Antimo left Florence today and headed to Rome, which left Jim, Jani, Des, Gill, Dick, and me on our own. Now what do we do? The women in the group decided it to be a shopping day while seeing the sites along the way. And if we buy too many things to bring home, we could always buy another suitcase, right?
Where to go first? We walked to the linen store which was closed. We found out from a neighboring shop that they didn’t open until 3:00 pm. Really? So we ventured to the Ponte Vecchio because, well, it is there and such a cool place to check out the jewelry. Each of us gals found a ring that we didn’t know we wanted but just had to have.
On our way to the Uffizi, I found pashminas, a leather purse, and several artsy watercolor pictures of Florence. Dick found a wine bottle that he wanted to bring home. Yeah like that was going to happen!
And before we knew it, it was time for lunch. I forgot to take pictures of my fried zucchini flowers and hubby’s pasta and chingalle (wild boar). I should have photoed the meatballs tho because it was a meatball translation gone wrong for sure! I’m not quite sure how the waiter translated uno (1) to nove (9). And then charged me 19 euros!
We did manage to get in a few sites while strolling through town. The statues are spectacular, however, so much of Florence is under repair that there is scaffolding around everything, even the David that stands outside in the piazza della signoria.
I ran out of energy so back to the hotel to rest up for… more shopping. After a very successful trip to the linen store which finally opened, we stopped for drinks and a light dinner. Our waiter was so delightful and accommodating. After our wine and pizza, he offered us limoncello and no one turned it down!
And checked in on the dogs. They apparently are having the time of their life, taking over the king-sized bed at Liz and Gene’s house.
