It is 1:30 in the afternoon in Florence, Italy. We just got checked into our hotel room. It has two bedrooms which is a nice change. The shower is tiny though!
Last night we walked up the street from our hotel for dinner. The menu was not in English so I took a chance with what I ordered. I got two big scoops of cheese and some sort of cold meat. No veggies! I was so tired I didn’t care. I ate one scoop of the cheese and two slices of the meat. Nicole had a Calzone which smelled wonderful. I sure was tempted to taste the bread it was made from but I didn’t!
On the walk back to the hotel there was a little fruit market so I stopped and bought a basket of strawberries and ate some of those. Sometimes you have to roll with what you have available. Just grateful I have been able to resist the bread and pasta as it looks fabulous.
This morning I skipped breakfast at the hotel and ate some more berries. Our prearranged transportation picked us up a little before 9:00 this morning and took us to the train station. They don’t post your boarding gate until 15 minutes before the train leaves so we had 45 minutes to wait. We stopped at a McDonald’s and had breakfast. I had scrambled eggs and bacon. It was OK but not great. I was just grateful to find eggs to eat. Finding the correct train and car was much easier than it was in Paris when I rode the train from Paris to St. Jean Pied de Port.
The train ride was pleasant. We are in the Tuscany Valley so we saw lots of grape vines in the hillside on the way here. It was nice to be out of the city and see the countryside. They must have gotten lots of rain lately as the rivers are full and everything is very green. Saw lots of old castles and buildings on the hillside. Beautiful county – reminded me of part of the Camino walk. Glad I was riding the train and not walking this time!
Our hotel was a three-minute walk from the train station. Nicole found it easily for us. We dropped our luggage off and we went back up the street for lunch. Found a great little restaurant the hotel guy recommended and gave us a 15% coupon off for. I had grilled vegetables (mushrooms and zucchini) and a warmed hunk of cheese. Yummy! I have been eating more cheese than normal as that seems to be readily available. Nicole had ordered a salad with her spaghetti and couldn’t eat all of it so I ate some of it too. I don’t think what I ordered had 10 oz of veggies.
At least today I didn’t have a bathroom emergency like the last two days. Maybe the salami I had eaten those other two days didn’t agree with me.
We are resting for a bit in our room and will probably go out in an hour or so and see what we can find. We have the rest of the afternoon and two full days to explore Florence. So far I like it better than Rome -the energy is very different and the people seem more relaxed and friendly to me. We aren’t too close to the main part of town but it is within walking distance I think. I see lots of buses so maybe we will figure out how they work and catch one of those. Might be another 20,000 step day tomorrow! I will come home in good shape.
It has been raining off and on today and is rather chilly out. I only brought sandals and no socks and my feet are cold. It is nice being in a room with a heavy wool blanket on me.
I have decided I like trips with a purpose better than trips like this where I am only sightseeing and having to decide where to go. The trip to Japan and Peru were much better as we had a designated reason for going. This trip has been fun but very different from the other two.
Looking forward to seeing more of this city. I didn’t sleep very much last night so might take a nap and then go out and see what we can find to do.
Almost halfway through this trip. It is going by quickly. Not sure if the strike in Paris will delay us after Venice but we will worry about that if it happens. We take a train to Venice on Friday but then are to fly to Paris on Sunday. Wish us luck!
Grateful for another safe travel day, grateful for a nice hotel room, and grateful for this experience!