20100614 – Florence

Breakfast on the terrace again. It was slightly cloudy and a little cooler than the last two mornings. We are going to miss our dolce vita morning.

We walked across the Arno in the direction of the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella. Ann toured the church while I went to the post office to pay a parking ticket that we got in Riccione. It seems that the post office in Italy does more than handle letters and packages. Unlike our post office branch at home, they have several clerks who are friendly and helpful. When my number came up, I handed the clerk my parking ticket. She read some instructions on the back. Then she filled out a form for me that I filled in my name and address, signed and gave back to her. I paid the fine and got a receipt. This was much easier and less stressful than I anticipated.

I met Ann back at the church and we walked over to the Santa Maria Novella pharmacy where Ann picked up some gifts. Then we walked to Piazza San Lorenzo and strolled through both the outdoor and indoor markets. We got more gifts and an apple for me.

Bags were getting heavy and noon was approaching, so we went back to the hotel and dropped off our load. Pizza and gelato were around the corner for lunch.

The temperature in Florence has cooled off compared to other days. This will give us a chance to wander around and go to places we have not visited before.

That happened on our afternoon walk. I told Ann that she had to lead even if we got lost. She took us up a zigzag route to the top of the hill behind our hotel. Our route was farther west the the one yesterday. We went through the Porto San Giorgio and found one of the upper entrances to Boboli Gardens. I had no interest in paying the 10 Euro per person entry fee, so we continued up the hill and found ourselves on a narrow country road. It was level ground now and it was easy to walk although we had to flatten ourselves on the roadside wall to let cars go by. We were walking on rough cobblestones which were beginning to make an impression on our feet.

At the end of the country lane, we came upon the main road going back down the hill to the Porta Romana and the Pitti Palace. The sidewalk was wide and roughly paved with large cobblestones. Large trees grew overhead to shade us from the sun. We saw many villas and some fancy hotels so we figured that this was the high-rent district of Florence.

We reached familiar territory and dragged ourselves back to the hotel. I took a shower and put my feet up while Ann went back to peruse a linen shop. She didn’t buy anything but she reported that it was all beautiful hand made Tuscan linen.

Our last supper was around the corner at Osteria Antico San Niccolo. For starters we had antipasti with cheese. Mine was pecorino with sun-dried tomatoes (I though they were going to be fresh). Ann had Pears and brie on arugula. We switched plates when we were half finished. For our main dish, I had fettuccini with asparagus. Ann had Italian veal curry. The food was good but not great. The interior of the osteria wood-paneled and lined with wine bottles. The kitchen staff looked Asian.

It’s closing in on 9:00 and I’m watching the World Cup match between Italy and Paraguay. I’m leaving my packing until tomorrow morning.

This is the last blog of our trip. We will be traveling home tomorrow.