EuroTrip: Day 11- Train to Florence

Since I booked us an afternoon train to Florence, we didn’t have to rush this morning. We went down to the breakfast buffet to get our fill before coming back to the room to shower and pack. We checked out of our hotel at noon and started the slow walk with our luggage to the metro station. It’s like everything expanded overnight! This stuff was definitely not this heavy the other day!

We made it to our train station and platform without issue and waited for our 1:20 train to come. We did almost get on the 12:50 one since we were there so early, but thankfully we didn’t. Not sure if it would have been a problem or not, but I don’t want to find out. I’ve read horror stories online of people getting charged €50-75 for not validating their tickets and things like that. Who knows what they’d charge if they realized we got on an earlier train (that has assigned seats).

Speaking of, this train claimed to have WiFi, too, but it wouldn’t connect. So I read my book and worked on the blog. It look less than 2 hours to get to Florence. We got off the train and made our way outside. What a beautiful city even from this busy spot! We decided on a taxi to get to our Airbnb instead of walking, there’s not a bus or subway here to take us any closer to our Airbnb, and it’s almost a mile walk on uneven cobblestones.. which is fine normally, but not while toting some heavy luggage.

Our taxi driver got us right in front of our door, and the Airbnb host, Andrea (said like On-drey-ah), met us at the front door. We’re right in the heart of the city, 4-5 minute walk to the river and less than that to get to the Uffizi Gallery. It’s gorgeous! Andrea carried mom’s luggage up the 3 flights of stairs and I followed him.. whew, I guess I was complaining I needed more exercise! Hahaha, I started having flashbacks of running the stairs at work with Kristi one night that had me drenched in sweat after 3 minutes..

Our Airbnb is incredibly gorgeous! Two bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a living room with two small terraces, a full kitchen and a washer and dryer! It’s always exciting when the place exceeds your expectations and not the other way around! It was too soon to pick our rooms, we were overwhelmed with the views and hungry, too. So, we connected to WiFi and googled Andrea’s sandwich shop recommendations, and left the unpacking for when we return. Florence is known for having incredible sandwiches and we were ready to figure out why!

We decided on a shop that was a 4 minute walk from our apartment. As we walked out, we realized our place is next to a museum and across from a church with a huge bell tower.. which is an awesome way to locate our road! The sandwich shop was easy to find and the food itself was so dang good! The meat was stacked so thick and every bite was full of flavor. Don’t even get me started on the bread-the baked daily fresh bread.. ah. The guys working spoke Italian, English, and Spanish. They were cracking me up because they sang along with their playlist while they worked, songs came on in different languages, different styles-and man it was such a nice difference, seeing people enjoying their jobs. They just seemed happy. And with those sandwiches, we were happy, too!

We went exploring the cobblestone roads and stone store fronts. The building all looked to be very old, and so stunning. You could smell the leather in the air.. and then suddenly the tight roads and tiny alley ways would open up into a square or piazza filled with fountains and statues. It felt like a scene from a movie. We were in love!

We walked down a road next to the museums where people were selling their artwork.. many had prints of their work, but one man was actually sitting there painting with his watercolors. His work had beautiful scenes of Tuscan wineries and views of Florence from the waterway. I had to have one! I already know it will hang in my office with the watercolor painting I got from Paris in 2019 and the paintings from a man in Peru the year before that. I’m literally so fascinated by people and their talent, whether it be artists or musicians or performers. Maybe in my next life I’ll have some skill that blows people away with one look or listen (I think we all know it’s not going to be for my profound writing skills).

From there we walked along the water and snapped photos of the bridges connecting the two sides of the city. One of the leather stores ended up catching mom’s attention.. purses and jackets and wallets, oh my! The man, Marco, was quite the salesman. He asked if I’d like to see a jacket, I say no.. because I just saw the price on one beside me (€750).. he goes, “trust me, I have the perfect one for you..” yeah, ok-whatever. I say yes, fully expecting to not like what he picked for me.

He comes back with a camel colored leather jacket. The sleeves and hips have detailing on them, it’s a side zip with a pretty collar.. and, it is incredible! I think, no way will it look good on me though.. he zips it-spins me around, checks the sleeves, and then tells me he’d tailor it for me-the sleeves were a bit long. I’m starting to get sad, because I just know it’s going to be way too much money.. but Mom is asking him how much and it was no where near as expensive as the ones I had been seeing, like a fraction of the cost! Mom decided to get it for me as a gift, and I am still reeling over how much I love it! It felt weird to pay for it and leave it there with Marco, but he said he’d have it tailored tonight and ready in the morning for us to pick up.. Wow!

He even told mom he’d make her a completely custom jacket of her liking, if she’d tell him the specifics of the colors and details that she prefers-and it would be ready before we leave Florence, but it was getting hot in the shop and she was over it.. so she declined and we went on our way. At some point we found a shoe store that caught Mom’s eye, and she ended up picking out a pair of leather shoes she fell in love with. She tried them on and walked around and we couldn’t leave without them. We’ve been in Florence only a few hours and we’ve already bought all the leather things!

We took her new shoes back to the room and rested our feet while we looked for a place for dinner. We settled on one that had been recommended by our host and also had great reviews online. On our walk there, I got us a little lost and we passed a different restaurant that smelling amazing-but we kept going. We found our place and got a seat inside. It was a small place and the lady working was so kind.. but Mom didn’t quite love her food.. (I did, I think I’d love anything anyone here gave me..)

She ordered the walnut ravioli, I ordered the mushroom risotto. I knew she didn’t like hers because she actually asked for a bite of mine-and then let me share some with her! I loved her ravioli, although the walnut taste was a strong one.. she said it was too strong and tasted like dirt. I thought she was being a little dramatic 😉 We vowed to stop at any restaurant that smelled phenomenal from outside any time we cross one from now on.. and I promised I’d find that place we skipped tomorrow.

We walked around a bit more, and Mom got an ice cream (gelato in Italian) by the river while I ran my mile in a figure 8 by the water and across 3 bridges. It was so beautiful at night and less crowded than during the day.. although I was still bobbing and weaving.. plus the roads were well lit so I could watch my footing on the uneven cobblestones. It was one of my favorite runs so far, I need to learn to get up before I have to and get my runs in during the morning where there is plenty of sunlight, no crowds, and I can actually get more than a mile in because I haven’t just devoured my meal, some of Mom’s, a basket of bread and half a bottle of wine.. hmmm.. maybe tomorrow..

We leisurely walk back, enjoying the scenery, listening to the different languages of the people passing us-and hearing some music in the background being played by street performers. Such an absolutely beautiful city. Neither of us really wanted to go inside yet, but our feet are sore and we are tired, so we call it a night and head up our several flights of stairs. I let Mom pick her room, and then we start unpacking, showering, and getting into our pjs.

It’s been a wonderful day, I can’t wait to see what tomorrow has in store for us! The only thing planned is seeing the sculpture of David by Michaelangelo.. which I can’t wait to see in person.

And with that, Goodnight!