Florence: Shopping Day

Sleeping in today.  I arose out of bed, quickly changed and dashed to gather two plates of breakfast for us.  Breakfast in bed and more napping.

Out of the hotel by noon.

First stop:  Kiko, a cosmetics store with make-up and nail polishes at very reasonable prices.  Kiko products are sold only in Europe.  Marie checked.

Next:  Pharmacy for bandages to prevent blisters from all the walking past and future.

Time for lunch:  We made our way back to the piazza of the Duomo that had a certain restaurant, Scudieri, with an outdoor enclosed area featuring cold water misters.  In this heat, we wanted to treat ourselves to a little luxury.  When I ordered tortellini alla Medici (chunks of ham and peas in a white sauce), I gestured that we both wanted a plate.  Judging from the portion presented, the meal was split into two plates.  Marie ordered a frozen Amaretto Colada and I asked for a Margarita.  Marie’s drink was a better choice.  For dessert, we ordered tiramisu.  This restaurant’s version of tiramisu lacked lady fingers – we were served whipped custard.

Our waitress was very put out by serving us; i.e., taking our order.  She didn’t even bring our food to us, leaving at the end of her shift without letting us know the waiter, who brought us our food, was taking over.  So we were caught off guard when the waiter asked if we wanted to leave a tip for our waitress “just a little something, maybe 2 Euro.”  Though tipping is not customary in Italy (because they will charge 2-5 Euro “sitting fees” or some other pseudo tax), we allowed 2 Euros to be added to my charge slip.  I asked our waiter what was the charge to go into the Duomo.  Our waiter replied that it was free, but it’s best to go first thing in the morning, when it’s cooler.

We walked over to the Duomo, because the line didn’t look so long.  We were approached by vendors selling scarves to cover our shoulders.  We’ll come back later.

On way back to our hotel, we stopped at Yamamay for clothes.  I found a light blue top that was reasonably priced.

We stopped at our room to drop off purchases and get scarves to cover our shoulders.  I brought my beige pashmina and Marie used my blue pareo.

4:55 pm Back at the Duomo.  An employee was rolling up ropes.  He said to me, “Too late – It’s closed.”  “When will it open Tuesday?”  “At 10.”

Well, I guess we’ll have to shop….

Marie and I walked to an open marketplace with street vendors crowded into a covered platform.  At a kiosk on a street corner, I looked at a purse in navy blue leather.  I really wanted it in black, but the vendor said she sold it already.  First she said “55, 45 for cash because the cards charge us.”  I asked if she’d be here Tuesday.  She replied that she’ll be selling at the San Lorenzo market on Tuesday.

The platform market was full of many leather goods kiosks as well as textiles and souvenir kitsch.

As I stepped up to look at a purse, a vendor said, “Buon giorno!  It’s hot; you get a discount.”  Marie informed me she was going to look elsewhere and suggested we meet at the corner if we can’t find each other later.  I didn’t find anything to my liking at this kiosk.

The next leather vendor had a red trimmed black purse that caught my eye, but it was too narrow for my needs.  The owner helped me with several until I found one to my liking.  He added a black cross strap that he pulled from a drawer and clipped on.  Lowering the price, including the strap and accepting credit card in lieu of all of the cash in my wallet, we had a deal.

I found Mariea few aisles away.  Marie wanted to visit the Palace Vecchio because Hannibal Lechter worked there as a curator.

We spotted H&M in the next block.  We purchased a few items before moving on.

6:30 PM at the Palazzo del Vecchio.  We stood for a while debating whether to wait till 8:30 PM when entrance was free (vs. 6.50€ each) or just go in now.  Marie spotted two policemen at the entrance of the palace.  She wondered if she could take her picture with them, possibly wearing a policeman’s hat.

We approached a young and handsome policeman monopolized by a man taking coins out of a fountain.  At length, the policeman asked the man to pause to enquire of us what we wanted from him.  Marie asked in Italian could she take a photo with him.  He smiled and said yes.  Marie further asked him if she could wear his hat.  The policeman smiled, “Photo, yes; hat, no.”  I took their photo between two lions in front of the fountain.

Marie decided she’d like to review her book to know in which rooms Hannibal worked, so she could focus on those Tuesday.

It was already 7, so we decided to have dinner at Fiorino DÓro, the restaurant recommended by our driver.  The restaurant is located in Piazza della Republica, the plaza with a carousel.  During our dinner, a young man with a guitar, microphone and portable speakers sang pop songs in Italian (Imagine, Mad World, etc.)  Marie said she wanted to drop some money in his guitar case; I was thinking the same.  We pooled our coins to make 4.20 €.  Marie left our table to drop money into his guitar case.  He smiled at her.  We ordered blue lagoons and sparkling water to go with our spaghetti Alfredo made with peas and ham cubes in a white sauce.  So good; we cleaned our plates of sauce with bread slices.  Totally full of food (it hurt to breathe), we left the restaurant.

Crossing the piazza toward the hotel, we stopped an oriental street vendor to buy a scarf.  Marie chose a white one, but saw an ivory one she liked better.  Vendor said, “Okay, 2 for 8.”  Well, Marie liked a blue one, too.  Vendor offered, “3 for 10.”  Marie exchanged the white scarf for a pink scarf and paid the vendor 10€.

As we turned away with a “Grazie”, another vendor approached with scarves asking, “Picasso?”  “No.”  “Monet?”  “No.”  Still another vendor with a glowing widget walked next to Marie.  “No, grazie….”  As if the vendors were unable to cross an invisible line, they stopped following us as we stepped across the border of the Piazza.

After rounding the block, we found our way back to our hotel, where we watched the Olympics while we both updated our journals.