Not to take away from any of the other wonderful places we visited, but Florence has a special place in our hearts.
So we were eagerly looking forward to our day in Florence. And it did not disappoint.
After a lovely breakfast, in that, same beautiful, setting, overlooking the rooftops of Florence, we sit out in our bus and made our way to The river, some distance from Vecchio, which we could see in the middle ground of our view. We walked along until we came to a larger building, which turned out to be basically the Library of Congress of Italy. Impressive in a late Victorian style. We did not realize it, but from there we were only a few steps To , the Piazza Santa Grazie. We arrived there, took in the beauty of the Piazza. And were let loose upon the town, after a visit to see you, which is cheaply and other goods department store.
Well, we’re glad we went probably glad we went there. Because we found any number of lovely things to purchase and bring home to enjoy. I will say that I bought a belt, and you could’ve bought a belt from any price from about five dollars to $500. I tried to stay at the lower level, and at $48, I got a beautiful dressy black belt with an interesting punched pattern. We found some smaller items that were potential gifts, and purchased a few of those. And then (whoops!) we happened to see a jewelry department and so we made our way there. We did not leave that department empty-handed.
If I tell you I bought a watch you will not be surprised. Or are you? All right, you’re going to say there is the man with 300 watches, what the heck does he need another watch for? Well, of course, this is a new watch, Swiss watch, chronometer, with an automatic movement. And a black dial. It kind a look like me. I’ve been wearing it quite a bit since I got it, I’m thoroughly enjoying it. While I was looking at watches. Judy was looking at the counter just behind where I was standing, and managed to find a little something to wear around her neck. We were all ready to check out with these purchases - the leather goods, and what we found in the jewelry department - when the very nice person who was waiting on us at the customer desk informed us that if we spent just a little bit more, we would end up with a lot more in savings. I said to Judy, "Let’s go back and see what kind of purse they have for you." And she was able to find a purse that she liked very much and has been using ever since. Shades of when we were at Santa Croce the last time, when she found a beautiful purse that could be used for every day, and it was, for at least a decade and more. She still has it.
Well, we were scheduled to meet up with our group again, so we went back into the Piazza Santa Croce proper. Took some photographs. Sat an a bench and people watched for a little while. And then off we went to the Palazzo Vecchio. Which we walked through, but did not tour. Instead, ending up perched somewhat precariously at the base of the Loggia that’s filled with so many famous pieces of sculpture.
There, we were introduced to Bernado, or Bernie for short. This man knows more about Florence than the Medicis. Although he talked about them quite a bit. We had a rather longish introduction to Florence, and its wonders. All of which was quite interesting. However, we were in the midst of many other people that weren’t on our tour group, including those guys that were hocking, cheap bracelets, and hoping that you would buy them, and probably had a pickpocket as an assistant. Oh did I mention that we were having our lunch while we were sitting there? We had bought beautiful sandwiches a little store nearby. I suppose this is the place to say that you can’t go wrong with food in Italy. It’s either good, better, or best. And every bit as much in places like the rest stop that we stopped in the day before when driving to Florence. Where we had a fabulous sandwich, bought in a place that would’ve been like Howard Johnson rest stops of old on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Or similar. Unexpectedly good.
Back to Bernie. He told us all about the sculpture all around us. Told us all about the Florentine plots, the Palazzo Vecchio. He told us about how the Medici so dwindled down to a questionable few, and because they can’t absolutely prove a particular bloodline, all the Medici fortune is sitting somewhere accruing interest, and not available to any living soul. Which was a fascinating story. I bet if I look at my family tree, I just might find a Medici there?
Wishful thinking.
From there we went to the Academia area. But why would we go to the Academia? Wanted to see David. Or "The David" as he is universally called. Michelangelo's rather incredible sculpture of the biblical David turned into a Greek god. It really is impressive, even when surrounded by thrones of ordinary people who could not pose in the manner that whoever the model was for the David did. Nope. No one wants to see them in their birthday suit. Of course, you're able to see other works of great artistic interest at the Academia. Which we gave a passing glance thereunto. Well, a little more than passing, but we know what we had come to see. And then from there we made our way back to our hotel.
After a little time of catching our breath, we were off to dinner.
We walked to dinner. Over the rough and unusual pavements. Dinner was in a restaurant, and we happen to be seated in the window. Which was fun. With another couple, from San Diego. Whom we had enjoyed chatting with on the various stops along the way up until then. So it was a congenial dinner. And we were able to look out the window and see whoever was strolling by.
Let me say something right this point, about whoever was strolling by. We were tucked away on a side street, that was so small that although tourists were finding it, it was mostly locals. Looking out the window I was reminded again of the several articles that I read before coming to Italy, about what to wear when traveling there.
Let me summarize.
Every one of the articles took the position that one should dress as if one had an unlimited source of income, and spent all one’s time shopping in the high-end boutiques of Milan or Worth Avenue or Rodeo Drive. Anything less than that just wouldn’t do for people who were traveling in Italy.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
The Italians all dress, pretty much the way Americans dress when they are at home, going about their daily business. What I mean by that is blue jeans, or black jeans, or chinos of a darker shade. On the feet? Either running shoes or black versions thereof, or what we might call leather walking shoes. Nothing very high-end. No exotic Gucci loafers or similar.
As for tops. Most of them again were in what we would called neutrals. White, gray, khaki color, black. A lot of black.
Will you be surprised if I told you that a number of people walking around the streets that weren’t obviously Americans were obviously wearing baseball caps? Every article I had read, talked about baseball caps as if you were going to show up in waders and a jester's hat. So it’s a dead giveaway that you’re a tourist if you wear a baseball cap, the argument went. Well, maybe all those people with baseball caps on were from the Italian hinterland and had come to town to see the sites just as we had? Hard to say.
Now I know you’re paying attention to various Hollywood types when they are dressed down and going around the farmers market in Malibu, and so forth, that one can wear a T-shirt and relaxed pants that look very commonplace, but they actually cost multitudinous dollars to get that casual look. I’m sorry. You can get the same look, exactly, at any of the number of stores that you would mention, such as, role of the drum here, Target.
So my advice if you’re going to Italy is, wear what you normally wear. There you go. Isn’t that easy? Now I know some of you will be hugely disappointed because you don’t have to go out and buy a whole new wardrobe to go to Italy. By all means, go out and buy a whole new wardrobe, just plan to wear it for sometime after you get home again. Otherwise, don’t buy anything that you wouldn’t wear at home.
We walked back to our hotel after our dinner and the interesting thing was it was about a quarter of the distance that going there was. Our guide chose to take us to the restaurant by rather circuitous route so we could "see the neighborhood". Trust me when I say, my feet would’ve appreciated the shorter walk in both directions. I’m not complaining I’m just commenting.
In summary, our day in Florence was a complete success. Fun was had by one and all. And we returned to our quaint Hansel and Gretel room contentedly.
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