Florence and the Ahh-no River

I woke early to move the car so that we didn't get a parking ticket. I had parked it in a square that turned very busy in the morning and it took me longer to cross traffic on foot than in the car.

We got going quickly, had breakfast of muffins and coffee at the hotel in their pretty dining room, then went out to stroll. We took our time enjoying the views of the Arno as we walked along. The bridges were very pretty against the river and the old cityscape behind. Because we had arrived into town late the night before, we thought we were on the opposite side of the river from the Duomo, so we walked down a bridge or two and then crossed. We took some back streets toward the Ponte Vecchio, which was very beautiful in the gray weather. Along the way, we stopped so that Jeanette could buy an apple from a small veggie store and we found a bunch of antique stores and a glass store that we hoped to return to when we would not have to lug around a purchase.

We headed across the Ponte Vecchio and realized along the way that we actually had started off on the same side of the river as the Duomo, but we were glad to have seen the old district through which we had walked. The Ponte Vecchio itself is quite beautiful with its multi-tiered stores and apartments, pastel colors, and picture windows filled with sparkling diamonds, gold, and cameos. The large selection of fancy jewelry is only matched by the sticker prices on that same jewelry. I'd have to want gold badly to buy it there.

We stopped and took some photos next to a curious fence with a ton of locks. Apparently, it's a now-forbidden superstitious ritual linking a padlock, love, and a fence.  Love and a padlock... how romantic! The views from the bridge are beautiful, though and could be appreciated for much longer than we had time.

We made it across the Ponte Vecchio with our wallets intact and realized that we were right next to the Uffizi gallery. We browsed a bit, then got in the long line until Jeanette went forward and discovered that we could indeed purchase advance tickets for a timed entrance into the gallery the next day.

Proceeding past the line, we walked to the Plaza della Signoria where we were quite awed by the beautiful statues, including a copy of the David, a beautiful Perseus, and many more. It was amusing to watch all races and nationalities of women admire the statues bare butts. We decided to go into the Palace Museum and saw a gorgeous grand hall and many more artifacts, including the oldest known globe.

Just outside the Plaza, we found a small pizza place (___). We went in, ordered two pizzas and a liter of house red. She ordered a pizza with capers and anchovies. I ordered a pie with ham, cheese and mushrooms that promptly made it onto Jeanette's plate. Jeanette was surprised that I went for the liter, but what the heck. We were in Florence, eating pizza! We chatted with a man from Toronto who had had his share of pasta, and two men from SF and NYC.

After a delicious meal and a little tipsy, we found a square with a leather vendor where we bought two leather coats. Though the purchases may have been house-red-influenced, the coats are great and were not a poor buy.

Making our way to the Duomo, we carried our new coats through the walk into the church (where we admired the gorgeous huge dome) and then all the way up the Campanile. The views of the dome and the city from the Campanile were spectacular and we had fun taking photos and admiring the views while allowing our legs to take a break.

After the Campanile, we stopped for a gelato and somewhere along the way we also got a coffee where a bartender thought that Jeanette was crazy to want a shot of whiskey in her espresso.  He offered to put catsup in her coffee if she wanted that, too. Crazy Americans apparently.

I realized that we had time left in the day to make it to the Academia Gallery where the original David is on display. We found it easily and got in line. We waited about 45 minutes, then made it in right before the 6:00 cutoff. We had time to see David, his sculpted butt, and the many plaster prep pieces that are very interesting in themselves.

Finally, we made the tired trek back to the hotel, but not before spotting a restaurant along the way that to which we planned to return for dinner... after freshening up and donning our new coats, of course.

We made it back to the restaurant (___) and had the following:

• Fresh salad with anchovies
• Pasta with small clams and olive oil
• Ricotta ravioli with ragu (red sauce)
• Cantuccini con Vin Santo (small biscotti with a sweet wine for dipping)
• An Italian-style cheesecake with strawberries

It was quite tasty.