DATE: Sunday 16 July, 1995
PLACE: Florence
WEATHER: Hot
REMARKS: A better day than yesterday.
Breakfast in the Pensione: tea with hot frothy milk! And
the butter is very white. We then get in the car and promptly
get lost in a maze of one-way, very narrow streets trying
to find the Duomo. Eventually we stumble on it and find a
park nearby. A strikingly pretty building - frosted cake decoration
in appearance - all the more appealing because most other
buildings are browns, tans, terra-cotta, etc.
Inside is sparse, even austerely barren, although this makes
the stained glass windows more evident and attractive. We
also come across an open-air market - small, but lots of leather,
and discounts everywhere.
They get no joy from us, but Jayne and Charlotte acquire
a small wooden (what else?) Pinnochio each.
We reclaim the car and again travel the longest way possible
to Santa Crocce -the heart of 'leather land'.
The church has the same wedding-cake exterior; the interior
we didn't see. We investigate a number of shops and select one to return
to on Monday - armed with new Amex card!
Desiree (and indeed all of us) are running out of steam:
the car, to the railway station; a new map, and directions
to a 'hill with a view'.
Fiesole is wonderful: straggling up a hillside, spacious
villas, a Roman theatre still in use today. We stroll, find
a quiet tree-shaded piazza, and pause. Breath-taking views:
the hill-country in one direction; Firenza in the other. Tiredness
is mounting so we return to the city, refreshed however by
the 'rural' town atmosphere (and the chance to sit and be
driven instead of walking).
A late siesta then we go hunting food. A Chinese menu in
Italian is not as difficult as it could be (English sub-titles
are a great help).
That's it for today.
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