Florence is the city of shopping! Be it the top end of town stuff such a Louis Vuitton, or a day at the markets, you would have to be pretty hard pressed not to find what you want in this city.
As I mentioned in a previous post, Barb came to breakfast the other morning with a hair brained scheme - what was it you ask? Well, rather than spend the day at leisure, shopping in Florence, she suggested we stow our bags and head to Paris! I just look at her in disbelief! Paris? Sure, why not she says? I am very tempted I must say, but my body is yearning for a day at leisure. I tell her that if she wants to add another day to the trip I would say yes, but tomorrow?? No I don't think so.
There is so much we haven't seen here. So we have our breakfast, and we head towards the piazza that we have been told holds the leather markets.
En route we pass many other market places. The city seems to be full of markets. We hold ourselves back, and only look at the first market place. We have a destination in mind ( we have been told that there is a market place that is less frequented by tourists - but we never end up getting there!). You name it, we see it. Leather handbags by the ton. Leather coats in every imaginable design and colour! We shop, and shop, and shop!! Eventually we have to buy a new bag each to put all our spoils in.
I end up buying a suede coat for 30 euros, and 2 handbags, one for 45 euro (which I think is a steal, as the starting price was 80 euros - which I think is still a good price!) the other was 15 euro. Scarves are big here, and you see them in every colour of the rainbow. I limit myself to 3! My mission when I left home was to find an Italian rugby shirt, and what should I stumble across? Football is big here, but rugby - not so! Phew, that is now ticked off my list!
We actually start running out of time, as we have a train to catch back to Rome, so we put a halt on the shopping, and go back to collect our bags. The weather has taken a turn for the warm, and the crowds seem to have come out in droves, so we decide to catch a taxi back to the train station. It is unbelievable, how the taxi drivers can navigate these narrow little alleyways. We have a lady driver today, and it doesn't faze her in the least! The turns are so small that often a three point turn is necessary to make the actual turn. Not only are the turns difficult, but the alleyways are narrow, and are shared by bikes, parked cars, and pedestrians. You want to breathe in just to be able to get through! Florence is the most incredibly quaint, charming, beautiful city. It is the kind of place that you would want to return to year after year. At least I would like to, I hope those coins in the Trevi work!
On the train, boy oh boy it is hot! An hour and a half later, we are back in Rome! We were not really sure where we would spend this night, we had several options, but when the time came to make a choice, the availability in Rome was limited. I take what I can get, but have a niggling feeling that we are going to maybe not have the best digs in town! As we trundle our bags through town, and pass through the square that was featured in the movie Grisswolds European Vacation I get a bad sinking feeling in my stomach, we turn the corner from the square, and here is our hotel! Oh my! They tell us that they didn't know we're two single people, and the room has only a double bed. I ask if they have another room available, no madam, we are full. They try to tell me that only a double room was booked, luckily I have on my iPhone the booking information! We look at the room, it is passable, but I say to him that I am not happy and sit down to surf the net to look for more accommodation! Miraculously, another room is found! Barb opts to take this "new" room, as my bags are heavy, and the stairs are steep!
My Bathroom
Bathroom. getting closer to the window
The view from the Loo!
We agree to meet in abut 30 minutes, to head out for dinner. The plan is to spend as little time as possible in the room - a late night dining tonight! When she come to meet me, she is not happy. She decided to take a shower, and as she was on her own, she did not close the bathroom door. As she showered the water sprayed, over the top of the shower door, directly onto her bed (did I mention, she had a teeny, tiny room?). Not only did the bed get wet, but the clothes she had laid out on the bed! She complains at reception, only to be told madam, you must close the shower door! Doh! She tries to tell him over and over again using gestures that it went over the shower door, not through it! Off to dinner, we go, to a little trattoria, where over our evening meal we are serenaded by a gentleman with a piano accordion. We see piano accordions all over town, they must have been shipped from all the other parts of the world, cos there are heaps here! Of course our serenade is not free!
It's still early, (10 o clock) and we don't want to go back to our room. We head to a bar. Now a bar in Italy is not only a watering hole. At a typical bar you can get anything from panini (sandwiches), to gelato, coffee, and alcohol. We opt for a couple of drinks, and then gelato.
We spend our time on the iPads, updating trip advisor with our comments from tours we have taken. It approaches midnight, and we grudgingly go "home". This will be a long night I fear. Even with earplugs in, my room was noisy. I do manage to doze on and off, and so the next thing I know it's time to get moving (it's my birthday today!). A knock at the door, and I am greeted with a song, and balloons!.............. Stay tuned for the next installment!
