Florence

Today we had to leave the farm…..so sad!!! 

But we enjoyed an leisurely breakfast with everyone before we had to say goodbye. I have to say, that one thing I really miss is eggs!! They do not serve eggs for breakfast anywhere. It is mostly meat, cheese, granola. We found out that we can get an egg for breakfast where we are currently staying, but it costs 3 euros more! I also would like a big burger!! Isn’t that awful? With all the wonderful food I have had, I want a burger!

Anyway, we finally got away after Paulo worked and worked to get all our luggage in. To say that we 6 women bought a few items would be an understatement. It was like a puzzle trying to get them all in!!  

He dropped us off at the bus station in Florence and mom and I said good by to the others (they were heading to Rome on the train) and we took a taxi to our hotel. It is beautiful and right in the center of all we want to see… perfect! After we got settled in, we started walking around exploring. I wanted to head back toward the train station where I had seen a very cheap piece of luggage…..yes, I need more room! Steve, don’t read this! We had a wonderful lunch at a restaurant we had eaten at before and then found the luggage place. I bartered the guy down to 12 euro for a medium sized piece of luggage….yea!!! We walked back to the hotel to drop it off and use the ladies room. You have got to “pay” to use the restrooms here….almost a dollar!!!

We then headed out to get some gelato! I will miss the gelato. 

Oh my goodness it is so good. We decided to walk toward the Piazza San Croce. This church is huge but is also known for it monks and the leather products they produce. The church, of course, is magnificent. 

This is one of the larger ones we have been in and many of the frescos have been damaged by weather. They were doing a lot of renovation, scaffolding everywhere. The monks still produce the leather products, but they are really commercialized now. My mom was here in 1954 and bought some leather boxes at this church. They are not the same now. But it was still beautiful!! They were having a festival in the square for All Saints Day. That was fun. Lots of musicians, puppetiers, food vendors, wine vendors, lots of stuff! 

After walking back to our hotel, we went up to the terrace at the very top and enjoyed the most amazing sunset I have ever seen!!!

 In Florence!!!! Wow! You can see all across the city from up there! We are now resting until we leave to meet Grazia for dinner. She was our tour guide from the day we spent here last Wed. She and I really enjoyed each other. She was so sweet and we emailed her to see if she could have dinner with us and she said yes! I am very excited to spend the evening with her!