We went to Sassafras, Mount Dandenong, a couple of weekends ago, just a short 1 hour leisure drive from Melbourne.
This part of town is always great for some browsing and a spot of vintage shopping…
Our favourite piece: A vintage wooden Michelin Man rocking a cigar…
The last time we came the line that snaked around Miss Marples Tea Room was intimidating, however, this time around we were determined to a table. This place, crowded as it always is, does not accept reservations. We had to leave our names and come back at a certain designated time.
Miss Marples Tea Room (after much googling) is a memorabilia gallery of Agatha Christie’s fictional character (Leo and I embarrassingly thought that it was some old English lady whom, post WWII for some reason ended up in this part of the world and decided to open up an english tea house!)
Miss Marples’ famous jam, which went very well with the scones later on…
Quaint english setting with pink tea rose table cloths….
Exposed wooden beams, framed vintage prints of Miss Marples, old teapots and waitresses in black dresses and white aprons whizzing in and out of the kitchens with mountains of food…
The scones I had were a little bit dry but we might just brave the crowds and drop by again for the giant sundaes =)
{Trip Report 09 Nov 08 & 10 Nov 08}
We awoke bright and early, had a hearty breakfast wheeled and trolleyed right into our room by Christian =)
We decided to take it slow and strolled leisurely into the town centre and towards the river.
A “human sculpture” outside the Uffizi Gallery…
Ponte Vecchio
Ponte Vecchio is the medieval bridge over the Arno River and is occupied by jewellers, souvenir sellers and art dealers.
I went hunting for vintage brooches, haggled and went home with 3 authentic shell cameos =)
We stopped by for some delectable gelati…
We went across the bridge and stumbled upon Papier Arti E Mestieri, a lovely quaint papier shop in Piazza di Santa Maria Soprano. The entire shop is filled with gorgeous leather bound journals, handmade marbled paper, tooled bookmarks and handstamped cards.
Before dinner, we caught a cab to Piazza Michaelangelo to bask in Florence’s golden skyline…
We celebrated my birthday at Golden View Open Bar, by the Ponte Vecchio, where we had the best seafood dinner, still unrivaled till today.
We were meant to only spend 3 days in Florence, having booked an early morning train heading towards Venice. However, we encountered a train strike (again) but this time, trains were cancelled for the ENTIRE day. We had to ring our hotel in Venice to hopefully be able to cancel the first night stay and thankfully, the owners were kind enough to not charge us a penalty. I rang Christian and he was able to put us up in one of the smaller rooms, so we dragged our sorry selves back to the BnB; to recover from the ordeal, we stopped by Santa Maria Novella Perfumeria, an opulent baroque gallery that houses fragrances, tonics, rose water and soaps. A bit pricey but I bought a bottle of ‘Angels of Florence’ as a souvenir =)
Trip Report – {Florence 8 Nov 2008}
A trip to Florence is not complete if you do not visit its famous designer outlets. So we dedicated day 2 for some retail therapy.
Took a bus tour to Space Outlet in Montervarchi, after a journey of approximately 1-1.5 hours, the bus arrived at a very unassumingly large black building. This houses all the glittery Pradas at (somewhat) amazingly discounted prices. The security procedure was extremely vigilant, therefore no photos within the building.
We found this outlet a tad too overwhelming (probably because the tour only allocated 1.5 hours of shopping time at Space) God knows I don’t shop well under pressure!
Prada score: 1 bag, 1 coin purse and a pair of tooled leather shoes for Leo.
Next stop: The Mall
The Mall is about 1/2 hour’s drive from Space and consists of outlet stores such as Alexander McQueen (sigh), La Perla, Marni, Gucci, and Yves Saint Laurent. Here we spent the allocated 2 hours and 45 minutes leisurely strolling the stores and trying to avoid the complete hysteria that is in the Gucci outlet.
Score: A demure set of La Perla, a trio of Marni brooches.
We went back to Alloro, freshened up and went out for a quick bite.
Florence, with its cobble stoned streets and beautiful Renaissance architecture, all bathed in warm yellow light is indeed a sight to behold.
We wandered around the streets before heading back. A big day ahead tomorrow, my birthday! =)
While the northern hemisphere is mostly waist deep in snow, Melbourne scorched today.
The mercury shot up to 43C; total fire ban, people urged to stay indoors and city workers are advised to head home early.
Another sleepless night ahead =(
Trip Report – {Florence 7 Nov 2008}
We arrived into Florence’s Santa Maria Novella Station via Eurostar. The train ride was smooth, the cabins were comfortable and the best bit was the power outlets located at every seat’s table. It made the 4.5 hour train ride slightly more bearable.
Our itinerary was to leave our luggage at our BnB and then rush to the train station again, board the next train out to Pisa.
Prior to our trip, I have read all about the infamous Italian train strikes and have been crossing my fingers that we would not encounter one. But, of course, as luck would have it, half way to Pisa, our train came to a complete halt in the middle of nowhere.
The PA announcements were all in Italian, and when I asked around, nobody seemed to be able to speak English, until a kind American advised me that students were protesting on the tracks and trains are not expected to head into Pisa for another 5 hours! With that, we decided to cross the platform and catch the returning train back to Florence.
Alloro Bed and Breakfast
Alloro Bed and Breakfast is tucked away in a quiet street off the main pulse of Florence. Christian, the owner’s son, who is the most accommodating, honoured our request for the ‘red’ room. And the reviews on Tripadvisor were spot on, and the room definitely did not disappoint!
San Lorenzo Market
Florence, known for its Renaissance splendour, precious carved cameos, and of course, leatherwork.
Unfazed by the sudden change of plan, we decided to hit San Lorenzo market right away. The smell of leather was intoxicating…
I bought one and wore it straightaway!
Leo haggling away for his lined lambskin gloves… They’re divine!
We were ravenous after our leather shopping spree and decided to stop by a quaint little restaurant (which name I have regrettably forgotten to note down)
I discovered my liking for pollo e funghi pizzas; and Leo learnt the difference between bellisimo and bollisimo (in the most embarrassing way)!
Accademia
The Florentine gallery houses the infamous David statue by Michelangelo. David’s statue was moved from outdoors and into the gallery for conservation purposes.
Photography was strictly prohibited within the premises, however, I managed to curl up in an unassuming corner and tried my hardest to quietly snap away, before 2 burly female guards came running towards me and blurting out incomprehensible (in what I can only assume to be) polite italian.
Duomo/Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore
The marble panels are in different shades of green and pink, bordered by white and is part of an elaborate 19th century gothic revival facade. The basilica remains as one of Italy’s largest churches and its dome is the largest brick dome in the world.
We booked tickets for a tour out to the designer outlets bright and early the next morning, so we decided to turn in around 10pm.
