Kleins in Italy

Breakfast is included here at the Hotel Lungarno and it’s been worth rolling out for each morning. After a bite and a cappuccino, we set off to explore Forte di Belvedere, Pitti Palace and the Boboli Gardens. We had heard Fort Belvedere provided one of the highest look out points over the city and since the rain was holding off we decided to go up and take a look. We had a twenty minute uphill climb over the cobblestones to the fort only to discover it was closed. The fortress walls were so high all around that we couldn’t get any views at all. Sweaty and a little disappointed, we headed back down the hill and made our way to Pitti Palace and the adjoining Boboli Gardens. We had a nice walk all around the huge grounds and although they are not as beautifully maintained as some, it was fun to think about what it must have been like to live and play here centuries ago.

We crossed back over the Ponte Vecchio (old bridge) and stopped for a drink and a snack at Rivoire, a cafe right on the Palazzo Vecchio. It’s great people watching and we cooled our heels while we got some energy back. Everyone had been telling us about this sensational panini place, L’Antico Vinaio which was just a short walk from the palazzo. Apparently it has become famous nearly worldwide due to the power of social media and when we walked up the line was a half a block long. We waited for a few minutes then pretty quickly decided we were too old for that nonsense. We found another place, La Prosciutteria, further down Via dei Neri and squeezed into the narrow little hallway of a restaurant and actually scored a place to sit. An enormous meat, cheese & crostini board arrived which was almost as big as our table.

Walking back toward our hotel, we passed a store selling beautiful linen goods. We stopped and bought a few scarpas (scarves). Everyone wears them here; men, women and children and they all look so chic. Italians really do have the fashion thing on a lock. When we came out of the hotel for dinner it had started raining hard and the wind almost yanked our umbrellas out of our hands as we crossed the bridge. Fortunately the restaurant, Il Barretto, wasn’t too far and we had an excellent meal. David loved his bistecca Fiorentina (ribeye Florentine style) and my Parmigiana melanzane was a little dish of velvety goodness. We chatted with a fun American couple seated next to us who have an apartment nearby and are living here part time. They’re very enthusiastic about life in Florence and encouraged us to give it a try. Wouldn’t that be nice?

In yet another edition of “It’s a small world”, as we were walking out of the restaurant, we ran into Sophie McGahan, an old Atlanta friend and Westminster classmate of Leah’s. She’s an art history major and just happens to be spending a few days in Florence as part of a class she’s taking. (I should have been an art history major!) As no day in Italy is complete without gelato, we stopped into La Carraia for one more scoop of pistachio on the way back to the hotel. It was the perfect ending to our stay here in fair Florence.