We got a slightly late start in Florence and then spent the day enjoyably strolling the city aimlessly with our daughter as our guide. We s tuck our heads in here and there, but other than going through the Dante house museum – some information about Dante but nothing original from the period – we just strolled in the rain. Across from Dante’s hosue is the church where Beeatrice is buried. It is dark, old and moving. We did some grocery shopping in the indoor market next door to our daughter’s shared apartment; it doesn’t get much more charming than that. We had an excellent dinner at Otorino, a restaurant we’d enjoyed the last time we were here; it was as close as we’ve come to ordering a first course and a second course for dinner. Where do the Italians fit it?

We did run into one confounding scam. As we were walking away from one of the outdoor markets, someone ran up to us claiming to be a vendor from whom our daughter and her roommate stole sunglasses this morning. And, he added belatedly, they stole a Gucci watch as well. This theft supposedly happened this morning, when it turns out our daughter was with us. The best we can figure is that I was supposed to be intimidated and pay him for the watch and glasses to get rid of him. I told him to go to hell. Weird.

We went to the bus station, bought tickets for Siena tomorrow, and went back to the hotel to sleeeeeep.

Categories: Uncategorized dw