As I mentioned in a previous post, Barb came to breakfast the other morning with a hair brained scheme - what was it you ask? Well, rather than spend the day at leisure, shopping in Florence, she suggested we stow our bags and head to Paris! I just look at her in disbelief! Paris? Sure, why not she says? I am very tempted I must say, but my body is yearning for a day at leisure. I tell her that if she wants to add another day to the trip I would say yes, but tomorrow?? No I don't think so.
There is so much we haven't seen here. So we have our breakfast, and we head towards the piazza that we have been told holds the leather markets.
En route we pass many other market places. The city seems to be full of markets. We hold ourselves back, and only look at the first market place. We have a destination in mind ( we have been told that there is a market place that is less frequented by tourists - but we never end up getting there!). You name it, we see it. Leather handbags by the ton. Leather coats in every imaginable design and colour! We shop, and shop, and shop!! Eventually we have to buy a new bag each to put all our spoils in.
I end up buying a suede coat for 30 euros, and 2 handbags, one for 45 euro (which I think is a steal, as the starting price was 80 euros - which I think is still a good price!) the other was 15 euro. Scarves are big here, and you see them in every colour of the rainbow. I limit myself to 3! My mission when I left home was to find an Italian rugby shirt, and what should I stumble across? Football is big here, but rugby - not so! Phew, that is now ticked off my list!
We actually start running out of time, as we have a train to catch back to Rome, so we put a halt on the shopping, and go back to collect our bags. The weather has taken a turn for the warm, and the crowds seem to have come out in droves, so we decide to catch a taxi back to the train station. It is unbelievable, how the taxi drivers can navigate these narrow little alleyways. We have a lady driver today, and it doesn't faze her in the least! The turns are so small that often a three point turn is necessary to make the actual turn. Not only are the turns difficult, but the alleyways are narrow, and are shared by bikes, parked cars, and pedestrians. You want to breathe in just to be able to get through! Florence is the most incredibly quaint, charming, beautiful city. It is the kind of place that you would want to return to year after year. At least I would like to, I hope those coins in the Trevi work!
On the train, boy oh boy it is hot! An hour and a half later, we are back in Rome! We were not really sure where we would spend this night, we had several options, but when the time came to make a choice, the availability in Rome was limited. I take what I can get, but have a niggling feeling that we are going to maybe not have the best digs in town! As we trundle our bags through town, and pass through the square that was featured in the movie Grisswolds European Vacation I get a bad sinking feeling in my stomach, we turn the corner from the square, and here is our hotel! Oh my! They tell us that they didn't know we're two single people, and the room has only a double bed. I ask if they have another room available, no madam, we are full. They try to tell me that only a double room was booked, luckily I have on my iPhone the booking information! We look at the room, it is passable, but I say to him that I am not happy and sit down to surf the net to look for more accommodation! Miraculously, another room is found! Barb opts to take this "new" room, as my bags are heavy, and the stairs are steep!
We agree to meet in abut 30 minutes, to head out for dinner. The plan is to spend as little time as possible in the room - a late night dining tonight! When she come to meet me, she is not happy. She decided to take a shower, and as she was on her own, she did not close the bathroom door. As she showered the water sprayed, over the top of the shower door, directly onto her bed (did I mention, she had a teeny, tiny room?). Not only did the bed get wet, but the clothes she had laid out on the bed! She complains at reception, only to be told madam, you must close the shower door! Doh! She tries to tell him over and over again using gestures that it went over the shower door, not through it! Off to dinner, we go, to a little trattoria, where over our evening meal we are serenaded by a gentleman with a piano accordion. We see piano accordions all over town, they must have been shipped from all the other parts of the world, cos there are heaps here! Of course our serenade is not free!
It's still early, (10 o clock) and we don't want to go back to our room. We head to a bar. Now a bar in Italy is not only a watering hole. At a typical bar you can get anything from panini (sandwiches), to gelato, coffee, and alcohol. We opt for a couple of drinks, and then gelato.
We spend our time on the iPads, updating trip advisor with our comments from tours we have taken. It approaches midnight, and we grudgingly go "home". This will be a long night I fear. Even with earplugs in, my room was noisy. I do manage to doze on and off, and so the next thing I know it's time to get moving (it's my birthday today!). A knock at the door, and I am greeted with a song, and balloons!.............. Stay tuned for the next installment!
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