It was raining today. Unfortunately we would have to spend our only day in Florence exploring in the rain. The hotel had a car service that drove us to Piazza del Corrente. We did a little shopping and these amazing ladies in the store, totally hooked us up with a backpack cover to protect it from the rain. Of course, it looked like a green turtle on Chris’ back, but it worked. Bologna's portico-covered streets would have been a welcomed refuge from the rain today.
We walked around Florence following Rick Steve’s walking tour here (can you tell we enjoyed them) and found ourselves at the Cathedral, checking out famous sculptors, Michelangelo’s David (the replica), and avoiding the huge line outside the Uffizi (a museum).
Our tour for the afternoon ended at the Medici built bridge Ponte Vecchio.
Chris and I found some cool scarves. Not only were they fashionable, they helped to keep us warm. I had my puffy jacket on, but Chris was only wearing a heavy sweater under his rain jacket and was beginning to feel chilled with all the rain.
There was so much that I would have wished to photograph throughout the day, but the rain put a big damper on our day in Florence. We decided to end our day with lunch at Trattotia Marione after finding that Pensavo Peggio was closed for the afternoon. The food was so so. Chris liked his, but I was not a fan of the bread soaked soup.
The rain stopped while we were eating. Good. We returned to the hotel, packed up all of our stuff, and returned to the train station with our suitcases in tow for our return to Bologna where we would then fly to Madrid Spain.
As we carried our bags up the stairs in to the station, I noticed this older lady trying to lug her huge suitcase up the stairs. I didn’t hesitate when I came up beside her, grabbed the handle with my left hand as I had my suitcase in my right and looked at her saying, “Let’s go.” She looked at me probably a little afraid until she realized that I was just trying to help her.
