Way Down Upon the Arno River

We took one last short stroll in Rome in the morning, over to the Castello St. Angelo, along the Tiber, where we saw some "crew" rowers working way too hard, stopped at Caffe Nero for a cappucino...then made our way to the bus stop, and headed for Termini Station. I have never seen such a line of taxis in my life, endlessly circling, picking up passengers at the curb, jockeying for position. Crazy. Got to our train in plenty of time, and had a smooth ride at 250 kilometers per hour to Florence.

After a short hike from the Santa Maria Novella train station to Borgo Ognossenti, we were met by Serafino, our host, who took us through the maze to our apartment, which turned out to be even more wonderful than it looked on Airbnb. Our arrival coincided with the massive sinkhole near the Ponte Vecchio, and he sadly informed us that there was no water in this entire half of the city, but that they hoped it would be restored by evening. 

We went for a walk to the Altrarno (other side of the river), and found a little market that sold us a few things for the fridge, but not quite everything on my list. Had lunch at a "self serve" pizzeria, which simply meant that there was no table service, you simply order from a display case at the counter, they heat up your pizza or focaccio sandwich, and you grab and available table. The focaccio sandwiches were a bit dry for American tastes (no may, mustard, lettuce, tomato...), and I discovered why Italians don't like their own beer.

Had a fun time bargaining with a lovely Irish woman named Tyna at a leather goods store and picked up a couple of nice gifts, then walked the length of the Ponte Vecchio gold shops - some incredible work on display there. Ended up in front of the Pitti Palace, then selected an alternate route back to the room from there. The water had come back on by then, so we spent a couple of hours on our "washing day" activities, ending with clothing hanging from all available hooks. Laundry was, of course, accompanied by a fine white wine, some pecorino cheese, and greek olives.

Another quest for a small grocery store to round out our fridge - we prefer to eat a small breakfast in our rooms before we start our daily adventures, and occasionally either another meal, or some home-made antipasti from the phenomenal meats and cheeses here. Wandered down the street to find a place to eat, and had a disappointing meal at a local pizzeria - M's calzone was ok, but my veal cutlet was a joke - in fact I joked it needed some country gravy to salvage the meal. Ah well, it fills the tummy. Back to our retreat on the river for our repose.