2004
Wednesday, July 14 - Firenze

After 30 hours of traveling, Erica and I slept over 14 hours (7pm last night until 9:30am today). I did wake up for the first time at 5:30am. At that point, I was thirsty, hungry, had a headache, had to pee and had a nose bleed. I got up long enough to take care of the nose bleed and pee, but the rest waited until more rest.

We got up and had breakfast served out in the atrium of the Il Pallagio B&B. Breakfast consisted of rolls, croissants, jams, butter, chocolate spread (Nutella), orange juice, coffee and hot chocolate [warm milk with oompo (little) chocolate].

We then got ready and left for an official walking tour which we never found. We got to the duomo and tried to take pictures. We found out I had left the memory card back at the room. We went back to the room, got the memory card and put some suntan lotion on (good move). We then headed back out the door for the walking tour. It was noon before we had walked to the starting location. We never quite found the actual location and plan to get better details tonight.

We then decided to head to the Ponte Vecchio. This is a bridge loaded with shops (the last bridge still standing after WWII). We browsed through the stores as we headed to the other side. We found some good Gelato (ice cream) on the way over and stopped for some (flavors were lemon for Erica and chocolate for me). We made the mistake of sitting down and were quickly told seating was an extra charge. We decided to keep moving.

Once across the bridge, we checked the map and headed to the Piazzi Dei Pitti and bought tickets for the Boboli Gardens (Giardino di Boboli). This is quite a big garden area and is known as the only place in Firenze (Florence) to get fresh air. We spent a lot of time here taking pictures, soaking up the sun and walking around to see what should be seen.

In the Piazza Dei Pitti, we found a sit-down cafeteria and shared a litre of water (very good after all that walking). We sat down next to a couple that was complaining about the prices (they were told the prices on their bill were for a newer menu (they got an old menu which matched ours). We did not have any problems with our bill.

Funny - The waitress asked us if we wanted gas with our water. ??? Erica thought she was asking if we wanted a glass for our water. The waitress laughed... she wanted to know if we wanted carbonated or flat water (acqua). Neither of us are big fans of gas in our water (or anywhere else for that matter - tee hee), so we opted for the non-gas water.

On the way out, we found some good post cards. We still need to figure out the postal system.

Before crossing the bridge, we discovered a pizza place. We had a Margherita pizza and drink for 7.5 euros each. I asked for half pepperoni on my pizza, which translated to half peppers (tee hee). It was perfecto! The couple we had seen at the earlier cafe strolled up and sat next to us. I asked where we were all headed next.

We crossed the bridge and started back to the Il Pallagio. We visited a couple of street markets. Erica wanted to head back, read and take a nap (sounds good to me).
Once back, I loaded the 120 new photos on the computer and watched them with Erica. As I was typing this, I got another nose bleed. I am not used to ever getting nose bleeds and am guessing it has to do with the climate change.

Once I finished typing this, I decided to locate an Internet connection nearby to post these entries (as my sister sleeps). I finally found a location at 8:45pm and am submitting this now.

Not sure what we may do this evening, but we will likely find a quick dinner and get some rest...

We ended up eating dinner at a quaint place called Gusto at 10:30pm. It was right next to a fancier place that ended up closing its doors when they thought we may enter. Gusto ended up being perfecto! Erica had penne w/ black olives & mushrooms in a tomato sauce and a birra (beer). I had a Calzone and coca (Coke). All for 17.5 euros! The best part, however, was the conversation with the two couples next to us. One couple was from Ireland and the other was from Norway. The couple from Ireland asked about the Calzone when it came out. It was huge and very good and they had never seen such a thing. That sparked a conversation that went well past midnight. They had just gotten married and had traveled on the same day as us from Roma. They, along with 3 others out of 10, were robbed in Roma on a train. Catherine had her camera taken from a bag under her blouse. The camera was taken out of a zipped bag without her ever knowing. I always say if you are going to do something, do it well...

The couple from Norway was a younger couple (in their 20s). They hated Napoli (Naples) and had already been to Venice and Roma. They loved Venice. They were traveling for 4 weeks (Ireland couple for 3 weeks). We talked about politics and I asked about why my ex-girlfriends kept telling me to go find a woman in Norway {grin}.

Off that subject... Did you know they call Diet Coke Coca-Cola Light here?