It's day three of making the best coffee that I have had at "home". It was Kelly's turn to try to make it. With my coaching to boil it ever so slowly after I tightened all the pieces as best I could, it still blew up on her. That is when we realized that the release valve was clogged and we banned the use of the percolator going forward. At this point, Davin declared that he is going to buy a French press in Firenze today.
Sticking to tradition, the ladies hit la pasticeria while Davin and I hit il tabaccaio for more bus tickets.
Bus Ticket Purchasing - Take Two:
Upon this venture into the shop, I was armed with some local knowledge that I was about to bestow on the "clerk".
First, the person behind the counter is not a high school part-time worker. They are either the owner or the future owner of the shop, so they need to be greeted accordingly. It is customary to make eye contact and and greet the store owner when entering their shop.
A quick greeting and then a request for two tickets to Firenze receives a welcome response. I continue in Italian with a request for four first class stamps to Stati Uniti and this keeps the conversation going. In addition to letters, we thought that stamps were a clever scrap-booking idea.
A fairly short bus ride later, we arrived in Firenze and for some reason, the grease spoke to all of us. Most likely because we drank our dinner in wine last night.
It didn't take me long to realize that "combo" or "combo meal" doesn't translate in Italian, so ordering was a bit of a struggle.
With these two couples together and the need for a French press, a day of shopping was in order. I have to say, it was nice to see a designated men's store for each of the big name designers rather than a small corner for the boys and did I mention that it was Fashion Week in Italy?!?!
Shopping ranged...
From souvenirs:
To high end:
To fun:
Wait! We need a break. Let's get a drink, "Fa caldo Fuori." It's hot outside.
After successfully procuring a French press, we headed to a patio on top of the dept. store for a lunch of antipasto (appetizer) and a few drinks.
The patio offered some nice views of Firenze as we relaxed.
This was not an escape from the heat, though, so we moved on. I don't know if this is Davin's grumpy hungry face or his grumpy hot face... maybe both. Of course, Kelly loves the heat and the sun, so she wasn't complaining and I stayed entertained by feeding the sparrows.
Where to next, ladies? Our designated map readers were quite proficient. I was the translator. They were the guides.
To gelato: (Even Rick Steves recommends a budget just for gelato!)
...and the gelato stops would be frequent.
The Duomo. The building that kicked off the Renaissance.
An intrigued man sat across from us and I could tell that he wanted to talk to us. We found many foreigners that wanted to talk to us to practice their English and it offered me a good chance to practice with a patient person as well. By the end of this trip, I will end up attempting Italian, Spanish (Mexico), Portuguese, Spanish (Spain), and I pulled in Davin when a lady started speaking French to me.
He finally asked, "Are you American?" We replied and had a nice conversation with him. He ended up being Sandro Nesi, the owner of the world famous Calzaiuoli Leather Factory. This is a frequent stop for celebrities and he showed us his quest book of photos as he had us try on coats. "It's fun to just try them on.", he kept saying. Nice guy. I did find one that I pondered purchasing. The most expensive one that we tried on was 38,000 Euro, if I remember right. It was absolutely gorgeous and Christal found a nice one to her liking. This is when Davin learned about the VAT tax that he will still argue with people about to this day. I wouldn't be surprised if he is counting the days until he meets the guy in the FCO airport to "discuss" this again.
Gratuitous public servant, what not to wear (in this case gypies), and vehicle pics:
A little more siteseeing and then back into town.
A quick shower and off to dinner at a place called "Eating Eating". This time we sat inside and I bought a few bottles of the house wine to go and Kelly bought the shirt that our servers wore.
Davin and I shared a plate of cozza (muscles) and this would soon become a theme of the trip. Many of the meals were "for two" and that is how they were served.
Go to 6//16/11
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