Florence Solo

I still had a few more days on my own to explore Florence, and there was lots to see. As I mentioned before, I'm not revisiting some of the things I've already seen - Michelangelo's David, at the Accademia Museum, and the Uffizi gallery, for example. It was enough to see a few replicas of the statue of David around town. 

I still had one day left on the Ghiberti Pass, and we hadn't had time to see the Baptistery yet. Our stay with the Suore Oblate dell' Assunzione had been a good home base for sightseeing all over Florence, and the Baptistery was not far away. 

As I'm writing this from back at home, I realize how much I miss hearing the church bells ringing throughout the day. Maybe I can find an app for my phone!

Rick Steves warns us that some of the sights we hope to see while visiting Europe might be covered in scaffolding and tarps. That was the case with the Baptistery. The whole mosaic ceiling was under renovation, and covered with a gigantic tarp, in addition to the unsightly scaffolding in the center of the building. It must have been a time-consuming project, and showing sensitivity to visitors, there were pictures and explanations of what we should be seeing. And actually, the tarp covering the ceiling had been printed to look like the ceiling above it.

Baptistery in Florence - only 1 of the 3 sets of replica brass doors can be seen here

Scaffolding and a printed tarp of the ceiling under renovation

There was still plenty to see inside - the mosaic floors, and elaborate side altars.

No space was untouched by artists and craftsmen!

A picture of the ceiling with a description

An aerial view of part of the floor showing different mosaic designs

On a side of the cathedral, the tarp over the scaffolding printed to 

match the actual marble of the building.

After my tour of the Baptistery I needed to re-energize at the nearby cafe. I enjoyed the perfect balance of a cappuccino in one hand, and a croissant in t'other!

Refreshed and happy, my next objective of the day was to locate and check out some thrift stores. We realized that Venice wouldn't be a likely place to find them, being that the whole city is very high rent, but thought there might be some in Florence.

First stop, Humana Vintage, and it was truly a thrift store. Prices were reasonable, but the store was mostly clothing, and nothing really special. If this is like a charity shop in the US, you'd probably have to visit regularly to find a treasure.

Next stop, Mercantino di Ninni, was more of an antique store, and I wondered if it was a consignment store, based on the elderly woman coming in with a bag of stuff while I was there. The proprietor seemed to know her. There were lots of treasures in this shop, but prices were high.

I stopped at a few other stores, and all seemed to be expensive, and not really thrift stores. A few of them unlocked the door for me to enter, which made me think they had valuable jewelry or designer purses and clothing. So much for my quest.

I made my way back to my room to put my feet up for a few minutes, just in time to miss the thunderstorm that darkened the skies and emptied the streets of pedestrians. It didn't last long.

I must mention that traffic in Florence was horrible. I'm amazed I made it home alive. It wasn't just cars, but motorcycles and bikes weaving in, out and around. And sidewalks are very narrow. People rarely step aside to let anyone pass, so I had to step into the street often. I wanted to say, don't you have a grandma? Wouldn't you defer to her on the sidewalk, especially if she's using a trekking pole? 

All I'll say about Florence is that if you were there when I was and someone smiled at you, and said buongiorno, it was probably me. 

I headed out to find lunch in the neighborhood. Sometimes I look for a place I've seen recommended in Rick Steves' guidebooks, sometimes I do a search on TripAdvisor, and sometimes I just start walking. On this day, I was just walking, and found a place called The Rooster Cafe. It was a cute, kind of funky place, and they had an extensive menu that seemed to cater to Americans. I had a lovely avocado toast with an egg and smoked salmon, along with lemonade for €17. And here's the thing. It really is €17. No tip expected. There's no space for a tip on the credit card slip. Friends may argue with me about this, but truly no tip is expected. Sometimes we might leave a bit, but surely never the 20% tip we'd leave here in the US.

So anyway, lunch was late and I didn't really need dinner, but I felt like I needed an Aperol Spritz. It's a favorite Happy Hour beverage in Italy. We discovered it on another trip, many years ago when our friend Laurie asked the waiter what that bright orange drink was that was being served at a nearby table. And the rest is history, as they say.

                  Aperol Spritz being enjoyed by Laurie's husband Emmett in Bergamo 2014

I enjoyed my drink at a cafe on the busy square and later went back to the square for a gelato with a fellow guest at the convent, a woman visiting from Sweden. I guess that's what walking 20,000 steps a day affords.