Tuesday

Florence day!  We got up bright and early (very early for an 18-year-old) and drove to Arezzo to catch the train to Florence.  This was Hunter’s first train trip.  Train travel is such a wonderful way to get around here.  Most trains are late, which is quite frustrating, but other than that they’re clean and comfortable and most routes have great views of the countryside.

Our first stop was David.  Florence was extremely crowded and we had reservations to see David so we had to wind our way through the throngs of people to get to the museum.  David never ceases to amaze me.  I learned later in the day, from a British friend after we got back to Anghiari, that women like David more than men.  Something about his perfect butt.  Hunter seemed to enjoy seeing him, although he didn’t linger around his backside as much as I did.  Hmm.  Maybe there’s something to that butt thing.

We grabbed a quick panino and then headed to Santa Croce.  This is the church where Dante and Michelangelo are supposedly buried.  It’s a gorgeous church filled with artwork, stained glass and lots of tombs.

After all that culture we needed some gelato.  Fortunately there’s a great gelato place just a few blocks from Santa Croce called Vivoli.  It is darn good.  Between us we had lemon, strawberry, chocolate, and chocolate chip.  All two thumbs up.

Then we just strolled through the Piazza Signoria to the Ponte Vecchio.  Hunter was in heaven with all the exclusive watch shops.  I think we drooled in every window and we went into one where they had to unlock the door to let us in and nothing had a price tag.  They must have thought they had let the Beverly Hillbillies in when we walked through the door.  But being the ever dignified people they were, they let us look around and even offered to let Hunter try on something if he wanted.  He did not so we took our leave and continued looking at things we couldn’t afford.

We’re coming back to Florence on Monday and plan to climb to the top of the Duomo and visit a couple of other places.  So this day was nice and easy, not a lot planned except for the David.  I think Hunter was more impressed with the exclusive watch shops than with the birthplace of the Renaissance, but whatever.  Like I said before, everyone sees something different.

We got home just in time for happy hour.  As we were sitting on the patio of the Sport bar (it’s not what you think) we saw several people we knew and saw many people taking their passeggiata.  We feel so at home there and even Hunter is beginning to recognize people.

We had dinner at La Nena, one of our favorite places.  We ate outside with a view of the Tiber Valley.  The weather was wonderful.  Not terribly hot (highs in the 70’s) and coolish at night.  It’s perfect for touring Florence and for dining al fresco.  Hunter has latched onto a few dishes that he knows he likes and pretty much has them at every meal.  Pizza, prosciutto, and pasta with ragu.  Maybe we can try some different things in Rome – but that menu seems to be working for him.  Steve and I are eating anything and everything, however.  Last night we had steak again, fried porcini mushrooms, white beans, and a salad.  And panna cotta, crostata, and cheesecake for dessert.  Wonderful.  Dinners are always very nice because Hunter really doesn’t come alive until about 2:00 or so.  By dinner, he’s chatty and even puts his phone down some!  Hard to believe, but I remember being a teenager and not wanting to interact with anyone until the afternoon.  Must be hormones.

Tomorrow we travel to Rome and will stay there for three nights.  Looking forward to another new adventure and probably more watch shops!