more than a few day it's tough to leave Firenze (Florence).

Must sees are museums (Uffitzi Museum) and the walking tour of the Duomo. Do the whole tour, including the walk up into the structure of the dome itself. It's winter so I don't have a clue on the gardens across the Arno river. I'm loosing the name at this moment.

I stay at a modest hotel in the old city when I go (Hotel Boston) and the owners are wonderful and are glad to point out "local" restaurants of note. Ask and the locals will help. The "famous" places are really expensive so trophy eating can get pricy.

I still remember a local restaurant where I sat with the owner (both of us)getting potted on Grapa. Not many Americans order that way. He enjoyed my simpaticio and I enjoyed his culture.

I do a side trip to Balligio (usually fly in and out of Milan). With the Alps in the lake background its has to be quite a sight this time of year.

have fun

Bob

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Unless you have more than a few day it's tough to leave Firenze (Florence).
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That's why my wife and I are going for six weeks in April and May          
We'll do a few days in Firenze at the start and again at the end, and spend much of the rest exploring the countryside of Tuscany and a little of Umbria.

Lisa: Thanks for the "Rough Guide" tip. We'll look into that one.

Eric

[Mark Graf]

I am looking forward to hearing about some of your trips.  My wife and I are planning on going to Tuscany next June.  I have already ordered the guide books suggested, thanks!

Mark

[nma]

I'm leaving in a few days for Florence & Tuscany, staying through Christmas.  I've already settled on the primary regions of Tuscany we'll be seeing, but am looking for suggestions for any great photo locations in those areas:

     Florence

     The San Gimignano / Volterra  area

     Siena

     The Orvieto / Pitigliano / Sovana area

Any suggestions?  Keep in mind that the weather will be wintery, but I don't mind being out in it.  Happy to have suggestions for restaurants, walks & sights too (we already have our hotel reservations).

Lisa
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Lisa,

There is a great book that would be just right for your trip. It is old, but there is a fairly recent postumous edition that you will find in your public library. The title is "Turn right at the fountain; walking tours of London, Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Bruges, Paris, Rome, Florence, Vienna, Venice, Munich, Geneva,"
by George W Oakes.  Oakes, who was the travel writer for the N.Y. Times, died about 10 years ago. My distinct recollection is that it also includes walks around San Gimigano, Orivietto, etc. The narrative for the walks is very enlightening and entertaining. My wife and I stood at many street corners in Florence absorbing Oakes's explanations and observations. Though the book is old, not much changes in these places. You won't be disappointed.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Lisa,

I just noticed the link in your sig block
 (http://www.stanford.edu/~melkor/lisa_pictures/lisa_pictures.html)
 and took my first look at some of your travel photos. Wow!  

So far I have only had a time to look at Iceland and "Far Nothern Europe" (i.e., Lofoten Islands). You have some spectacular shots there. So I am looking forward to browsing the rest of your site (after I finish grading final exams), and I'm looking forward eagerly to your Tuscany photos when you get back.

I have been to both Iceland and Norway, but not to the far north, and not in September.

Have a great trip!

Eric

[Lisa Nikodym]

Thanks so much, Eric.  It's good to occasionally hear that I might be doing something right.    We leave for Tuscany tomorrow morning, and I am taking everyone's suggestions here with me.  If past experience is any indication, I'll get the photos posted sometime around March; but it you're about to go on your trip and I haven't posted them yet, drop me a PM a few days before and I'll post however much I've finished so you can take a look.

Thanks, all.

Lisa

P.S.  I seem to be weird around here in that I was utterly unimpressed by Iceland (though I admit the photos make it look much more interesting than it actually was for me), but was absolutely awed by Norway (both the main fjord region and the Lofoten Islands).

