Torino, travel day, to Firenze
Good morning, a beautiful morning it is. No rain in sight. Woke Mary up at 8:30 and went for a cappuccino and brioche at The Palace. Came back and finished packing and cleaning the place up. Finishing packing means putting the new moka pot and frother in my suitcase. It took some moving of things around to get everything in the suitcases. I probably could have left the coffee here and just bought more but I am getting cheap in my old age.
The landlady came by at 10:00. We exchanged pleasantries, handed over the keys and headed to the front door. Once out on the street I used the WeTaxi app and ordered by a taxi to the Porta Nova train station. We could have walked it, but with the suitcases why. We could also have taken the tram, which would have been inline with being more financially conservative, but again, the suitcases. It is a € 12.5 for the taxi, the tram would have been € 3. Just easier.
Got to the station. Remembered something about the train number and seat assignments changing. Couldn’t find the email that had the change. The board showed the original train number. The time was correct at both the start and ending in Firenze. So, we’ll just get on the train and sit the the seats that are on our tickets.
No problem finding the car or the assigned seats. Put everything in the luggage rack and pulled out the Canasta cards. Started a game. Actually finished the game by the time the conductor came by. He told us we were in the wrong seats. He showed my that we should be in 3A & 4A not 13D and 14D. So, we moved.
The seats aren’t the same. 13D & 14D are on the side of the train where there is just one seat. There is a table between us for playing cards. 3A & 4A still have a table but are no the other side of the train where the seats are two deep. Meaning we were sharing the table with two guys working on their laptops. Boring.
It doesn’t matter. It is a three-hour train ride to Firenze. The first hour we played cards. I played on my phone and Mary played on her iPad. I do admit that the wi-if is much better on the train than on previous trips.
We arrived a few minutes late in Firenze. It is a ten minute walk to the apartment and we got there at 14:30. Check-in is 15:00. I sent a WhatsApp message to our landlady, and she said it was ok and she would be there shortly to let us in. Five minutes later we were in the apartment.
She spent a half hour telling us about Firenze and showing us where things were On the map. Although I think we knew amore about the immediate area than she did. She even admitted that was possibility true. She finally left and we tested the bathrooms to make sure they worked. Just in time I might add.
Afterwards we walked to the central market for lunch. We were a little concerned because tomorrow is a holiday and it is after 15:00 and a lot of places close between lunch and dinner. Fortunately, the central market food court doesn’t follow that tradition. It was difficult to decide what or where to eat exactly. Mary was getting hungry, so it was time to eat.
I decided a good bistecca would be nice. There was a guy handing out samples of his steak. The sample was good. So, I ordered a T-Bone steak, cook medium-rare, potatoes and a salad. I then went to the bar and got two glasses of red wine and two bottles of water.
Before and after, revered :>)
This is Firenze. The home of good beef and great leather goods. Yes, the bistecca was cooked perfectly. Sliced and delivered to our table. The salad wasn’t much but it was ok. The roasted potatoes were also very good. The red wine was good!
After lunch we walked back to the apartment and played some cards. About 19:00 we went out for a walk. We walked down to Palazzo Vecchio, past the Piazza della Repubblica, where the merry-go-around is. The merry-go-round brings fond memories for Mary and her sister. Apparently it is only a humorous story after the fact. No I don’t know all the details.
On the way back we walked through Piazza dei Cimatori where we were able to pick up some freshly roasted chestnuts. From there we walked past the Duomo. The Duomo is so beautiful now that they have cleaned it all up. It looks very fairy tale like light up at night. In Piazza di San Giovanni I was able to pick up a couple of cigars.
We then walk back towards the apartment. Mary stopped at Flying Tiger to get something, I stayed outside smoking my cigar. We walked on to Piazza di San Lorenzo where we sat on the step of the church and watch people while I finished my cigar.
Forty years ago, +/-, when first came to Italy no one knew what Halloween was. Tonight you could see a lot of children an even young adults dressed up for Halloween. Now because of the configuration of the houses it is difficult to visit people’s homes. It would be like trying to get into a secure apartment building in the US. So, like we did in San Carlos the businesses were passing out treats. Even the man selling roasted chestnuts was giving out a chestnut to each trick or treater.
After that we went back home. We called Mike and Maddie about our plans for going to the Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon in June. Settled a lot of it up. Stuart wrote me about possibile changing the dates for our African Safari so we could still follow it with Morocco. I wrote Jody and asked it would be possible to change the dates. I still have to find out if we can change our air reservations. Probably just need to find out. It will all work out I am sure.
After that we noticed that the bells from San Lorenzo Church are just outside our living/bedroom window. They are loud. Fortunately they bother everybody so they “go off” for the night. Unfortunately, when all the vendor carts are removed from the street it is very noisy. We listened to police or ambulance sirens for a while. By, 22:00 it had started to quite down some. At about 4:30 a Halloween party apparently broke up and people were heading home. They weren’t very quite. Then all was good again until 7:00 when the vendors returned to start setting up for the day.
Compared to the apartment in Torino this place is in Times Square. It has lots of room and the bed is comfortable. I was able to do a load of laundry before going to bed. I know silly me, but I don’t think there is laundry service available in Loro Ciuffenna. That means a whole week, working in the orchard without being able to do laundry. We’ll manage.
Ok, Buonanotte e ciao, Enrico & Maria
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