Florence Day 3

Saturday, April 21, 2007 7:57

Everyone is still asleep at this time. Mom and Dad arrived at like at 8 pm last night. Luke and I had been sitting at the pub drinking beers. I had 3 corona’s on an empty stomach and I was a bit drunkish. We all sat at the table talking for a bit. Dad helped himself to a few of our delicious French fry basket. They were so hot and so good. Yummy. Luke said he wasn’t getting his recommended daily allowance of French fries like he usually munches on here and there at the RAC. I brought Mom/Dad to the apartment to freshen up and drop off their stuff. Meanwhile Luke got mad and had been waiting down at the door for us to let him in. He wasn’t very happy at all- being stiffed. I apologized.

Then we decided to eat at home rather than eat out, so we quick ran to the grocery store that is not very close nor very far. We made it there just 10 min before closing. Got some more milk, cheese, Luke found beef broth, yogurt, yam buns, lemons for the water etc. Then Luke cooked some spaghetti with red sauce and whipped up a cheese plate that my dad quite enjoyed along with some bread slices. We hit the sack as it approached 10. I heard mom put on the BBC world news. As it was Friday night the bar foot traffic was awful. They were quite loud. Even without the earplugs in. That’s the price you pay. So as it is only 8:07. I am still the only one up. More later on the days events. Ljf

1630We are back from the day's events. We went first to see Fra Angelico at the San Marco Church. It is an old monastery. The reason Fra Angelico is so special is because he was present for the beginning of the renaissance. He did religious art in a clean and realistic way. It was very interesting especially the way Rick Steves narrated. We saw mostly things that should have been at the front of churches. These were along the same line as the church art we saw yesterday but it was more modernized people with real faces and depth in the painting. We spent like an hour and a half there. Then we tried to quick hustle to the mercato centrale. We walked to it and didn’t hit it the first time.
The whole main floor was refrigerated meat counters. They had rabbit (hmmm), beef steaks yet to be cut, parma ham, parma crudo, chicken, ducks, Cornish hens etc. What ever you wanted you could get. They had lots of cheese stands where we got asiago, and some other kind of cheese I can’t remember. I also got per my desire pate’ which is like ground seasoned organ meats made into a meat paste. It was yummy. Liked it lots, I may even have a bite now on a piece of toast. Mom got some dried apricots and dried cherries. Luke got some tomatoes, fresh lettuce, strawberries, oranges, asparagus and clementines. We then walked to the San Lorenzo market which has tourist trinkets
and sat at the steps of the San Lorenzo church and ate lunch (the same spot as yesterday lunch). We had the old standbys; yogurt, apple, bread with butter, a few slices of cheese, and the oranges we bought at the market. The oranges themselves had a red “flesh” (if I can refer to that without sounding like a pervert). The orange was so good, not much rind under the skin and mostly juice in the sections. I am not a big orange fan but these were exceptional.

While we were looking at the map Dad thought we should go have a gelato in the park. We walked a ways toward the park and found the park but saw a big gate that was locked. Then we walked around the park more and saw another gated and locked area. I guess it was an art park that you had to pay to get into. We would have done that but it was like hot and we were right next to the bus and train station. It took a lot of deliberation and discussion and walking around and looking at maps but finally we got to where the A bus (a short electric bus that services the city center) picked people up. The tickets cost € 1.20 for 70 min. We validated the ticket on the bus. Then we walked home to the Piazza della Signoria. We went home and had some of the fresh strawberries.

The weather was in the 80s. I think I am in fact sunburned my cheeks feel a bit tight and warm. Luke and Lisa will go out to dinner separate from the folks. And no, it was not my instance to separate. Now Luke is griping at me to plug the computer back in and get this posted so we can eat. We’ll let you know how dinner goes. Have a lovely evening. ljf