[Jazsax95]

Sam:

Ok, I knew you to be an expert when I saw your comments on Neapolitan pizza!  The best pizza I've ever had was at a cheap hole-in-the-wall in Naples.  We must *definitely* find Cafe Italiano!  Followed by gelato at Vivoli, of course - the spouse and I are biiiiiiig fans of Italian gelato.  I have a little book of the best gelato places in Italy, and I'm pretty sure Vivoli is in there, and it has maps, so we should be able to find it if the two are that close to each other.  Just in case, though, I'd appreciate the addresses (cross-streets, if possible) for that and the other restaurant you recommend.  I have a good map of the city, so the address and a cross-street should be sufficient.

What's a German market???

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Lisa, the German market is a just a collection of tents selling various things German.  Not all markets are the same, but there is one here in Chicago and its very similar: hot chocolate, chocolate covered fruits, various meats served on buns, pretzels, and many crafts as well.  If memory serves me, there was also a merry-go-round.

I never had a solid grasp of the street names in Florence as they often change block to block, so I don't know the cross streets.  I did find their addresses online though.  

Il Latini is located at Via del Palchetti 6R. I can tell you that the restaurant is pretty much due west of the Duomo and Piazza della Republica.  It is past Florence's equivalent to Beverly Hills' Rodeo Drive, Via Tornabuoni.  It's not a far walk from the center of town, but perfectly outside of the tourist route.  I think they might be closed on Monday.

From Vivoli's website:
You may taste Il Gelato Vivoli ONLY in Firenze
in 7, via isole delle stinche
tel. +39.55.292334
So that's where Cafe Italiano is also.  The entrance to the pizza place is on the same side of the same street as Vivoli.  It's NOT at the corner where the sign is.  It's tiny, and the room is small.  They are probably closed on Monday, too.  I bet most restaurants are, in fact, unless they are touristy places.  

Someone mentioned gardens.  I think it's called Palazzo Pitti, and there you'll find the Boboli Gardens, named after the famous American pizza crusts (j/k).  They are nice, and actually, if you get to the higher ground you'll find great photo ops of the city and the surrounding hills.  I think one place is called the Knight's Tower, and back in my Nikon N80 days it was there I encountered someone with a D1X - I thought it was the coolest thing I had ever seen.  How foolish of me, considering where I had been living for a year!  Even better for photos is a short bus ride up to Fiesole.  It's a public bus, so you can buy tickets in coffee shops and Tabacchi and ask which bus goes there.

You're gonna have a great time!  I hope I haven't missed you by writing so much here.  And if you get a chance, try to take note of where the scaffolding is on the Duomo.  They continuously clean it.  During my residency, it did not move one inch from the southeast corner, so I'm always interested to see how slow they really are at their restoration projects.

Buon Viaggio!!

Sam

[Lisa Nikodym]

Still here, Sam (but barely - about to start packing).  I'll look for those two restaurants you recommend.  Thanks for the locations, and your other suggestions.

I'll try to remember to take a look at where the scaffolding is on the Duomo and get back to you on that.  

I was hoping to get my D200 just in time for this trip (I have an order in for one  ), but it looks like it isn't here quite in time.  I'll have to make do with my D70.

Lisa

[bob mccarthy]

I'm leaving in a few days for Florence & Tuscany, staying through Christmas.  I've already settled on the primary regions of Tuscany we'll be seeing, but am looking for suggestions for any great photo locations in those areas:

 
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So how was the trip?

bob

[Lisa Nikodym]

So how was the trip?

bob

Great!  Very cold, but otherwise good weather for travel.  I didn't get any of the classic Tuscan landscape sort of photos, though, because the part of the trip we were in that area there was a light fog most of the day which made photos of distant things pretty useless.  Lots of other sorts of shots, though: insides & outsides of cathedrals, quaint lanes in medieval towns, sculpture gardens, etc etc.  I'm working on some of the images and will probably post them sometime around early March, after I get all the good ones finished.  I already posted the first of them (my favorite one so far from this trip) under the "Christmas Impressions" thread under "User Critiques" a week or two ago.  I'll probably post a link to the pictures here when I get them all finished and put together.

