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Day 7, Florence Italy

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Day 7, Florence Italy

21 July
Has it already been seven days?? Today started out as usual, with a wonderful breakfast at the hotel. This place puts out a great spread – lots of fresh fruit, bread, cheese, pastries, cereal, yogurt, boiled eggs, toast, and of course cappuccino. I had watermelon, honey dew, cantaloupe, kiwi, grapes, a roll with some great spreadable cheese and cappuccino. There was a new tort with mixed berries and I had to try a slice – divine! Tony slept in and missed breakfast.

Our last day in Florence, we decided to stroll to a piazza to check out the local market, only to find it was closed on Sunday. We headed uphill to Palazzo Michelangelo, for great views of the city and photos. I’m glad we started while it was still cool! San Miniato was just above the Palazzo, so we went there. They were having services in Gregorian chants, I stuck my head in to see, but didn’t go inside. We bought some good cookies in the gift shop (Madelines) and headed back down the hill for lunch.

We stopped at a place we’ve eaten at before – we were looking for good pizza or oglio olio. This was a pizza place, and we got the St Nicholas – German sausage, mozzarella and a really good sauce. It was pretty good! After lunch, we headed back to the hotel to reorganize our luggage and pack for Rome. It took awhile to figure out what needed to be packed, what we’d take to Rome, what we’d leave here in Florence, and what we needed to get to for the plane ride home.

For the most part, things are organized – we’ll finish up in the morning before heading out. I’ve already cleared our check with the hotel, he told me to just leave our bags in the room and they’ll move them to the storage room for us (awesome!) All we have to do tomorrow is get up, drink cappuccino and head to the train station for our 90-minute ride to Rome.

Now that we’re packed, photos are downloaded and backed up; we headed out for one more meal. On the way, we find a little neighborhood grocery (what I wanted to do during the week!) with fresh bread and a deli with lots of meats and cheeses – prefect to pack an economic picnic lunch. Oh well, maybe in Roma! We did buy several bags of pasta, stuff we can’t buy at home. We went to a restaurant, e Gruli. I wanted spaghetti oglio olio on my last night there, but it wasn’t on the menu. I asked for it anyhow, and the Chef fixed it up for me! Tony had Spaghetti with spicy sauce. Both were heaping helpings and very good! Our bill – 14 Euros (about $18.00) Beat THAT Olive Garden!
We found a geleteria right up the street, I had melone (cantaloupe) again, and Tony had Mango/Peach. Both were awesome as usual, and these had little chunks of fruit in them. It’s obvious that they were made in the store from lots of fresh fruit. We’ll probably continue our nightly Geleto in Roma! Gotta get it while you can! I stopped in a little leather store next door to our hotel, and bought a cute sheepskin purse made right here in Florence and a change purse for 20 Euros!

Now we’re back in our room, zippers are fastened in the suitcases, and I opened my little bottle of wine I bought from the store across the street. Wine here is so good, it’s local and inexpensive. Tomorrow is a big day for us, and we have to move to a new hotel. I know there’s no WAY it will live up to the standard set by Hotel Casci. If you’re ever in Florence, look this place up and get a reservation here – you won’t regret it!