Florence part 1
Met up with a wonderful young man there whom I've been in contact with for the whole last year. He has been very helpful, providing lots and lots of information as I was making my plans to move to Italy.
Anyway, got to meet him today and it was great. Took a tour of Florence and saw lots, however, there is much to see there, so will be going back on Saturday to join him and another couple from the US for more! I met the other US folks today, at the train station in Florence, just before I boarded for my return to Livorno. Had a few minutes, so we all decided to grab a Gelato together.
Today, while we were touring and on a bus, we both were getting hungry, and since I needed to catch an early train back to Livorno, we had to decide, eat or continue on the bus. We got to do both! Mariano started talking to the bus driver and when we got to the top of the hill in Fiesole, the bus stopped for 25 minutes and the driver said to us, follow me,
and their gardens were fabulous
I caught the early train back from Florence to Livorno, so I could make it back in time to catch the 6:10 bus to take me the 11 miles back up the hill to where I am staying. I arrived at 5:35, raced up under the tracks to the Stazione, bought a bottle of water, went and bought my bus ticket (purchase time on it says 17:43). Wonderful, I made it! Wrong! As I'm standing there past 6:10, I start inquiring and find out the bus had come early!! Oh well, not a big deal, another scheduled at 19:47 (7:47), I'll just grab a bite to eat for supper at the Stazione since I now have almost 2 hour wait, and catch that one. And I did, however, it was half hour late, didn't arrive until 8:20pm.! Now this is the last bus of the day to bring me back to B & B where I'm staying, and as I get on the bus, I wanted to make sure it was in fact the right bus. Well, it was... sort of! The 6:10 would take me all the way to where I was staying, however, the 7:47 only goes to the area below. So in my broken Italian and his no English, I managed to get him to understand to please stop the bus at the Junction and I would get off there, which he did (was very nice of him, since not suppose to do that). From that junction, I now have a 4 mile hike up the hill. Not exactly what I wanted to do in the late evening, but weather was warm, scenery was beautiful, can always use the excercise and at least it wasn't 11 miles, only 4 :) . Anyway, I hadn't walked very far, half mile maybe and the owner of B & B was heading into town and came around the curve and saw me and gave me a lift to the B & B then he headed back into town. Michela had to work in Milan today and isn't back yet, so I have the place to myself... Party Time!! NOT! Been a long day :)
With that said, I'm off to bed and will post more about Florence in a few days. Also will have more pics of it come Saturday.
Buonanotte!
What a day! LOVE the gelato display! Oh, I wish I got to see Florence too. I'm so glad you get to move that direction soon and Mariano knows his stuff and food!
ReplyDeleteI finally figured out that my other comments didn't post on your past days! Sorry.
ReplyDeleteYes, and that display was the best one yet! I wish you could have seen Florence too... I thought of you all day. It is a beautiful clean city too. Also, you would have been proud of my hair, by the end of the day it was certainly very untidy... more like 'what a mess!'
ReplyDeleteGQ and I visited Florence a few years ago. It is absolutely beautiful. Thank you for reminding me of our fabulous trip there through your blog Carmen.
ReplyDeleteWhat beautiful Pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So glad you can enjoy this experience!!!!!
ReplyDeleteLove, Caroline