We found the pizzeria and gelato shop that Sam recommended.  Excellent!  Despite the near-freezing temperatures, we found ourselves gelato most every day (and were practically the only people doing so).

It's a fascinating area.  Florence must have the highest density in the world of artworks you recognize from books.  The Tuscan hill-towns have a delightfully medieval feeling (especially this time of year, when they aren't swarming with tourists  )

Lisa

[DaveLon]

Any difficulties being allowed to take interior shots?

Dave

[Lisa Nikodym]

Any difficulties being allowed to take interior shots?

It varies a lot depending on where you are.  A few places, especially the more crowded & touristy ones (who want to sell you their books & postcards) or the ones with more important and fragile frescoes, won't let you take photos.  Most major museums won't let you take photos either.  Many other places let you take photos, but without flash (which can damage the art and disturb other visitors), or without flash or tripods (the latter mostly to prevent congestion in crowded areas).  Many other places *do* let you use cameras, flash, and tripods.  The smaller, less tourist-infested churches and historic buildings do tend to let you use them more.

In all cases, though, there are obvious signs at the entrance (usually of the international symbol graphic style) telling you of anything that isn't allowed.

In general, I would use a tripod when it was allowed.  When tripods weren't allowed, I used a combination of high ISO and leaning on convenient railings or pews for steadiness.  Now & then you find yourself somewhere where photography isn't allowed at all; oh, well, your eyes can still enjoy it.  

Lisa

[Ray]

Lisa,
I sure wish I'd had my 5D and 24-105 IS zoom with me when I visited Italy almost a year ago. There seemed to be a lot of restrictions on taking photos in Italy and the rules are very inconsistent. Mostly I found photos without flash are allowed, which is a real problem for those with fully automatic P&S cameras. But you know how people are! They'll take a shot anyway, with or without flash, hoping no-one notices.

Surprisingly there were no flash restrictions photographing the Pieta in St Peter's Basilica, yet as I approached the 'real' statue of David in the Galleria del Academia in Florence, an attendant approached me with a sealable plastic bag and insisted I carry my 20D in that bag, just to make sure I didn't sneak a shot.

I'm afraid I found the Tuscany countryside a little bit flat and uninteresting in the late winter and early spring. The weather was overcast and dull and the trees didn't even have buds. Of course, if I were a better photographer I could have made something out of that nevertheless   .

[ehasler]

My girlfriend and I were lucky enough to spend 2 weeks there last May, and it is a very beautiful part of the world - I can't wait to return.

Strangely though I found it quite difficult to find countryside views that I really liked - I think I was expecting to see amazing sights at every corner, but in truth like anywhere else, you do have to put some effort in to finding them, which I guess isn't that bad - it's more reason to go back again and explore more

I was "on holiday", so didn't manage any sunrise shots and thus probably missed some of the best light, but it wasn't until the end of out trip that I'd worked out some decent locations anyway, so I didn't feel I missed out that much.

I also found that the area south of Siena was generally more picturesque than the area between Siene and Florence, however there are some very pretty villages and countryside all over the place.

Weather wise, the first week or so we were there (last 2 weeks in May) was pretty dull most days, but it was very hot for the last week - too hot some days, as the lovely red poppies started to wilt very quickly  It was also relatively quiet, so wasn't full of tourists.

I've actually just finished going through my shots this morning, and have them on my website here:

http://www.edwardhaslerphotography.com/gal...cany/index.html

If anyone would like more information on where they were taken, then I'll try to dig out my notes

[GregP]

If anyone would like more information on where they were taken, then I'll try to dig out my notes

Could you share with us the location of the cypress grove in your portfolio?
Thank you, in advance, for your help.

[drew]

It is right by the South side of the road at the end of a long bridge as you come in to San Quirico d'Orcia from the West.